The word hung in the air like a grenade with the pin pulled.

Jordan’s head whipped around to stare at her. His eyes were wide with shock and something else. Something that looked like panic mixed with hope.

Cassie’s expression shifted. Surprise flickered across her perfect features before smoothing back into cool assessment.

"Girlfriend." Cassie tested the word. "How long has this been going on?"

"We just..." Chloe faltered. Shit. She hadn’t thought this through.

"Recently," Jordan cut in. His hand found the small of Chloe’s back. The touch grounded her. "Very recently."

"Interesting." Cassie leaned forward slightly. "And where did you two meet? Class? A party?"

"We’re neighbors," Jordan said. "I already told you that."

"How convenient. Door-to-door romance." Cassie’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. "Chloe, what do you study?"

"Communications."

"At Pacific Crest?"

"Yes."

"Scholarship or legacy?"

The question landed like a slap. Chloe felt Jordan tense beside her.

"Does it matter?" Jordan’s voice dropped an octave.

"Just making conversation." Cassie’s gaze never left Chloe’s face. "You seem like a sweet girl. Pretty. The blue streak is very trendy right now."

Chloe touched her hair self-consciously. The streak had become such a part of her identity that she forgot other people noticed it.

"Thanks."

"Jordan has terrible taste in women usually." Cassie continued. "His last girlfriend was a disaster. Spent all his money and cheated on him with some trust fund brat. I assume he told you about Eliza?"

"Cassie." Jordan’s hand tightened on Chloe’s back. "That’s enough."

"I’m just being honest. Someone needs to warn her what she’s getting into." Cassie’s expression softened slightly. "Jordan is sweet. Too sweet for his own good. He falls fast and hard and usually for the wrong people."

Chloe felt something protective flare in her chest. "He’s not the problem. The people he dated were."

Cassie blinked. Then her smile turned genuine for the first time since the call started.

"I like her," Cassie announced. "She has a spine. That’s new for you, Jordan."

"Are we done here?" Jordan asked.

"For now." Cassie sat back in her expensive office chair. "But I expect details later. Real details. Not the sanitized version you’ll give Mom when she inevitably calls you tonight."

"Mom’s calling tonight?"

"Of course she is. You called Dad and told him you were changing. She’s been worried sick that you had a mental breakdown." Cassie’s eyes found Chloe again. "It was nice meeting you, Chloe. Take care of my baby brother. He needs more help than he admits. In more ways than one."

"I will," Chloe said.

Jordan ended the call before Cassie could respond.

Silence filled the loft. Jordan stared at his phone like it might explode.

"Your sister seems nice," Chloe offered.

"She’s terrifying."

"Little bit."

Jordan set his phone face down on the nightstand. He turned to face Chloe fully. His expression was unreadable.

"Girlfriend?"

Chloe’s stomach dropped. "I panicked. She was looking at me like I was some random girl you picked up and I just... said it."

"You could have said friend."

"She wouldn’t have believed that. Not with me half-naked."

"Fair point." Jordan stepped closer. "But girlfriend. That’s..."

"Too much?" Chloe wrapped her arms around herself. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed. We haven’t even talked about what this is and I just went ahead and—"

Jordan kissed her.

It wasn’t heated or demanding like the kisses from earlier. This one was soft. Gentle. His hands cupped her face as his lips moved against hers.

When he pulled back, Chloe felt dizzy.

"I like it," Jordan said quietly.

"The kiss?"

"The word. Girlfriend." He tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear. "If you want to be. I know we—"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, I want to be your girlfriend."

Jordan’s thumb brushed her cheekbone. "Really?"

"Really."

Chloe watched Jordan’s face change. His expression shifted from soft to complicated in the space of a heartbeat. The warmth in his hazel eyes flickered like someone had thrown cold water on a campfire.

Her stomach twisted.

He was going to take it back. He was going to say they should slow down or that girlfriend was too serious or that he needed time to think about what they were doing.

Panic clawed up her throat.

"We can rewind. Call it friends." The words tumbled out, fast and desperate, like a bad sales pitch.

"Friends who kiss. Or friends with benefits. That’s a valid tier of relationship, right? No pressure. We can scrap the labels."

"No." Jordan’s voice was quiet. "That’s not it."

"Then what?" Chloe hated how small she sounded. How exposed. She’d stripped naked in front of thousands of strangers online without flinching but this boy made her feel like every nerve ending was on display.

Jordan looked at her for a long moment. His jaw worked like he was chewing on words he couldn’t quite spit out. His hand moved to the back of his neck, rubbing at tension that appeared out of nowhere.

"My family..." He stopped. Started again. "They’re not what you probably think they are."

Chloe frowned. "What does that mean?"

"They’re old fashioned. Traditional." Jordan’s gaze dropped to the floor between them. "My grandfather especially. He has these ideas about legacy and continuation and making sure the McKnight name doesn’t die out."

"Okay?"

Jordan took a breath. "There’s an inheritance. A big one. My grandfather set up a trust that goes to me when I turn twenty-five."

"That’s... good?"

"There are conditions."

The word hung in the air like smoke from a fire that refused to go out. Chloe’s brain spun through possibilities. He had to graduate college. He had to work in the family business. He had to marry someone his family approved of.

Her chest tightened at that last one. She was a scholarship student with a secret OnlyFans account and parents who owned a dry cleaning business in Koreatown. The McKnight family probably expected someone like Alexis Van Der Berg. Old money. Perfect pedigree. No baggage.

"What kind of conditions?" Her voice came out steadier than she felt.

Jordan finally met her eyes again. "I need to spread the bloodline."

Chloe blinked. "What?"

"My grandfather is obsessed with making sure the McKnight genes get passed down. He wants multiple grandchildren. Plural. He wrote it into the trust."

"So you have to have kids?" Chloe relaxed slightly. That wasn’t so bad. Lots of families wanted grandchildren.

"Not just kids." Jordan’s hands clenched at his sides. "Multiple partners."

The words hit her like a truck.

Chloe stared at him. Her brain refused to process what he’d just said. Multiple partners. Plural. As in more than one.

"You’re joking."

"I wish I was."

"Your grandfather wrote into a legal document that you need to have multiple girlfriends?" Chloe’s voice rose. "That’s insane. That can’t be legal."

"It’s perfectly legal. My family has expensive lawyers who make sure everything is airtight." Jordan scrubbed his hands over his face.

"The exact wording is that I need to maintain stable relationships with at least three women by the time I’m twenty-five. All three have to verify the relationships are genuine. And I need to produce at least one child with each of them."