I Called Dibs on Mr. Jackpot

After losing a round of truth or dare, Ezra Everton pointed at me from across the room like it was nothing.

"Her. The brokest girl at the whole art institute. For fun."

The room exploded with laughter. Everyone waited for me to get dumped on the spot and humiliated.

I was already about to tell him to go screw himself when bright red floating comments suddenly blew up in front of me—

[Don't say no! Say yes! That's a walking jackpot!]

[Make his heart race for one second and you'll unlock a $100,000 payout!]

[I'm screaming. Ezra's family is crazy rich. One tiny leak from his wallet could build a whole new wing for Evervale Home!]

[For real. He acts arrogant, but he's secretly such a softie. Win him over, and you're basically set for life!]

Evervale Home. The orphanage.

A hundred grand?

My eyes widened.

I looked at Ezra's ridiculously handsome—seriously punchable—face and swallowed the "go to hell" sitting on my tongue.

Then I met his amused stare and smiled sweetly, hiding the edge in my eyes.

I stepped up and hooked my arm through his.

"Sure, babe."

For a second, the private room went completely silent.

Ezra lifted a brow.

He clearly hadn't expected someone as quiet as me to play along.

But I didn't care.

Because Grace Fakey—the pretentious campus it-girl who started this whole dare—looked seconds away from exploding.

"Mia Madden, wow. You'll really go along with anything, huh? Ezra's obviously joking. Don't tell me you're actually taking this seriously."

[LOL, fake girl's spiraling!]

[She tried to humiliate Mia and got hit with the reverse card instead. I'm dead.]

[Don't back down, Mia! Ezra hates fake girls. The more real you are, the more he'll like you!]

Huh?

There's a perk like that?

The comments kept flying past like they were yelling at me personally—

[Listen to me! Grab the most expensive drink on the table, toast him, and tell him you're taking over his money!]

[Exactly! Ezra's completely touch-starved. He likes getting bossed around—especially about money. That's the cute part!]

[Trust me! If you act like you own him, he'll make you rich!]

It sounded insane.

But for the money—for the leaking roof at Evervale Home—

I went for it.

I grabbed the red wine, poured myself a glass, then filled one for him too.

"If I'm your one-day girlfriend, shouldn't I control your money?" I said casually. "This wine's expensive. Drink less. Save up so you can marry me."

Grace rolled her eyes, obviously about to mock the broke girl who'd never seen real money.

But Ezra just stared at me for a second before his mouth curved into a grin.

Lazy. Amused. Dangerous.

"Sure. Whatever you say, bossy girlfriend."

Then he actually set his glass down.

He looked at the group around us. "You heard her. My girl says no drinking."

The room exploded.

Grace finally snapped. She yanked out her phone and sneered at me.

"Mia, what's your account number? I'll pay for this round. I'll send you a thousand bucks. Take it and stop embarrassing yourself."

I almost laughed.

Then I glanced at the comments.

[Ignore her! $1,000 is pocket change!]

[Ezra's about to shut her down. Face-slap countdown starts now!]

Right on cue—

Ezra snapped his lighter shut and looked up.

"Grace, the embarrassing one here is you." His voice stayed lazy, but the room instantly went quiet. "Since when do you get to throw money at my girlfriend?"

He pulled out his phone, tapped a few times, then turned the screen toward me.

"Transferred."

Three seconds later, my phone buzzed.

[Deposit received: $50,000.00. Balance: $50,235.05.]

My hand shook so hard I almost dropped my phone.

Ezra leaned in, his voice low and warm against my ear.

"One-day girlfriend allowance. Enough? If not, I'll send more."

I froze and pinched my thigh.

Yeah. That hurt.

The comments instantly lost their minds—

[AHHHH! I told you he's a jackpot guy!!! Mia literally hit the lottery!!]

[Ezra, look at me! I can be your one-day girlfriend too! I don't need $50k—$5k is enough!]

[Girl above me, move. I'll do it for $500 and free home-cooked meals!]

I fought down a smile.

Still fully committed to the act, I looked at him with fake devotion.

"It's enough. You're so good to me."

Seeing my completely undisguised greed, the amusement in Ezra's eyes only deepened.