The Wager

Everyone warned her about Sebastian Vane. She just didn't expect the warning to come true in a tutoring session, with him half-dressed and looking at her like she's the one thing he hasn't already figured out how to win.

Wren Castellano has exactly one rule: stay off Sebastian Vane's radar. As a scholarship student juggling two jobs and a vintage-motorcycle restoration side hustle that barely covers rent, she doesn't have room in her life for the campus's most notorious heir — heir to old money, a smirk that's ruined better women than her, and a family fortune nobody can quite explain the source of. She's got a steady, sweet "almost-something" with a guy from her econ study group, a best friend dating Sebastian's younger brother, and absolutely zero interest in becoming the next name on Sebastian's long, glamorous list. Then her best friend volunteers her for the campus charity date auction, and Sebastian — who has never once participated in four years of this event — raises his paddle for her. Twelve thousand dollars. For one night.

Sebastian Vane has spent his entire life being the easy, obvious version of himself — golden, unbothered, exactly as reckless as everyone expects the family's favorite son to be. What no one knows is that behind the trust fund and the tailored jackets, he's the one actually keeping his family's very illegal, very lucrative private wagering syndicate afloat — and one leaked ledger away from destroying everyone he loves. He doesn't do relationships. He can't afford the exposure. But Wren doesn't want anything from him, doesn't recognize his name the way everyone else does, and doesn't flinch when he drops the charm — and that's exactly what makes him unable to stay away.

What starts as a twelve-thousand-dollar date turns into study sessions that run too late, a motorcycle he insists on "helping" fix, and a heat neither of them can outrun. But Sebastian's carefully hidden double life is closer to unraveling than he's let himself believe, and Wren is one discovery away from finding out exactly what kind of trouble she's actually in.

The Wager is a complete, standalone billionaire romance with banter that bites, a hero who falls first and falls hard, and a bet neither of them planned on winning.

Tropes: Billionaire Hero • He Falls First • Forced Proximity • Fake-ish Dating • Secret Double Life • Found Family