“Ahhh—seriously? Ethan said he’s treating our whole dorm to dinner tonight.”

“No way, for real? Ahhh, does that mean I finally get to see the legendary campus heartthrob of C University in person?”

“Damn, Ethan moves fast. You two have only been together, what, two weeks?”

“None of that matters. What matters is, we’re finally getting to see a live Lucas Hale.”

“Just thinking about it is making me hyped.”

“You guys only dare act wild in the dorm. The second you’re actually in front of him, every single one of you will fold.”

“Says who? Just wait and see. I’m totally going to stare at him until he gets embarrassed.”

“Can’t wait to watch that.”

“...”

The moment Nina Ashford stepped into the dorm, she heard her roommates chattering at full volume, one sentence tumbling after another. It didn’t take much to piece it together—Tiffany Crane’s brand-new boyfriend was inviting their whole dorm out to dinner tonight, and apparently, that boyfriend happened to share a dorm with Lucas Hale, the school’s golden boy.

Tiffany noticed the movement at the door and looked up, her eyes meeting Nina’s.

“Um, Nina... wanna come tonight too? Please?”

Her voice came out a little careful, even awkward. They’d already lived together for a year, but Nina was the kind of person who always felt distant—cool, reserved, always on her own. Being roommates didn’t automatically mean they were close.

Nina frowned faintly. She wasn’t feeling great. Her gaze drifted to her roommates’ bare arms, and in an instant, her whole body seemed to start itching under the skin, like something restless was crawling through her.

Seeing that expression, Tiffany instantly assumed she was about to say no, so she hurriedly cut in, “Come on, okay? I’m scared my boyfriend will think our dorm doesn’t get along.”

“Okay.” Nina agreed, her voice slightly hoarse.

That afternoon, Nina went back to the library and stayed there for hours, but not a single word made it into her head. She could feel it—she was close to another flare-up. Her whole body felt off, wrong somehow, yet she kept forcing herself to suppress that growing urge to reach out and touch.

When she got back, the other two roommates were already helping Tiffany with her makeup and outfit.

The second Tiffany saw her, she hesitated, then asked tentatively, “Nina... what are you wearing tonight?”

Honestly, it wasn’t a weird question. Nina was 169 centimeters tall, pale-skinned, breathtakingly pretty. Back during freshman military training, she’d caused a stir across campus, and not long after, she was voted the department beauty. With her face and figure, even a plain gray sack would probably look expensive on her.

If she put even a little effort into dressing up, everyone’s eyes would probably land on her and stay there.

Nina Ashford obviously knew exactly what Tiffany Crane was thinking. She just gave a small smile and said, "This is fine."

Tiffany glanced at her dull gray sweats and felt a little better right away. Nina wasn’t close to people, that was true, but she’d always been low-maintenance and considerate of other people’s feelings. So the dorm had gotten along with her pretty well. Nobody froze her out just because she always kept to herself. At most, they treated her like a roommate they saw every day.

At first, they used to invite Nina to things too. But after she politely and gently turned them down once, they never asked again. Not until Tiffany started dating.

At six that evening, in a riverside restaurant, Ethan Mercer arrived at the private room first with all the guys from his dorm. The moment he saw his girlfriend’s message, he immediately turned to his roommates. "Hey, hey—Tiffany said Nina Ashford came too."

"The junior who caused that huge confession scene during military training last year?"

"Yep. The ice-queen campus beauty. Her reputation’s basically on the same level as Lucas. Total gem of the Foreign Languages Department. And the key point—she’s insanely pretty in real life."

Seeing his second roommate rubbing his hands together like he was gearing up for battle, Ethan reached over and punched him lightly. "Bro, give it up. Even Owen Marsh, the all-round golden boy from Foreign Languages, couldn’t get her attention."

"I heard this Nina Ashford girl isn’t very social. She does everything alone."

A soft scoff came from the seat by the window. "Why do you care whether she’s alone or not? Seriously, mind your own business."

The guy who spoke was leaning lazily against his chair, one hand holding his phone as his fingers moved fast across the screen. He didn’t even look up. All anyone could really see was the sharp line of his side profile and that clean, hard jawline.

"Lucas, that’s where you don’t get it. A cool girl like Nina needs a man as passionate as me. My passion burns like a fire—"

Ethan clamped a hand over his roommate’s mouth at once. "Please shut up. We still want to eat later."

Lucas Hale smiled. At that exact moment, his phone sounded with the crisp victory tone from the game. He stood up, walked over to the window, and casually looked down. A few girls were gathered together below, all looking worriedly at the person in the middle.

That person waved her hand as if saying it was nothing. Since he was on the second floor, Lucas could clearly see the scrapes across her pale elbow.

A scrape? So she got scraped?

Lucas guessed she was probably Ethan’s girlfriend’s roommate. He had just opened his mouth to say something when he saw Ethan stare at his phone for a few seconds, then hurry out of the private room.

Nina didn’t want to ruin the dinner, so she endured the sting in her arm and followed them upstairs. Deep down, she was oddly relieved. The pain, at least for now, seemed to suppress that restless craving she had to touch someone else’s skin.

Tiffany leaned close and whispered something into Ethan’s ear. The second he came back into the room, he started rummaging through Lucas’s bag.

"Lucas, where’s that bruise medicine and injury stuff you keep? Nina got hit by a delivery guy just now while trying to shield Tiffany."

"What?" The second roommate and Spencer Adams both shot to their feet, their expressions turning serious on the spot.

Nina Ashford was this close to dying of secondhand embarrassment. She waved her hands fast and said, "I'm fine. I just slipped a little. It's only a scrape."

Lucas Hale smacked Ethan Mercer's hand away. "What the hell, are you a husky tearing the house apart?"

Then he reached into the side pocket of his bag, pulled out some disinfectant, and handed it to Nina.

"Thanks."

Maybe his hand was just too big, or maybe her timing was awful. The second Nina reached out, her fingers brushed his.

Her whole body went numb for a beat.

A strange, intense wave of satisfaction rushed up from somewhere deep inside her, so sudden it almost made her breathing hitch.

She looked up.

The guy in front of her was ridiculously good-looking. Not the trendy pale, delicate kind of handsome that was everywhere now. Lucas had healthy bronze-toned skin, neat dark brows, and deep-set eyes with a sharp edge to them. There was something untamed in the space between his brows, something raw that most college boys didn't have. His features were clean and defined, every line of his face carrying an easy, unapologetic masculinity.

No one even needed to tell her.

This had to be Lucas Hale, the senior from the Architecture Department, the campus heartthrob at C University.

So the rumors were actually underselling him.

Nina quickly pulled her finger back and dug her nails into her palm. The sting barely saved her from the craving rising out of control.

Crap.

That was the only thought left in her head.

After Tiffany Crane took Nina to the restroom to clean up the wound, the group finally got around to proper introductions. Back in the dorm, the other two roommates had been throwing around "campus crush" this and "campus crush" that like they were fearless. But now that the guy was actually right in front of them, neither of them dared look at him openly, let alone sit beside him. The two kept nudging each other, shoving the responsibility back and forth, and in the end they pushed Nina into the seat next to Lucas.

Ethan wasn't as outrageously handsome as Lucas, but he was tall, broad-shouldered, and good at keeping a conversation going. He had Tiffany and the other girls laughing nonstop, so the table stayed lively enough.

But Nina barely heard any of it.

Her eyes kept drifting to Lucas's hand where it rested around the chopsticks.

The bones and joints were cleanly shaped, his fingers long and strong. His nails were trimmed short and neat. His hands looked dry, tidy, distinct.

If those hands pressed against her cheek, then maybe—

Nina pinched hard at her thigh and nearly cursed at herself.

She really had lost it.

Skin hunger syndrome. A psychological disorder that couldn't really be cured. She had spent so long pretending she was fine, hiding it so well it had almost become instinct. And then, of all people, she had to run into Lucas Hale, a man who seemed custom-built to hit every single one of her aesthetic weak spots.

As someone with a serious thing for looks, Nina didn't dare let her gaze linger on him anymore.

A stranger like this, she thought, was way too dangerous.

She shifted slightly toward her roommate, trying to put a little more distance between herself and Lucas, trying to use that distance to suppress the growing craving for the touch of his skin. She hadn't felt right all day, and by now the anxiety and irritation inside her had piled up so high they were almost spilling over.

The worst part was that Lucas had no idea.

When he stood to help Ethan grab some drinks, the back of his hand brushed hers again.

Clack—

Her chopsticks dropped onto the table.

Nina shot to her feet. "Sorry. I need to use the restroom."

Lucas pressed his lips together, paused for a second, then stood up and followed her out.