Chapter 3

My mind drifted for a second.

Logan. My first love, my untouchable memory.

Just a few days ago, I saw his stage performance blowing up on the charts. He really was an elite idol.

"My apologies, everyone. Got stuck in terrible traffic. Sorry for being late."

Logan offered a polished, charming apology to the room. That smile was dangerously disarming, making everyone believe he was some harmless, pure-hearted angel. But behind closed doors...

"Well, look at that. You see your old flame, and you're practically drooling on the floor," Jaxon's voice cut through my thoughts.

"Give me a break. I stopped caring about that jerk years ago, okay?" I snapped back in my head.

"Harper, long time no see." Logan reached out a hand, flashing a soft, familiar smile.

I really didn't want to engage with him at all.

"The little creature is mine. Not just any random guy gets to touch her." Jaxon abruptly slung an arm around my shoulders and slapped Logan's hand away.

"Ooh, you're so fierce, baby," I recited the system's prompt with dead eyes, completely numb inside.

"Did I ruin your little reunion with your ex? You've gone completely silent," Jaxon asked smugly after noticing my mind was drawing a blank.

"The past is in the past. Whatever, drop it," I mentally sighed, putting on a detached face as I spaced out in my chair.

"Logan, go ahead and sit down. Jaxon, what were you saying before? That contestant's knees were shaking so hard he almost dropped his mic."

Once Logan took the seat to my left, the Pop King finally let out a long, exhausted breath.

After wrapping up the first episode, the entire production crew went out for dinner together.

"Harper, about what happened back then..." Logan walked up holding two glasses of wine, offering one to me.

"There's nothing to discuss. The past stays in the past. You've got a booming career now, consider my silence an act of charity." Without looking up, I picked at a loose rhinestone on my manicured nail.

"Harper... do we really have no chance left?" Logan's eyes rimmed with red. "That guy Jaxon doesn't genuinely love you. There's no affection in the way he looks at you."

"And you think there was any in yours?" Annoyed, I accidentally popped off the rhinestone, snatched the glass, and sneered, "Drink this, and never come near me again."

Just as I brought the rim to my lips, a distinct, slender hand intercepted it. "Woman, you're not allowed to drink wine from strangers."

Jaxon tipped the glass back and drained it in a single gulp, a single stray drop rolling down his sharp jawline and vanishing beneath his collar.

"I told you, don't even dream about touching what's mine." Jaxon glared viciously at Logan. "Or I'll make sure your little pop star career ends tonight."

He slammed the empty glass back into Logan's hands, grabbed my wrist, and dragged me out toward his car.

"Harper, drive me home."

The second he uttered those words, his head slumped sideways against the passenger headrest, completely out cold.

Nobody warned me this guy was a total lightweight who collapses after a single drink!

"System, stop giving him tasks that involve drinking. He can't handle alcohol," I pleaded internally.

"Host, we didn't assign any quests just now! Jaxon intervened entirely on his own!" the two childish voices chimed in to defend themselves.

Wait... so he came over just to pull me out of that corner?

Looking at his peaceful, sleeping face, I leaned across the console to buckle his seatbelt.

As my ear brushed his lips, I caught him murmuring, "Stupid Harper..."

See? Catching feelings for this idiot was a complete dead end.

I rolled my eyes and drove him back to my place instead.

I barely managed to haul him onto the bed. Since he ended up like this because of me, I figured I'd take one for the team and crash on the couch.

In the middle of the night, a dull thud echoed from the bedroom.

I cracked the door open and found Jaxon sprawling on the hardwood floor, his clothes in complete disarray.

"Hot... it's so hot..."

Jaxon tugged frantically at his shirt, exposing the sharp contours of his chest and abs.

I knelt down and touched his skin; he was burning up, and the bulge between his thighs was impossible to ignore.

The drink was spiked.

In that split second, I mentally cursed Logan into the ground a thousand times over.

"Ugh... so loud... burning up..." Jaxon finally yanked his shirt off completely, his hands restlessly roaming over his own heated skin.