Y/N left New Orleans to get away from the life that kept trying to drag her under. A drug-addict mother. A younger brother always one bad decision away from jail. Bills, late shifts, community college, and learning way too young that pretty doesn’t pay rent. She fought her way into one of the richest universities in California through scholarships, a photography portfolio, and pure stubbornness. She earned her place. Unfortunately, rich people can smell “not one of us” from a mile away. Especially Zayden Reigns. Star quarterback. Campus golden boy. Rich family. Perfect future. The kind of man people forgive too much for because he looks like that. He has the image, the money, the head cheerleader girlfriend, and a life already planned for him. Y/N is everything that threatens it. She’s too real. Too sharp. Too unimpressed. And worst of all, he wants her. So he does what men like him do best. He pushes her away. Cold comments. Bad attitude. Jealousy disguised as annoyance. The kind of tension that makes every room feel way too small. It gets worse when Y/N becomes close to Emrys Jones, the dangerous bad boy Zayden already can’t stand and when Lux Noir, her criminal best friend from New Orleans, arrives and immediately decides rich boys are a disease. Now it’s reputation, jealousy, bad decisions, and way too much chemistry. Because some people ruin your peace the second they look at you. And sometimes, no matter how smart you are… you let them.