Chapter 1My three childhood friends made me pretend I was just one of the guys—even around my own boyfriend—so the campus it-girl wouldn't get jealous.
"The five of us grew up together. You and Thorne are the only ones who hooked up."
"What if Nina thinks we're into you too?"
"Come on, Annika. Play along for us."
My boyfriend didn't even let me answer.
"What can I say? The five of us have always been this close."
So I did my best to play the part.
Spring camping trip? They spent hours getting perfect shots of Nina while I hauled firewood alone.
Group photo? They told the makeup artist to make me uglier.
Then island resort trip—Keaton, Xavier, and Ryder all confessed to Nina on the same day.
They swore no matter who she picked, their brotherhood came first.
I thought the nightmare was finally over.
But Nina didn't answer any of them.
Instead, she looked at my boyfriend, Thorne Sterling.
That's when I knew.
Time to leave.
...
Nina looked straight at Thorne, her expression earnest.
"Thorne, I really like you."
"So… will you give me a chance?"
Thorne glanced at me, then quickly looked away.
"Nina, it's not that I'm rejecting you."
"But... I should be the one confessing—not you."
He didn't accept her.
But he didn't reject her either.
Nina paused, then smiled.
"Okay. I'll wait for you."
I was stunned.
Thorne and I had known each other for twenty years and dated for five.
After high school, I didn't get into schools nearly as good as his.
He'd even turned down a better college just so we could go to the same one and see each other every day.
One winter, my cheeks got so dry they started peeling. Thorne carefully peeled an aloe leaf and put the gel on my face himself.
I thought his answer would be obvious.
"Sorry. I have a girlfriend."
But I'd forgotten how much his loyalty to the guys mattered to him.
There was no way he'd embarrass Nina in front of them.
I was about to call him out when Keaton grabbed my arm.
"Annika, chill. Thorne's just trying not to upset her."
"If you stay out of it, Nina might finally get that we're just friends."
Xavier lowered his voice and jumped in.
"He didn't even say yes. Why are you freaking out?"
Ryder gave me a pleading look.
"Annika, come on. Think about us too."
"We've been trying to get Nina to like us forever. Don't screw it up now."
I wanted to say something.
But in the end, I didn't.
In the past, I probably would've fought them on it.
Now I was tired of playing this whole "one of the guys" game.
Thorne walked over.
"What are you guys talking about?"
"The concert's about to start."
Keaton checked his phone.
"Shit, the tickets. I almost forgot."
"I'll get them. Nina's been dying to see this show."
He pulled up the tickets, then gave me an awkward look.
"Uh… there are six of us, but only five tickets left."
Nina immediately pouted and pretended to be upset.
"I don't care. I really wanna see this show."
"You all have to come with me."
Xavier immediately reassured her.
"Relax, Princess. We'll figure it out."
Ryder shrugged.
"Annika's basically a dude anyway. She wouldn't even appreciate this kind of music. She can stay at the hotel."
I looked straight at him.
"Actually, I wanna go."
That concert was the main reason I'd agreed to come on this trip.
Keaton laughed.
"Why are you so set on going?"
"You're more of a dude than any of us. You'd just be wasting a ticket."
In the end, Thorne made the decision.
"The five of us will go. Annika can stay here. She's not into it anyway."
Before he left, he walked over and tapped my nose.
"Hey, don't be mad. We can go to another one."
"The guys said they'll buy us dinner after Nina's thing works out."
"Text me when you get back to the hotel."
I turned my head away from him.
"Whatever."
"Go have fun. Don't let me ruin your little show."
Nina called for him from across the lobby.
Thorne didn't seem to notice my tone. He just turned and jogged toward her.
I went back to the hotel alone.
When I opened my Instagram, the same picture showed up five times.
All five guys had posted it.
Same caption: "Now this is real music."
One of our mutual friends commented underneath:
[You five are hanging out again?]
[Where's Annika?]
Thorne replied:
[Her? She wouldn't know good music if it hit her in the face.]
Chapter 2
Nina posted the same picture, even tagged Thorne.
A comment popped up under the post.
[Sterling finally got the girl?]
Nina replied: [Oh, shut up.]
The other person came back:
[Come on. With your charm? It's only a matter of time.]
My phone buzzed.
Thorne.
[We're grabbing a late-night bite. Nina wants you to come.]
[Ryder's covering it.]
I locked my phone without replying.
Eating that late always messed up my stomach the next morning.
Thorne knew that better than anyone.
But whenever Nina or the guys were involved, he somehow forgot.
The next morning, frantic knocking woke me up.
I thought something was wrong, so I opened it without bothering to fix my clothes.
All five of them were standing there.
Thorne looked pissed.
"Why the hell didn't you answer? We were worried about you all night."
Keaton frowned.
"Nina was worried sick. We came over first thing to check on you."
Nina's eyes were red.
"Annika, I'm sorry. Did we wake you?"
Xavier looked annoyed.
"What was your deal yesterday? You've never acted like some sulky little girl before."
Ryder held out a container of ice-cold skewers.
"We packed these for you. Here, eat."
I didn't take them.
It was barely six.
They all smelled like smoke, grease, and grilled meat. One look at them told me they'd been out all night.
And now they wanted credit for remembering me.
That somehow hurt worse—made me feel like an afterthought.
"No. Thanks."
"I'm exhausted. I just want to be alone."
"Annika…"
Nina looked down.
"Is this because of me? Do you not want me around?"
Keaton instantly stepped in.
"You're supposed to be part of this group. Maybe try acting like it and help us make Nina feel welcome."
Nina looked at me.
"You're not one of those girls who acts like a guy just to stay close to a bunch of guys, right?"
Xavier hurried to reassure her.
"That's not Annika. We treat Annika worse than we treat any of the guys."
Ryder laughed it off too.
"Yeah. How could any of us possibly like her?"
A tear rolled down Nina's cheek.
"What about you, Thorne?"
Thorne went quiet for a second.
"Annika? I didn't even think of her as a girl until we were eighteen."
I almost laughed.
That wasn't what he'd said on his eighteenth birthday.
That day was supposed to be about him, yet he'd bought me eighteen gifts.
"Eighteen gifts. One for every year I've been alive. I want you to have them."
"I only hope you're there for every birthday after this one."
I forced a small smile.
"I need to sleep."
"If that's all, you guys can go."
Keaton sighed.
"Seriously? There's no talking to you."
The four guys turned and left, all looking annoyed.
Nina stayed behind for a second.
Her eyes dropped to my messy collar, then she smiled.
"Enough with the sweet-girl act."
"You really think you can compete with me?"
Then she followed the others down the hall, as composed as ever.
That afternoon, Xavier invited everyone to his room to play games.
When I got there, the five of them were already sitting in a circle, completely locked into the game.
Nina smiled at me.
"Come sit down, Annika."
"This game only lets five people play. You'll get a turn soon."
Ryder laughed.
"Loser has to hand over the controller to Annika."
Like playing with me was some kind of punishment.
Nina lost the first round.
Her face dropped as she reluctantly gave me the controller and moved away.
Nobody said a word.
Keaton cleared his throat.
"Don't worry, Nina."
"Annika sucks at this. She'll be out in like two seconds."
The next round started.
It was supposed to be everyone against everyone.
Instead, all four of them went straight after me.
GAME OVER flashed across my screen almost immediately.
Xavier yelled:
"Get back over here, Nina!"
"We'll make sure you win this one!"
Ryder took another shot at me.
"We shouldn't have let you play at all."
"All you ever did was waste Nina's time."
Chapter 3
Thorne shrugged.
"Annika's always sucked at games anyway."
"We don't even like the same games."
I checked my ranking—No. 7 in the city—and said nothing.
They used to beg me to team up with them whenever they wanted to climb the rankings.
Now Nina wanted to feel better, so suddenly I was useless.
Nina crossed her arms.
"I don't wanna play anymore. You guys are all picking on me."
"Let's do Truth or Dare instead. And nobody gets to chicken out."
She looked over at me.
"Annika's playing too, right?"
The certainty in her eyes said she already knew the answer.
Keaton didn't even bother asking.
"Of course she is. She'll play whatever."
I dropped the controller and looked at the character lying on the screen.
It looked a lot like my friendship and my relationship with Thorne.
Both were already dead.
We each picked a number and started drawing cards.
Thorne's card read:
[Kiss No. 3 on the cheek.]
I was No. 3.
Nina's face fell instantly.
The other three guys started whooping, though the teasing in their voices sounded more like a warning.
"Dude, kiss her! Prove there's nothing between you two!"
Thorne stared at the card for a second, then threw it into the trash.
"That'd be weird. We're basically like bros."
"I forfeit."
Everyone burst out laughing.
Something inside me finally clicked.
For the first time, I realized that maybe none of his choices had been an act at all.
Maybe I'd been making excuses for him this whole time.
People change.
Feelings change too.
Nina gave me a sweet little smile.
"Annika, relax. It's just a game. Don't take it so seriously."
The triumph in her eyes was impossible to hide.
Then she drew her own card.
The second she read it, she smiled.
Xavier leaned over.
"What'd you get? Why are you smiling like that?"
"You're blushing."
Nina held up the card.
[Kiss No. 5.]
No. 5 was Thorne.
Ryder slapped the table.
"Rules are rules. Neither of you gets to back out."
Everyone started chanting.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"
Nina looked at Thorne, waiting for him to make a move. Her eyes were full of anticipation.
Thorne stood up and reached for her hand.
"For something like this, I still need the lady's permission."
Nina's cheeks flushed.
She gently closed her eyes.
The answer was obvious.
Everyone around them laughed and cheered as they moved closer.
Their lips met.
Then Nina wrapped her arms around him.
I sat at the end of the table and watched the whole farce in silence.
Suddenly, I remembered Nina asking Thorne to go to an art show with her, just the two of them.
He hadn't refused.
Instead, he'd picked out his nicest suit.
When I asked why he was dressing up, he'd brushed it off.
"It was an art show. I couldn't exactly show up looking sloppy."
I should've understood then.
I shot to my feet.
The movement finally made the two of them pull apart.
Nina looked straight at me, didn't even try to hide the satisfaction on her face.
I looked at Thorne.
"Thorne Sterling."
"We're done."
Then I didn't look at any of them again.
Turned and walked out.
The second I got to my room, my phone started going crazy.
The group chat already had 99+ unread messages.
[Annika Calloway, what the hell was that?]
[Didn't we agree you'd play along for the guys?]
[Why are you suddenly walking out?]
"If you couldn't handle it, you should've told us before all this!"
When I didn't want to play along, they forced me into it.
Now that I was done playing, somehow I was the problem.
Thorne tagged me in the chat.
[Come back and explain everything to Nina.]
[She's been crying and asking what kind of relationship you and I have.]
[I told her the breakup was part of the prank we set up for you.]
[Just play along. Don't change the story now.]
I turned off my phone.
Even now, Thorne hadn't tried to stop me from leaving or comfort me.
None of them did.
They only cared about Nina.
Just Nina.
