Chapter 3Unpinned: How I Stopped Chasing the Campus God and Tamed a Golden Retriever

For our 8 AM elective, Avery and I were in the same class.

To be precise, she only signed up for it because Weston was taking it. When I registered for the course, she hovered over my laptop, watching me closely.

"Harper, were you actually texting Asher last night?"

She looked me up and down.

"It's a shame he never posts selfies. I don't even know what he looks like. But guys who never post pictures are usually pretty ugly. He probably looks like that."

She pointed randomly at a nerdy guy in the corner, then turned to me with a smirk. "Actually, you two would be a great match."

Right as Avery finished her sentence, a deep male voice spoke next to me.

"Excuse me, can you scoot in?"

Avery rolled her eyes, annoyed, but when she looked up and saw his face, her eyes lit up.

He had an incredibly intimidating, towering presence, with sharp, deep-set eyes that practically radiated a do not approach aura.

Even though there were plenty of empty seats, Avery immediately cleared space for him.

Leaning across me, she tried to strike up a conversation.

"Hey, are you taking this class too?"

"Yeah."

He answered coldly, completely ignoring her. Instead, his eyes lingered on my face for an extra second.

"What's your name?" Avery asked sweetly.

"The ugly one you were just talking about," he said flatly. "Asher."

Avery's jaw dropped. She quickly gathered her things and practically sprinted a few rows to the front, desperate to escape the blast zone.

"Nice to finally meet you, Harper."

Asher pulled out his textbook and slammed it onto the narrow desk, right up against my notebook.

He raised an eyebrow, looking ready for a fight. "What was it you said you wanted to do to me last night?"

I smiled politely, slid my notebook away, and maintained my distance.

He mimicked my smile mockingly. "I knew you were just using me to get a reaction out of Weston."

"Absolutely not."

I denied it three times in a row.

A look of contempt crossed his face. "You really think you're worthy?"

"Weston is never going to fall for a girl whose entire personality is desperately chasing boys."

"Furthermore, I'm a man of principles."

His sharp jawline tensed, his tone absolute. "Do you honestly think your cheap manipulation tactics would work on me?"

"Is that right?" I asked.

The attendance sheet was passed to me.

I skipped Weston's name and only signed my own.

When I handed the clipboard to Asher, my fingers accidentally brushed against his hand.

He flinched like a startled cat, pulling his hand back as if I carried a plague, radiating massive single-guy energy.

"You..." He cleared his throat. "Why didn't you sign Weston's name?"

He was acting like the righteous moral judge of Weston's love life.

Too bad for him, I fully intended to drag him down into the mud with me.

"Because you're sitting right next to me now!" I gave him a bright smile.

He completely avoided eye contact, staring rigidly at the chalkboard.

"Here, borrow my pen," I said.

He snatched it frantically and forged Weston's signature, looking visibly panicked.

His handwriting was actually really nice.

"Your name isn't on the roster," I said, tilting my head to look straight into his eyes. "So, did you come here specifically to see me?"

He instantly went on the defensive, drawing a hard line. "I came here to warn you!"

"Oh." I held my hand out. "Can I have my pen back?"

The pen in his hand seemed to burn him like a hot potato. He shoved it back to me.

I held the pen gently in both hands, examining it like a priceless artifact.

"What are you doing?"

He couldn't resist asking.

"This is the very first pen we've ever shared. I'm going to lock it in a safe." I spoke with utter sincerity.

The moment the bell rang, Asher bolted from the room without looking back.

I dropped the smile, packed my bag slowly, and stopped by the podium on my way out. Handing the attendance sheet to the professor, I noticed him searching for a pen.

"Here, Professor, you can keep this one. I have plenty."

Walking out of the building, I leaned against the brick wall and pulled out my phone.

I switched to a burner Snapchat account, styling the bitmoji to look like a guy, and added Asher.

AntiSimpBro: [Who are you?]

There was a heavy dose of paranoid defense in his words that wasn't there last night.

DogTrainer: [8 AM class. Room 801. I got a picture of you secretly holding hands with Harper.]

AntiSimpBro: [?]

AntiSimpBro: [Our hands literally just brushed!]

AntiSimpBro: [I swear to God, it was an accident! Well, she did it on purpose, but I didn't! Whatever, I didn't do it!]

A few minutes passed.

AntiSimpBro: [How much money do you want to delete it?]

He instantly sent $100 via Apple Pay.

I didn't accept it.

DogTrainer: [You and Weston have a group chat?]

AntiSimpBro: [How do you know that?]

DogTrainer: [Add me.]

AntiSimpBro: [It's our frat chat. Why do you want in?]

DogTrainer: [Because I have a massive crush on Weston.]

I pulled the wildest excuse out of thin air.

AntiSimpBro: [Aren't you a dude?]

DogTrainer: [Got a problem with that?]

He added me to the chat.

Then he DM'd me again to reiterate.

AntiSimpBro: [Make sure you delete that photo.]

AntiSimpBro: [I would literally rather die than hold her hand.]

I didn't reply. I switched back to my main account.

As soon as it loaded, texts from Weston popped up.

Weston: [Did you sign my name?]

Weston: [Wanna go camping this weekend?]

Before I could even type a response, a text from Avery came through.

Avery: [Weston just invited me camping! Do you think I should say yes?]

Weston was always like this.

He invited someone else first, then invited me. I was his eternal, fail-safe backup plan.

But this time, I wanted him to taste his own medicine.