Chapter 1
My best friend has this thing for "testing" my boyfriends.
I'd fought with her about it so many times, but every time I started dating someone new, she somehow ended up adding him on WhatsApp and flirting with him behind my back.
And when the guy inevitably fell for her, she just put on an innocent face and remarked, "I don't get it. Noreen is such a good girl. Why does everyone always like me instead?"
Later, I secretly dated the young heir of a powerful family.
She started up her act again.
What she didn't know was that I had been waiting for this day for a long time.
*****
"Why are guys all like this nowadays?" Mila Owens remarked. "Noreen's a nice girl. Why does everyone always end up liking me instead?"
Mila's sobs echoed throughout the dorm room.
Stone-faced, I stared at the last message my now ex, Logan Baldwin, had sent me.
[Sorry, but I've fallen for Mila,] Logan wrote.
Counting him, that made fifteen guys who'd been snatched away from me.
"If you didn't shamelessly throw yourself at every guy I date, do you really think they'd even notice you?" I snapped, finally losing it.
Mila looked genuinely startled. Her tears streamed down even harder, making her sweet, innocent face look pitiful.
"Noreen, I-I'm sorry," Mila stammered, "I just didn't want you to get played by some loser.
"I want you to find a guy who only has eyes for you more than anyone else does. I don't know why, but whenever I get involved, guys just end up falling for me without me even trying."
"Without you trying, huh?" I shot back, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
I grabbed a classic Victoria's Secret bra and hurled it at her.
"After what you did two exes ago , you still have the nerve to act innocent? Seriously, Mila, you're shameless," I said.
"Seriously, Noreen, you're so ungrateful." The dorm leader frowned, quickly stepping forward to wipe Mila's tears away, then shot me a disapproving look.
"If Mila wasn't always helping you dodge losers, you'd just get played again and then blame her for not giving you a heads-up," she snapped.
My chest felt tight with anger I could barely breathe.
With Mila snatching up every guy before I even got attached, I hadn't even had the chance to get my heart broken by a jerk.
But the rest of the girls in the dorm weren't listening to me anymore. They all rushed to Mila's side to comfort her.
"Seriously, why do you even bother helping Noreen? If she gets played, serves her right. She wouldn't even be grateful anyway," one of them scoffed.
"Yeah! You treat her like your bestie, but she doesn't think the same for you," another added.
Mila just kept crying, even as everyone fussed over her. Her eyes were red, and she looked like a long suffering heroine in a drama.
"Noreen, I'm never going to test your boyfriends again. Good luck dealing with it yourself," Mila declared.
Before I could say a word, my phone started ringing.
I picked up, putting it on speaker, and a deep, magnetic male voice filled the room.
"You ready, baby? I'm waiting for you downstairs," the voice said.
All at once, Mila, who'd been acting all pitiful a moment ago, suddenly had her eyes lit up with excitement.
"Alright, I'm coming down now," I said.
With that, I hung up, gave Mila a glare, and strode straight for the door.
"Wait, Noreen! Did you get a new boyfriend?" Mila called out, then suddenly grabbed my arm.
I snapped, "What's it to you?"
"But you literally just broke up with Logan!" Mila exclaimed.
I gave her a frosty stare. "He was history to me the second he added you on WhatsApp. If you're into guys who can't stay faithful, he's all yours."
With that, I flung the new bag Samson Newburn got me over my shoulder and strode out.
"Wait!" Mila yelled, snatching my phone right out of my hand before I could react.
"What are you doing?" I demanded, reaching for my phone. But she dodged me and started scrolling through my call history.
Before I could grab it back, Mila was already matching Samson's number with one from a flyer she'd pulled out.
Her eyes went wide with disbelief as she stared at me, totally stunned.
"Samson Newburn? Noreen, are you seriously dating the golden boy of the capital's elite circle?" Mila gasped.
I went out of my way to find a guy with standards so high that Mila wouldn't be able to snatch him from me this time.
After having fifteen boyfriends stolen from me for as long as I could remember, I was honestly terrified.
Only a guy who had seen every trick in the book wouldn't fall for Mila's usual games.
"Noreen, guys like him are never faithful. Maybe I should help you out," Mila said.
"Don't bother," I snapped, snatching my phone back. "Guys like him have seen every kind of woman there is. Don't even try your usual games on him."
With that, I turned and walked out, ignoring her suddenly cold expression.
Samson was picking me up so I could be his date at a party.
He wanted to introduce me to the elite crowd he hung out with.
Before the party even started, my phone rang. It was Mila.
"Noreen, are you over on the west side?" Mila asked.
I said impatiently, "What do you want?"
Mila said, "Hey, don't be so cold. Relax, I'm not going to mess with your love life anymore. It's just that the girls in the dorm are having dinner tonight, and I wanted to see if you—"
"Can't make it. Maybe next time," I cut her off and hung up.
Samson waved off his friends who tried to toast me, handing me a glass of orange juice instead. He gently ruffled my hair.
"Roommate?" he asked.
I hesitated for a second, then nodded.