Chapter 1

I had a dream about sleeping with my arch-nemesis, Ferris Nash.

In the dream, for once, he wasn't his usual icy self. While we were tangled up together, he called me "Virginia" with that weird mix of hate and tenderness.

I woke up in a cold sweat and started dodging him on purpose.

Then, at a party, my boyfriend Halbert was dared during a game of Truth or Dare. He hugged his childhood sweetheart and just called it a "courtesy kiss."

I stood up with a frosty expression, but he called after me.

"Virginia, it's just a kiss. Don't make a scene!" he snapped.

"Go ahead, pick any guy here and kiss him. I won't be jealous. How about Ferris?" he smirked, throwing down the gauntlet.

He was sure I wouldn't dare.

But the next second, Ferris, standing in the corner, gave a small smirk.

"Sure," he said, his voice low and teasing.

"So, Virginia, how many minutes do you want this kiss to last?" Ferris asked, his tone playful and challenging.

*****

"What about Ferris?" Halbert tossed out, his tone daring me.

As soon as he said it, the whole room burst into rowdy laughter.

One of the guys who'd seen all our breakups and makeups piped up.

"Halbert, you're really asking for it. Everyone knows Virginia's got that whole no-touching-anyone-but-you rule. She wouldn't even let another guy get close," he snickered.

"You want her to kiss Ferris? With how much they hate each other, Ferris would probably gag just thinking about it," another guy added.

"Virginia, maybe you should just apologize before Halbert really gets mad. You'll just end up begging him in tears," one of Halbert's buddies chimed in.

Honestly, I get why his buddies think that.

This wasn't the first time I'd fought with Halbert over Holly.

Every single time before, Halbert would just give me the silent treatment and block me.

He'd even post photos of him and Holly having fun together on his social media, just to get under my skin.

Eventually, I'd break and go crawling back to him, trying to patch things up.

Only then would he finally soften his tone, acting all high and mighty as he let me off the hook.

"That's more like it, Virginia," he'd say, his voice dripping with condescension.

"If anything was ever gonna happen between me and Holly, it would've happened a long time ago. She's just one of the guys to me," he'd add, like he was doing me a favor.

But now, this so-called "buddy" wasn't just hanging out and acting all chummy with him, sharing drinks or throwing an arm around his shoulders at the bar.

This time, they were actually kissing right in front of everyone.

This time, I was done putting up with this.

I swallowed the disgust rising in my throat.

I snuck a look at Ferris, lurking in the corner.

With that high-bridged nose and those deep, brooding eyes, he was the guy everyone at Crestmore University called their dream guy. But the icy look in his eyes made you think twice before getting close.

He took a slow sip of his drink, his face giving nothing away.

Of course, Ferris had never liked me.

Every time Halbert brought me to a party, Ferris always had something snarky to say. So why would he ever go along with this dare?

"What, you chicken?" Halbert sneered, his face full of smug satisfaction.

"Forget it, just apologize to Holly and we'll call it even," he said, waving it off.

"It's no big deal if my reputation takes a hit, but Holly's a girl—" he added, acting all high and mighty.

"Who says I wouldn't dare?" I snapped back, my voice brimming with defiance.

Fury bubbled up inside me as I cut him off and marched right up to Ferris.

Ferris glanced up from his phone, an unreadable half-smirk on his face as he fixed his gaze on me.

"You need something?" he said, his tone cool and just a little amused.

"Nothing major, really," I said, trying to play it cool. "So, uh... would you mind if we kissed right now?"

The whole room froze for a few seconds.

Then everyone lost it, shouting and howling like maniacs.

Back then, I never would've asked Ferris to do something like this.

But about a month ago, I started having this weird dream over and over again.

In the dream, Ferris, who'd always been my nemesis, dropped his usual icy act. While we were all over each other, he called me "babe" with this weird mix of hate and gentleness.

We'd gotten hot and heavy in every corner of the place.

Ferris's body was top-tier, like a runway model, and his face was pure trouble, like some kind of devil you couldn't say no to. Plus, he'd got this insane way of making sure I never wanted to stop, no matter how hard I tried to resist.

Every time I woke up from that dream, I felt completely wiped out, like someone had drained every ounce of energy from me.

I even went to the hospital, but the doctors had no clue what was going on with me.

With no other options, I just started dodging him all over campus.

Honestly, asking for a kiss now was pretty tame compared to the stuff I was saying in those dreams, like begging, "Ferris, I need you."