Chapter 1

I might have to take a leave of absence—because I got drunk and sent flirtatious messages to my graduate advisor, Brice Warren, the untouchable heartthrob of Alustan University.

Last night, my roommates decided to take me out to party—supposedly to celebrate my birthday and 23 years of being single—though I strongly suspect they just wanted an excuse to have some fun themselves.

As the night wore on, Tess Rowe suggested we make things more exciting. So we played spin the bottle, and whoever it landed on had to do a dare.

Of course, the perpetual loser—yours truly—got picked.

Riya Henson announced the dare, "Pick someone from your contacts and send them a flirty text."

I was completely wasted by then. Barely able to comprehend what was happening, I hazily handed my phone to the girls and mumbled out a number when prompted.

After they picked someone and sent the message, they handed my phone back to me. I barely glanced at it before jumping right back into spin the bottle for a couple more rounds. Before I knew it, I'd passed out cold.

I didn't wake up until noon the next day. The hangover hit me hard—my head was pounding and my whole body felt puffy and gross.

Thank goodness it was the weekend, and I didn't have to go to class. Otherwise, in this state, I'd probably scare the living daylights out of anyone who saw me.

I grabbed my phone and—oh no—Brice's unread message was pinned right at the top.

The moment I clicked it open, a chill shot up my spine. I froze, completely petrified.

What on earth possessed me to send such a message to Brice, the unattainable heartthrob?!

[Every night, thoughts of you keep me awake. I crave every little thing about you... I like you.]

Only my roommates could come up with something as crazy as a confession dare.

Brice replied, "Amelia?"

I'd always secretly had a crush on Brice, but never dared to act on it. Everyone knew that Brice was young, loaded, and has a long line of admirers?

I need to rush to Reddit right now and post, "EMERGENCY! I accidentally sent a love confession to my advisor—what should I do? HELP NEEDED URGENTLY!"

Hangover and all, I was now wide awake from sheer panic. But I couldn't just ignore Brice's message. I was practically pulling my hair out trying to figure out how to respond.

After thinking it over for ages, I decided that if I was going to go crazy, I might as well go all out.

After going full crazy, I'd block Brice and just claim my account was hacked.

So I texted Brice: [Give me 50 dollars, and I'll give you a sweet romance.]

Knowing Brice as well as I do, he'd definitely scoff at something like this and wouldn't even bother responding.

But to my surprise, he actually transferred 50 dollars to me.

Brice replied: [A sweet romance? Just how sweet are we talking?]

How could Brice, that untouchable heartthrob, actually go along with something like this? No way—could this be some kind of trap?

While I was still overthinking, a voice call request from Brice suddenly popped up. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

I quickly typed back: [I caught a cold and lost my voice. Can't speak.]

After a long pause, Brice replied: [Really?]

Of course it was fake! If I answered now, how could I still pretend my account was hacked?

I replied: [More real than real.]

Brice: [Amelia, you're lying to me, aren't you?]

Just then, Brice sent another voice call request. "Crap!" I panicked and blocked him on the spot.

Damn, wasn't Brice just a little too sharp for his own good?

I was so scared.

Monday arrived, and still sporting dark circles under my eyes, I was dragged to class by my roommates. Of course, the very first lecture was Brice's.

I had no choice but to grab the farthest corner seat, hoping to blend into the background. My roommates mocked me for being such a chicken—I nearly strangled them right then and there.

Come on, these ladies knew exactly why I was being such a chicken.

Of course, all I could do was shoot them a resentful glare. I didn't dare to act up—after all, any one of them could totally wipe the floor with me.

Brice, as always, wore his gold-rimmed glasses, looking refined and untouchable. Dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit, he radiated an air of disciplined restraint. Honestly, how could someone look that good and still seem so out of reach?

The entire lecture went in one ear and out the other—my head was spinning with, "How's Brice going to get back at me for scamming him out of 50 dollars?" I couldn't help but mentally kick myself. As soon as class ended, I grabbed my stuff and bolted.

At lunch in the cafeteria, Riya slid a piece of meat onto my plate to comfort me. "You can run, but you can't hide forever. Brice is still your thesis advisor, after all."

Amelia shielded her bowl with her hand. "Don't think you can bribe me with a piece of meat. I won't forgive you that easily."

There went the sweet, innocent good-girl image I'd carefully maintained in front of Brice for over a year.

Tess handed me a glass of juice with a smirk. "Come on, Amelia, we're not asking for forgiveness. You really think we don't know about your little crush on Brice?"

Tess nodded along, teasing, "Yeah, don't think we haven't noticed. You even call out Brice's name in your sleep!"

I nervously picked at my nails. Was my crush on Brice really that obvious?

No way would I call out Brice's name in my sleep! And even if I did, it was only because he worked me to death during the day, and I was fighting back in my dreams.

Besides, in my dreams, I just showed my true colors and pounced on him. Who needed to call him 'Professor'? I just went straight for 'Brice.'

"No way!" I blurted out. "Even in my dreams, I just call him Brice—never 'Professor' or anything like that."

All eyes turned to me at once.

Oops, I thought I just gave myself away.