Page 72 of The Cuffing Game
“Wait, what?” she asked softly.
“You,” he repeated, more loudly this time. “I have a crush on you, and I wanted to tell you before I left. I thought I hated you at first. You took yourself so seriously in class and I loved making fun of you for it. But then I got to know you better, and I realized you’re actually really cool. And after seeing you work on the show and witnessing firsthandhow much you care about everyone and everything... I tried my best to ignore my feelings for you, but I can’t deny them anymore. It might sound impossible, but I really admire you, Mia. And I like you.”
She pulled back. This was a dream. A nightmare even. How could the star of her own reality TV show fall in love withher? How could hersecretcrushlike her back? “You can’tlikeme,” Mia said. “It’s been less than a week!”
Noah blinked in confusion. “Okay,” he replied, drawing out the word. “That’s a little hypocritical for someone who created a six-day-long dating show to say, don’t you think?”
“First of all, that part wasn’t my idea,” Mia said. “The SPC set that short time period since it’s more affordable. Second, this is different. Most of the contestants on our show knew their crushes for a long time before they came on here, either up close or from afar.”
Noah crossed his arms to his chest. “But what about the people who didn’t know each other before? Like Violet and Carlos? Compared to them, you and I have known each other for much longer.”
He made perfect sense. And Mia knew it. But at the same time, she couldn’t get past the sheer, ridiculous notion that he liked her back. Or that, within a few days, he’d done a complete one-eighty from pestering her in class.
She had no idea what her face was doing, but whatever it was made Noah’s expression soften.
“Mia,” he said gently, slowly reaching a hand toward her. “Why is it so hard for you to believe that I like you? You’re amazing.”
Pressure built up inside Mia’s chest. Her hands shook. Some part of her wanted to shoutGuess what, Noah,actually, I’ve had a crush on you for as long as I can remember. That’s the entire reason why I createdThe Cuffing Gamein the first place!But she didn’t. He’d changed his mind so quickly about her, like he’d changed his mind about Celine... too many things had happened for her to ignore.
Mia opened her mouth, and then closed it again, fully parsing out what she could and couldn’t say. Finally, she decided on, “Noah, what about Celine?”
He frowned. In a low, confused voice, he asked, “What about her? I can’t like you just because your friend had a crush on me?”
“Well, you kissed her.”
He sighed. “Yeah, but that’s before I knew better. Celine didn’t even like me for me. She was only interested in me because I’m famous. She knows it, too. Which was why she dumped me the moment she found out what I’m really like, which is hilarious, since her new guy wants to be me.”
Mia made a face of disgust. She’d heard him say that to Celine in yesterday’s footage, too, but she had no idea what he meant. “Why are you so adamant that Kyle wants to be you? Because you’ve got more followers? You’re so full of it.”
Noah ran his hand through his hair in frustration. “He used to be in Alpha Tau, and I had some weird interactions with him in the past. There’s a reason why he got kicked out of our fraternity. But I don’t want to get into all that right now. I want to focus onus.”
“Noah,” Mia said, “there can’tbean us. Not before we figure the other stuff out. Celine—”
“Can we please stop talking about Celine?” Noah cut in. “I know she’s your friend, but she literally threw herself at me the moment we got here, confessing I was her crush and not even giving me achanceto talk to anyone else. Duringspeed dating!But the moment she got to know me, the real me, she lost interest. No, she wants a real ‘gentleman.’”
His tone was pure ice now, his voice mocking and cruel in an all-too-familiar way.
Anger rushed into Mia, replacing whatever hot tub–inspired feelings she’d been previously experiencing. Could she really like someone who saw people this way? Who looked down on people like Noah did with Kyle, Celine, and even herself back in school?
“You do realize you sound like a complete jerk, right?” she asked.
Noah gritted his teeth. “I’ve been nothing but honest with you,” he said, practically growling. “And you’ve listened to me and nodded along like you understood this whole time, until now. Why are you bringing up all this other stuff instead of just believing me when I say Ilikeyou?”
Mia couldn’t take it anymore. “WhyshouldI believe you? You’re a rude, pretentious frat boy turned influencer who negged me all semester before wildly doing a one-eighty. And you always act like you’re better than everyone else, while the only reason you’re attending film school here in the first place, even when you have zero respect for real cinema and barely pay attention in class, is your daddy’s money!”
Noah flinched back like she’d slapped him.
Mia’s mouth dropped open in shock. She couldn’t believe she had said that hideous jumble of thoughts out loud. Her gut twisted with guilt.
“Noah, I’m sorry. I went too far,” she said, reaching for his hand. “I just panicked—”
Noah jerked back so roughly that water splashed up. His face twisted with anger and hurt. “Is that what you really think of me? After everything I did for you and your show? After I literally eliminatedmyselfso other people could get a chance at their happy ending?”
Mia remained quiet. The snow was coming down in full force now, an overwhelming blizzard that made it hard to see the world around her, slowly erasing Noah bit by bit. Before, when she was all flared up, she hadn’t felt the cold. But now the wind seemed to cut through her.
Noah took a long, shuddering breath. And then, as Mia watched, his expression flattened out, becoming the emotionless mask she’d seen many times in his videos. It wasterrifying how he could switch it on and off.
“I’m going back to LA,” he said, turning away from her. “Sorry, this whole conversation... it was a mistake. After last night, I thought maybe, just maybe, you might like me too. But I clearly read you wrong.”
