Mia Cole's best day turned into her worst in five minutes flat.
She got into her dream university. Then she caught her boyfriend, Jake, in bed with another girl.
Heartbroken and furious, Mia did something wild. She walked into a bar, locked eyes with the most dangerously handsome man she had ever seen, and let one electric night erase all her pain.
She never got his name. She never planned to see him again.
But when Mia walks into her very first college class, her heart stops cold. Standing at the front of the room, in a sharp suit with those same dark, unforgettable eyes, is him, Professor Ethan Cross. Her new literature professor. The man she slept with the night before.
Now they are stuck in the same room, three days a week, pretending that night never happened. But the more Ethan tries to push her away, the harder Mia falls. And the more Mia grows into her own power, the harder Ethan fights to keep his walls up.
One wrong move and they both lose everything. But the heart does not care about rules.

The note is still in my hand when I start writing.


You are capable of much better than this.


Six words. Red ink. His handwriting sharp, slanted, no wasted curves. I've read it so many times the paper has a crease from my thumb pressing the same spot over and over.


I set it on my desk. I look at it. Then I open my laptop and start typing.


The first essay was me trying to sound smart. I know that now, sitting in my dorm with Cara asleep across the room, her white noise machine humming its stupid little hum. That essay was me performing, choosing safe words and safe arguments because I was scared of what would happen if I said what I actually thought.


He saw through it. Somehow, he saw through all of it.


I also and I'm not admitting this out loud, ever think he might be right.


Chapter 10 - "Six Words"