She Hired the Poor Scholarship Student to Save Her Grades — Then She Fell for the One Guy She Was Afraid to Love
Chapter 3
Ethan’s life outside the university was nothing like Madison’s.
One night she unexpectedly saw him leaving the library.
“You work here?”
He looked surprised.
“Sometimes.”
“At midnight?”
“I have rent.”
She followed him outside.
“You have a scholarship.”
“It doesn’t cover everything.”
He walked toward the bus stop.
Madison’s car waited nearby.
“I can drive you.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I said no.”
She frowned.
“You always do that.”
“Do what?”
“Reject everything.”
“Not everything.”
“Then what?”
“Things I can’t afford.”
She stared at him.
That sentence stayed with her.
The next weekend, Madison saw him delivering food across town.
He was carrying two bags through the rain.
She waited in her car.
When he finished, she rolled down the window.
“You have got to be kidding.”
Ethan stopped.
“What?”
“You work two jobs?”
“Three.”
“Three?”
“Library. Delivery. Tutoring.”
“Why?”
He looked at her as though the answer should have been obvious.
“Because I came here to change my life.”
The confidence in his voice made her forget about the rain.
“Where are you from?”
“A small town up north.”
“What happened to your family?”
“My father died when I was seventeen.”
Madison’s expression softened.
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged.
“My mother raised me and my sister.”
“That’s why you work.”
“That’s why I work.”
She looked at him for a long moment.
Something inside her shifted.
This wasn’t curiosity anymore.
It was admiration.
And that scared her much more.
