The Cuffing Game

Prologue Mia

Prologue

Mia

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when there is a hot person, there is also someone with a crush on them. This

crush may be a secret or a well-known fact. It may be voluntary, or completely against their will.

Mia Yoon was no stranger to crushes. Hers lasted anywhere from a few seconds of daydreaming to years of secretly pining, regardless

of whether she wanted to or not. Usually, they weren’t mutual, so she ignored them. And that’s exactly what she did when she

developed an annoying crush on Noah Jang.

Or at least, she tried to. Because ignoring Noah proved to be impossible.

Mia couldn’t remember when she’d started following Noah on social media, but before she’d seen him in class, before she’d

even set foot in LA, she had watched his fame skyrocket over the last few years. Suddenly he was everywhere, all over her feed. Rich mahogany

eyes and dazzling smile.

From her insignificantly small hometown of Bluebonnet, Texas, Mia had watched him do everything from lip-syncing in his bed to starring and directing in highly produced commercials.

She wasn’t a fan of social media, but even she was begrudgingly impressed by the fact that, for several years, Noah posted

almost daily, with an incredible range that went from tragic to comedic, from simplistic to awe-inspiring. This, she told herself, was why she hadn’t gotten around to blocking him yet. And not just because he was incredibly hot.

But now, she wished she had. Maybe then he wouldn’t have such a strong effect on her in person, dancing right in front of

her, shirtless.

Those shoulders . . . was Mia’s first attempt at a coherent thought. And holy . . . abs.

Never in her many years of envisioning her life in college had she pictured herself at a party, red Solo cup of SunnyD in

hand, during the first week of classes. But her new roommate, Celine Huang, had insisted. And Mia had wanted to make a good

impression on her, so she’d tagged along.

Unfortunately, Celine had ditched her for the first hot guy who walked past them, leaving Mia alone to fend for herself against

the lure of Noah’s abs. And eyes. Well, both. Mia liked both girls and guys, but guys like Noah reminded her that she was

very much not a lesbian.

There were two other boys flanking him, executing the same dance moves.

But they could have been invisible as far as Mia was concerned.

While the other boys looked like they were just going through the motions, Noah fully embodied them.

An extra flick of his wrist. The almost too perfect curve of his smirk.

As much as Mia hated to admit it, Noah had “star quality.”

And she wasn’t the only one caught in his siren song.

“Noah! Noah! Noah!” chanted the people around them.

Partygoers bobbed their heads and bounced along to the up-tempo K-pop song blasting from the portable speaker that someone

had set up—for a reason unbeknownst to Mia—right by the drinks. Several people recorded the performance with their phone cameras.

Mia’s heart beat faster and louder as Noah pulsed along to the music, running a hand through his hair before sliding it along

his perfect chin in one fluid motion. His movements were graceful, yet powerful. Easy, yet heavily controlled. She shook her

head, like that would settle her thoughts. He was a good dancer. So what?

But then, Noah leapt high and executed a flawless backflip.

Mia’s jaw dropped. The crowd went wild.

One of the other boys spread his arms out wide, regaling everyone with a dazzling smile. Waving at a guy who was live streaming

in the audience, he said, “Hey, everyone! Thank you so much for coming to our party. We’re Alpha Tau!”

All three boys fist-bumped each other, drawing laughter from the crowd.

With a sheepish grin, the first boy continued, “I’m Thad, and these are my fraternity brothers Brent and Noah.”

At his name, Noah tilted his head up in greeting. Cheers and screams erupted from the crowd, and the two other boys rolled

their eyes in a good-natured way.

“Yes, yes, we know how much you love my Big, Noah,” Thad teased. “If you’re a guy and you want to be cool like him, or any

of us really, rush our fraternity this week. We do a lot of awesome stuff, and this is just one of the many parties we’ll

host this year. We promise we’re chill.”

“Most of the time,” Noah said with a dashing grin.

A few girls in the front row shrieked. One actually swooned, her beer sloshing as she almost fell to the ground.

Thad cupped his hands over his mouth and yelled, “Alpha Tau!”

Noah and his friends bowed, each adding a flourish, as a wave of applause swept through the crowd. Several boys in the audience

hooted and threw their fists into the air.

Mia covered her ears and backed away from the crowd.

If frat parties were supposed to be the epitome of college social life, Mia wasn’t sure if she wanted to leave her room ever

again except to go to class. Books, movies, and TV shows provided her with enough entertainment, thank you very much. And

neither of those involved yelling or underage drinking or one particular frat boy who was hotter than anyone had any right

to be.

Thad and Brent joined the rest of the party while Noah remained behind. The live streamer ended the video and handed the phone over to Noah.

Mia wasn’t drifting closer to eavesdrop. Okay, she totally was.

“You’re so cool, man,” the other boy was saying to Noah. “That backflip? Wow.”

“Thanks, Kyle,” Noah replied. “Appreciate you.”

“No problem,” the other boy replied. “Hey, what are you doing for the rest of the party? There are so many hot girls here.

We did good!”

Noah ran a hand through his hair as he scanned the area. He did a double take when he saw Mia, standing by herself in the

middle of the yard.

Oh, no.

She froze, like a deer in headlights waiting for imminent death.

His eyes widened.

Her cheeks flushed.

“They’re all right,” Noah said, turning back to Kyle. “Not really my type, though. I’m going to head back upstairs and call

it a night. Best of luck with rush week!”

Not really my type.

Noah had looked at her twice before saying those words.

Indignation rose up inside Mia, a cold tightness that gripped her chest.

This is why some crushes are better off a secret, she thought.

Inside her brain, a fuse lit, rapidly growing into a fire of an idea. She had to go back to her room to write it down, ASAP. But she couldn’t resist doing one more thing before she left.

Mia cupped her hands to her mouth and yelled, “Put a shirt on!”

A chorus of oohs erupted from the crowd.

Noah turned back around to face her, raising his eyebrows. He’d said nothing but had somehow still got the last word.

Cheeks burning, she spun and ran as fast as she could back to her dorm.

And then, in the safe comforts of her own room, she dealt with her crush on Noah Jang by doing what she did best: she planned

out a TV show.