Chapter 6 Scratch on the Palm

• Two college girls sat at a corner table. They let out loud gasps.
• The three people at the counter spoke in low voices just now. Nobody else paid much attention.
• Now, every eye in the shop snapped toward the front door.
• It was Miles. A brown-haired guy followed right behind him. He looked like a heavy gym rat too.
• "Hey, Miles, did the sun rise in the west today?" Jace nagged as he walked in. "You actually want bubble tea? You know how much sugar is in this stuff, right?"
• Jace peeked through the door on their way past. Miles just stopped dead in his tracks. Then he pushed the door open and walked right inside.
• When did bubble tea get this kind of pull over him?
• Jace tracked Miles's line of sight. He saw the bubble tea clerk. Nora stood behind the counter. Jace got the picture right away.
• Miles walked up to the order counter. He acted like nothing was wrong. He didn't even look at Nora. His eyes stayed glued to the menu board.
• "Hey, Nora. Long time no see!" Jace let out a soft whistle. He leaned against the counter with a lazy grin.
• Jace came from money. He looked decent enough. But he had a bad reputation as a campus player. His ex-girlfriends could field a whole cheer squad.
• Even among all the gorgeous international and mixed-race girls on campus, Nora stood out.
• Beside her killer looks, a few people in Miles's inner circle knew the truth. A month ago, Miles fell hard at first sight for a pretty Chinese ballerina. Jace was one of the few who knew.
• "That dance last night was fire. Looked like a real swan out there."
• "Thanks." Nora offered a stiff, awkward smile.
• Memories from the other night flooded her brain. She made out with this guy in a dusty utility closet just yesterday. Now, her eyes refused to meet his.
• She used to hate Jace too. Miles and Jace were always at war. That made her view Jace as bad news.
• But later on...
• Her mind wandered back. She dropped her gaze. A flicker of real sorrow crossed her eyes.
• Dylan and Zoe knew Miles was after Nora. The second Miles walked in, Dylan put up his guard.
• That was raw instinct. A guy always gets defensive when a stronger threat walks into the room.
• Jace acted too flirty. That made Dylan tick.
• He hated feeling like someone else wanted to take his property.
• Dylan switched to English on purpose. His voice took on a fake, sweet tone.
• "Nora. I booked a nice spot for tonight. Let's grab dinner together."
• "I'll walk you back to the dorm after."
• Nora shot him a cold look. Her voice stayed flat.
• "I'm tired from yesterday. I want to sleep early tonight. Count me out."
• Jace let out a sharp snort when Dylan got shut down by the girl.
• Dylan's face turned dark. His pride took a major hit. Annoying heat burned in his chest. He forced a cool, gentleman's smile to save face.
• "Oh well. Next time then."
• Miles stared at the menu for a solid minute. He finally made up his choice.
• He raised his head. This was his first time speaking since he walked through the door. His deep brown eyes finally landed on Nora's face.
• His voice carried a strange, heavy edge.
• "Give me one."
• "Lemon boba."
• "Oh. Sure." Nora blinked twice.
• She realized what she said out loud just now. Pure panic hit her chest.
• She made up that fake excuse yesterday to get out of the house. But the exact guy who ruined her sleep last night stood right in front of her.
• Nora's skin burned hot. She pushed down her weird nerves. Her hands moved fast across the register screen.
• Payment went through. She started making the drink.
• Zoe stared at Miles the second he walked through the door. She even twirled her hair. She wanted to catch the eye of the campus prince.
• Too bad a huge milk tea stain soaked right through her shirt over her stomach. No amount of hair-twirling could hide that mess.
• She realized it too late.
• Zoe's pretty face twisted in pure anger.
• What made her madder? Nobody even looked at her.
• Whenever she stood next to Nora, people looked right past her.
• "Hey, cutie. We've got a big hockey game next Saturday. Want tickets to check it out?"
• Nora whipped up the drink fast. She tossed it into a to-go bag.
• Before she could hand it over, Jace dug into his pocket. He pulled out three paper tickets.
• Zoe's eyes locked onto those tickets. She couldn't look away.
• "Me and Miles are playing." Jace gave a playful wink.
• Getting tickets to Miles's games was almost impossible. Students on the campus forum paid crazy money just to score a single seat.
• There were three people standing right here. But Jace pulled out just one ticket. He slid it right across the counter to Nora.
• "You gotta come."
• Nora glanced at him. She looked past Jace's shoulder to catch Miles's calm face.
• Tickets to the billionaire hockey captain's game?
• She didn't hesitate for a single second. Nora grabbed the ticket from Jace's hand.
• "Thanks." She kept her tone polite.
• "Nora, I'm so jealous. I tried to buy tickets for the inter-college hockey match all week. They sold out instantly. I wanted to go check it out so bad."
• Zoe stared at the other two tickets in Jace's hand with puppy-dog eyes. She pouted and spoke in a baby voice.
• "Oh, so Zoe wants to go?" Nora looked at her with a half-smile.
• Jace raised an eyebrow.
• "Zoe? This chick is Zoe?"
• His eyes turned cold and mocking.
• "Guess I know your name now." Zoe's fake smile twitched.
• "Oh, my bad. Don't know you. Just heard your name on the loudspeaker last night."
• Jace grinned. "Good thing you didn't dance. Would've ruined the whole show since Nora was so good!"
• Zoe's face turned pale.
• "Since Ms. Zoe wants tickets so bad, well—"
• Zoe dropped her fake pout. Her eyes lit up with hope. She waited for Jace to finish his sentence.
• "You'll just have to buy them off the resale market like everyone else."
• Zoe: "..."
• Nora bit the inside of her cheek to hold back a massive grin. She ignored the two of them. She handed the bag of milk tea across the counter to Miles.
• Miles reached out and took it.
• On purpose or by accident, his thick thumb grazed right across the center of her palm.
• Nora gasped. Her eyes went wide as she stared straight up at him.