This Game Ends in Ruins

One month. One lie. One boy who was never supposed to matter.

Seventeen-year-old Cleo Coldwell has a secret, and her so-called friend is holding it over her like a knife. The only way to keep it buried? Win a cruel little game: make the quiet, bookish nerd fall in love with her in thirty days, and the secret stays safe. Lose the bet... and everything she's worked to protect gets exposed.

Enter Noah Davis, top of the class, emotionally unavailable, allergic to drama. Getting close to him won't be easy, but Cleo has a plan: ask him to tutor her in a subject she's already acing. Pretend to need him. Pretend to care.

But somewhere between library study sessions and weekend meet-ups, the lines begin to blur. Noah isn't just smart, he's kind, honest, and unexpectedly funny. And Cleo? She's forgetting the rules, forgetting the clock, and worst of all-forgetting it was ever a game.

When the truth comes out, as it always does, someone's going to lose.

And in this game of hearts, love might be the ultimate forfeit.