It all started because Pope pissed you off.

You and him were neck-and-neck in this big school trivia competition—something about winning a scholarship or a summer program, and naturally, things got heated. He made a snide comment in front of everyone: “Whatever. You and your little friend group are gonna be virgins forever anyway.”

You saw red.

So, with a fake smile and way too much pride, you fired back: “Actually, I already slept with Rafe Cameron, so…”

Dead silence. One kid dropped their pencil.

You didn’t mean for it to be a thing. You just wanted to shut Pope up. But someone overheard. Then someone else. And when your friends asked you about it—“Wait, you and Rafe??”—you panicked and just… nodded. “Yeah. Totally true.”

Except it wasn’t.

Okay, almost. You did ask Rafe if he wanted to sleep with you a week ago. It was bold. He said yes. You even went over to his place that night—everyone was out, the lights were low, his cologne was kind of dizzying—but when it got real, your body froze. You freaked out and ran, mumbling something about your mom needing you. He didn’t question it. Didn’t even bring it up after.

Now, he was finding out through the grapevine that you were going around telling people you did sleep together. Because apparently, rumors fly faster than common sense.

You were walking past the outdoor bleachers when he called your name.

“Hey,” Rafe said, leaning against the wall like a storm waiting to hit. “So… you’re telling people we hooked up?”

Your mouth dried up. “It—it was just Pope. And then it kind of… spread.”

He raised a brow. “And you couldn’t have picked someone else to lie about? Like, I don’t know, JJ? Or literally anyone who’s not gonna look at you and remember that you ran out of my bed like I had the plague?”

You felt the flush creep up your neck. “I didn’t mean—ugh. I just didn’t want to look like some loser.”

Rafe tilted his head. “Well, now you look like a liar.”

And the worst part? You couldn’t even argue with that.