He Asked Me Out to Get Back at Her, I Gave Him a Rulebook Instead Chapter 02

He Asked Me Out to Get Back at Her, I Gave Him a Rulebook Instead Chapter 02

After I rejected his request, Ronan started showing up everywhere. Some of it was obvious. Some of it was supposed to look like coincidence.

Once he figured out I was at the study lounge at six every morning, he started claiming the seat next to mine.

If the seat was taken, he paid whoever was sitting there to move. Then he paid off everyone in my row just to be safe.

Word spread fast: sit next to Maren in the study lounge, walk away a few hundred dollars richer.

The next morning, the place was packed wall to wall. Not a single empty seat. For me, anyway.

I stood in the doorway, books in hand, staring at Ronan sitting dead center of the chaos he’d created.

He opened his mouth. I turned around and walked out.

He caught up in three steps. I didn’t think anyone had ever walked away from him before.

His hand closed around mine.

The text streamed in.

[He only grabbed her hand because he saw the FMC coming. Classic.]

[This man would rather die than have an honest conversation. He deserves every bit of what’s coming.]

I stopped.

Ronan raised his voice, loud enough to carry. “Vivienne means nothing to me. You’re the one I want. You’re… Mar…”

He didn’t even know my name.

Vivienne didn’t even slow down. “Childish.”

She hooked her arm through the senior she’d been hooking up with and strolled off without looking back.

Ronan stared after them, jaw locked, and his grip on my hand tightened until it hurt.

I leaned in close, voice even. “It’s Maren.”

He blinked, the performance draining from his face. “Sorry, I…”

I pulled my hand free and adjusted my glasses. “Say it again.”

He was still off-balance, but he did what I told him.

“Maren.”

It sounded good in his mouth.

This could work.

Whether I actually liked him was beside the point.

I nodded. “Okay.”

Two straight weeks of “accidental” run-ins later, I finally accepted his friend request.

The floating text had told me the timeline. He was supposed to win me over in the first month.

After that, he’d get bored. Decide I was too plain, too predictable.

What he didn’t know was the truth about me.

I was demanding, petty, and impossible to please. I was just really, really good at hiding it.

If he was only chasing me for a bet, why bother playing nice?

The Gilded Fox. Private lounge, dim lights.

Ronan sat in the booth, glaring at his phone.

Vivienne, at least, had texted him back. Maren Bellamy? Sometimes she replied in seconds. Sometimes she vanished for days.

He couldn’t figure out what he’d done wrong.

Three days. Nothing.

She’d accepted his previous gifts, though. Taken them without a word.

One of his boys leaned over, grinning. “Still can’t seal the deal with Little Miss Perfect?”

Across the room, Vivienne was singing karaoke with her new boyfriend, shooting Ronan a look meant to sting.

Ronan didn’t miss a beat. “She’s not like some people. She actually has standards.”

Vivienne just smiled, slow and sweet, and kissed her boyfriend right in front of him.

Ronan stormed out. The whole room turned to Vivienne, and nobody had to say a word.

The floating text gave me the full play-by-play.

The next day, a necklace showed up at my door. Thin gold chain, real diamonds.

A text from Ronan. [Saw something like this on your Story. Thought of you. It’s yours.]

I was starting to see the pattern.

Every time Vivienne pissed him off, a gift landed in my lap.

It was obvious who he actually wanted. That’s why Vivienne never looked worried.

But it pissed me off.

And the way Vivienne looked at me, like I should be grateful for the scraps.

Did they really think I was just a pawn?

I opened Ronan’s text and typed one character. [1.]

I wasn’t here to make him feel better.

He had three months. And if anyone should be worried, it wasn’t me.