Chapter 1

On my first day at an elite academy, a rich young man stood at the school gate holding up a banner.

It read, "One kiss, thirty dollars."

Everyone else hesitated, pretending not to notice. But I didn't. I rushed forward without a second of hesitation, kissed him eighteen times in a row,

And then calmly took his 540 dollars.

After that, I wiped my lips, completely satisfied, and said to him cheerfully, "Wow. Big cities really are full of opportunities. If you ever run another event like this, remember to call me."

*****

My mom always said big cities were full of opportunities.

So she went all out, pulling every string she could to get me transferred to this elite private school.

I'd heard rich young men could be a real handful, so before coming here, I picked up some combat skills for two months, just to be safe.

But I realized I'd been worrying for nothing when I actually got to school.

Turns out, these rich young men were actually easy to get along with, and they even held charity events from time to time.

It was like they set up those events just to sponsor broke, greedy, and shameless students like me.

I was counting my cash, grinning from ear to ear, and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

I was so caught up in my money that I didn't even notice the crowd behind me had gone dead silent at some point.

After a long pause, someone finally spoke up. "That's Xavi Lawrence. Is she trying to get herself killed?"

So he was Xavi Lawrence.

My hand stopped counting cash, and I glanced back up at Xavi.

Unlike me, grinning like an idiot, he was a total mess.

His lips were all swollen, his eyes looked dazed, and he just stood there, frozen.

His shirt, which he'd unbuttoned earlier trying to look cool, was now hanging wide open, those killer abs peeking out.

Looks like I got a little too carried away with those kisses and ended up popping off two more of his shirt buttons.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, and yeah, it hurt to part with the cash, I slipped another 100 dollars into Xavi's hand.

"Cut me some slack, it's my first time doing something like this. I'm kind of a rookie at it, so here, you can have a little back," I said.

Not like I was getting the short end of the stick, anyway.

Xavi was easy on the eyes, and man, those lips were seriously soft.

But as soon as I said that, the whole crowd sucked in a breath.

These guys all knew the nightlife scene, lines like that were second nature to them.

'Is she seriously treating Mr. Lawrence like some gigolo?' everyone was thinking.

All eyes were on Xavi, full of sympathy, and it finally dawned on him. He'd just been played.

'Wait, does she seriously think I'm here to sell myself?' Xavi thought.

Xavi's expression twisted again and again, and he gritted out each word through clenched teeth, "What kind of person do you think I am?"

Everyone who knew him recognized that look. He was about to lose it.

But all I noticed was Xavi's ears burning red. He tried to act all tough, but honestly, he was just a real softie underneath.

Then it clicked, and I fished out another few banknotes, handing them over with genuine sincerity. "I didn't know it was your first time too. Here, I'll pay you a bit more, but that's all you're getting from me."

Xavi's frown deepened, and he was so mad he actually laughed. "Is that what I meant? Who said you could just walk up and kiss me?"

Xavi, a whole head taller than me, suddenly loomed over, stepping in so fast I was swallowed up by his shadow.

I could only tilt my head back, gave him my best puppy eyes, and pointed right at the banner behind him.

"Isn't this supposed to be a charity thing? Why can't I kiss you?" I said.

Even if it was just for students, I had got every right to take part.

After all, today was my first day here. I was just showing up for orientation.

Speaking of that, I checked my phone. 7:55.

Only five minutes left before I'd officially be late.

Seeing Xavi just standing there, I just stuffed the cash down his collar. Figured that was close enough.

When I turned around, everyone was staring at me like I'd just done something insane.

Especially the girl who'd been dithering in front of Xavi earlier. Her eyes were practically drilling holes right through me.

I figured they just couldn't wait for their turn, so I helpfully stepped aside and made room for them in front of Xavi.

And before heading off, I made sure to hype him up a bit.

"Come on, don't be shy! Xavi's super easy to kiss, so don't miss out on his generosity!" I called out.

As I strolled off, I could see some people getting all excited, itching to give it a try themselves.

But before anyone could even make it to Xavi, he shot them a look so fierce they backed off immediately.

But the girl who'd been hesitating earlier finally stepped up, her eyes red from holding back tears. "Xavi, even if you wanted to embarrass me, you didn't have to go so far as to bring in someone just to put on an act."

She kept her tone steady, but you could hear the hurt in her voice, like she'd just been hit with the biggest injustice ever.

That was when everyone finally caught on.

Turns out, Xavi had staged the whole show.

He did it just to put some pressure on Sadie Pittman, hoping she'd finally agree to go out with him.

Xavi wasn't about to let this land on him. He massaged his forehead, a flash of impatience in his eyes. "I don't even know her."

That shut everyone up in an instant.

Just then, someone in the crowd piped up, "Why's she acting all pure and sweet now? When Mr. Lawrence asked her earlier, she looked like she'd rather die than say yes. So what's with the whole 'poor me' routine?"