Chapter 1Unpinned: How I Stopped Chasing the Campus God and Tamed a Golden Retriever

On Valentine’s Day afternoon, the dorm room was pure chaos.

Everyone was doing their makeup, trying on outfits, and getting ready for their dates.

I was the only one sitting on my bed, clutching a half-eaten bag of chips, opening my iPad to catch up on Netflix.

Avery changed into her millionth outfit, still unsatisfied, and drifted over to my closet.

"Harper, this dress of yours is so gorgeous."

It was a plum-red, form-fitting slip dress with lines that subtly teased the imagination.

I had specifically picked it out a month ago when Weston and I agreed to get dinner tonight.

Avery looked at me. "Did no one ask you out tonight?"

When I didn't answer, the corner of her mouth curled up. She dropped a specific name: "Did Weston leave you on read again?"

The moment she said his name, everyone else in the dorm looked over in unison.

Weston Sterling was always the center of attention. He was drop-dead gorgeous, top of his pre-med class, and treated life like a game he was playing on easy mode.

Romance was the same.

Growing up constantly worshipped, he never lacked beautiful, proactive girls throwing themselves at him.

And me? I was just the neighbor who happened to attend the same schools as him from elementary school all the way to college.

I held the script of the "childhood friend next door," but that was exactly where the story stalled.

I pulled out my phone. His pinned conversation at the top of my messages had no red notification dot.

If I didn't text him, he would never initiate contact.

By 9:30 PM, I had finished my show, and I was the only one left in the dorm.

Avery had accidentally smeared a little foundation on the cuff of the plum-red dress. I knelt down, trying carefully to wipe it off.

It wouldn't come off.

What's the point anyway?

Right as the thought crossed my mind, my phone buzzed.

It was an unsaved number, but I recognized the digits instantly.

I never saved him to my contacts because I didn't want to admit how much I cared. But in reality, I had his number memorized by heart.

"Hello?"

I unconsciously picked at a stray thread on a hanger, trying to distract myself.

He chuckled softly. It was like he could hear the suppressed grievance in my voice and was trying to coax me. "Wanna come out and hang?"

The upward lilt at the end of his sentence was incredibly magnetic. It was his signature lazy charm.

So he did remember.

"It's 9:30," I said.

"And?" he asked.

"Is this how you always ask me out? At the absolute last minute? Weston, that's really rude."

I forced a joking tone. "Did someone else cancel on you, so you're calling me?"

I tried to sound breezy, but my heart was pounding, desperate for his reaction.

But no response came.

The line was dead silent.

I thought my Wi-Fi had dropped and was about to switch to cellular data when I realized he had simply hung up on me.

In our iMessage thread, underneath the massive blocks of green texts I had sent him previously, he had just sent two new lines.

Weston: [...]

Weston: [Whatever. Don't force yourself.]

Muscle memory took over. I instantly started typing, I was just joking, trying to explain myself.

But my thumbs hovered over his two short, callous sentences.

I had waited for him all night, and he hung up on me without a second thought.

I deleted the draft. Instead, I typed: [Are you mad?]

Send.

He replied instantly: [Can't you tell?]

This was him demanding that I lower my head and grovel. Just like always.

I replied instantly too: [Stay mad, then.]

Then, I blocked his number.

I turned around and opened Quizlet.

Hah, men?

I was going to memorize a hundred vocab flashcards tonight.

Two hours later, right as I was finishing my deck, I got a call from Weston.

"Are you hungry?"

"No," I said coldly.

"Come downstairs. I brought you late-night food."

I poked my head out the window.

Sure enough, his black SUV was parked in front of the dorm building.

He was wearing a sharply tailored overcoat that made his complexion look even paler in the cold. He was leaning lazily against the car door, looking up at my exact window with a practiced smirk. He raised a hot bag of seafood chowder in the air.

It was the exact same soup I had bought for him when he was running a high fever a while ago.

As I walked down the stairs, two girls from my hall passed by me.

"Wait, isn't that Weston from the pre-med track?"

"Who?"

"The incredibly hot guy out front. I've seen TikToks of him around campus."

I pushed open the heavy dorm doors and reached out to take the bag of chowder.

He pinched the top of the bag. It wouldn't budge.

"Give me your phone," he said, holding his other hand out.

"No."

I let go of the bag and turned to walk back inside.

He caught my arm with one hand, and before I could react, he slipped his other hand into my pocket and pulled out my phone.

I reached up to snatch it back. "What are you doing? You don't even know my pass—"

Before I could finish, the screen unlocked.

"Is there anything about you I don't know?"

His smile deepened. He steadied me with one arm, tapped the screen a few times, and unblocked himself from my settings.

Because he was pinned, he was easy to find.

Because my passcode was his birthday, it was easy to guess.

He knew absolutely everything.

"Here. Eat up and go to sleep." He placed the warm bag in my arms. "I feel like a pig farmer."

I looked up, meeting his eyes.

"Weston..."

"Weston."

Two voices spoke at the exact same time. I looked past him and saw someone sitting in the passenger seat of his SUV.

Avery opened the car door, her cheeks slightly flushed. "Did I fall asleep? Why didn't you wake me up?"

Weston let go of my arm and smiled at her. "You looked like you were sleeping deeply. I figured I'd let you rest."

"My sorority went to an escape room today, and surprisingly, Weston was there too."

Avery walked over and looped her arm through mine.

"He was just dropping me off on his way back."

She pointed at the chowder in my hands, her tone playfully coy.

"It's all because that seafood chowder was too good. I got a food coma on the ride back."

So he took Avery out to eat, and just grabbed this for me as an afterthought?

"Avery's stomach was acting up, so I took her to get some food," he explained, noticing my gaze.

"Yeah." I forced a smile. "Thanks. I'm going back upstairs."

"Harper, wait a sec."

Avery gripped my elbow tightly, stopping me from leaving.

Instead of looking at me, she turned to Weston. "Can I get your Snapchat or number? I need to Venmo you for tonight."

I followed her gaze and looked at Weston.

The plastic handles of the takeout bag were digging red indents into my fingers.

He gave a nonchalant smile and said, "Sure."

But right before he said it, he looked directly at me.

Avery finally let go of my arm to add him on her phone.

Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming sense of relief. "You guys take your time chatting," I said.

Then, I walked upstairs without looking back.