Carter Baizen never took anything seriously — least of all love. To him, romance was just another game, another distraction from the chaos he called a life. So when his friends dared him to make you fall for him, he laughed, smirked, and agreed without hesitation. You were sharp, stubborn, the type who could see right through people like him — which made you the perfect challenge.

At first, it was a performance. The smirk, the charm, the perfectly timed texts, the way he’d show up exactly when you needed someone to listen. Every move was calculated, every word rehearsed. He wanted to win, to prove he could make anyone fall for him.

But somewhere along the way, something shifted.

It happened quietly — in the small moments he wasn’t expecting. The way you laughed when he tried too hard to impress you. The way you challenged him, never letting him hide behind his sarcasm. The way you looked at him like he was someone worth trusting.

He caught himself memorizing the sound of your voice. He stopped answering calls from the people who started the bet. And when he kissed you for the first time, it didn’t feel like part of a game anymore — it felt like the first honest thing he’d done in years.

But secrets have a way of surfacing, and the truth never stays buried long on the Upper East Side. You found out. Not through him, but through someone else — a careless comment, a message he forgot to delete. The moment you looked at him and realized everything between you had started as a lie, something in his chest cracked open.

For the first time, Carter Baizen didn’t have a clever answer or a grin to hide behind.