My Rival Can't Possibly Like Me!
Ethan Cross has lost to Adrian Vale his entire life. Lost crayons in kindergarten. Lost races in elementary school. Lost basketball championships in high school. Now at prestigious Crestwood University, Ethan is determined to finally WIN something—specifically, the heart of Emma Sterling, the campus belle who makes everyone's head turn.
There's just one problem: Adrian Vale is his roommate.
And Adrian keeps ruining everything. When Ethan tries to study in the library near Emma, Adrian shows up. When Ethan joins the basketball team to impress her, Adrian becomes team captain. When Ethan finally works up courage to ask Emma to the Spring Festival, Adrian interrupts with some "emergency" that isn't really an emergency.
What confuses Ethan most is that Adrian doesn't even seem interested in Emma. Instead, his rival watches Ethan with intense dark eyes, sits too close during study sessions, and gets weirdly aggressive when other guys talk to Ethan. It's like Adrian is obsessed with beating him at everything—except Adrian isn't competing for Emma at all.
Then Ethan sees Adrian laughing with Lucas Park, the charming art major, and something ugly twists in his chest. Something that feels like jealousy but can't be because Ethan doesn't care who Adrian dates. Except he can't stop thinking about it. Can't stop noticing how Adrian's smile never reaches his eyes when he's with Lucas. Can't stop wondering why his heart races when Adrian stands too close.
When Emma confesses she's been dating someone else all along, Ethan's carefully planned future crumbles. But Adrian is there, as always, with that infuriating smirk and an honesty that changes everything: "I've never been competing for her, idiot. I've been competing for you."
Now Ethan must face the terrifying truth—he's been losing to Adrian his whole life because he was running the wrong race. And the real victory might be surrendering to the rival who's loved him all along.