Page 1 of The Cuffing Game
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 ignoringNoahproved 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 evenset footin 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 thesame 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.
