Chapter 7: Campus Hotshots
Night’s P.O.V
“Guys…not again!” Kai groaned from next to me as he looked at the two girls with narrowed eyes.
“Seriously,” Devon’s tone was just as sour. “By now it feels like you guys are just running our fan club.”
“Well, we are,” the dark haired girl answered in all seriousness. “But that’s just a side business and its non-profit.”
“Oh?” Cole smirked. “Your pants haven’t caught fire yet? Non-profit my ass! You guys sell our photos to the girls on campus for a large amount. I’ve had my people spy on you.”
“Really? That confident?” The dark haired girl grinned and leaned closer to Cole. “You really shouldn’t trust your source, Cole, because your so-called spy? She’s the one who got your pool pictures to us in the first place.”
“Fucking hell!” Cole yelled in exasperation. “My sister’s working for you guys?”
“More like with us.” Yin flipped her hair back with a shrug. “We’re partners.”
“Shit!”
“Um…” I nudged Kai with my elbow. “What exactly is going on in here?”
“Huh?” Kai looked back at me like he had forgotten I was sitting beside him. “Oh, right. Guys, let me introduce you. This is Tina Verma and Yin Liang, two members from the Student Council. Tina and Yin, these are the freshmen from the Communication Arts faculty, Night, Landon and Trey.”
Kai finished with the introductions as he pointed at each of us in turn. “They’re here to scout contestants for the upcoming College contest, Campus Hotshots. Don’t be fooled by the name though, both male and female students are allowed to participate.”
“So it’s like a beauty pageant?” Landon asked with narrowed eyes. “What’s the point of that?”
“It’s not just a beauty pageant!” Tina and Yin both protested at the same time. “It’s also a talent hunt where we upload your special talent videos on our F******k page and the whole campus votes for you. And the winner also gets five thousand dollars cash.”
“Holy shit!” Both Landon and Trey yelled at once. “Five thousand!”
“See?” Tina grumbled. “Not just a pageant! And sometimes the winner also gets scouted or might even end up getting a scholarship.”
“Wow!” Landon pushed at my shoulders. “Night should definitely join the contest then!”
“Wait a minute!” Tina placed a hand on her chin as she narrowed her eyes at me. “Night? Night Winters? Where have I heard that name before?”
Shit! She didn’t-
“Oh!” Yin exclaimed, clapping her hands. “You’re that model from the hoodie commercial, aren’t you? Cool Space? Oh my goodness! We have an actual model among us!”
“Model, huh?” Joshua looked at me with raised eyebrows, his cheeks puffed from the bite he had just taken of his burger. “No wonder you looked pretty.”
Pretty? Was that supposed to be an insult?
“Then I guess Kai had competition this year!” Tina grinned wickedly. “Maybe he won’t be winning the popular vote this time around.”
“Huh? What competition?” Kai sighed in frustration. “I didn’t want to be in the contest in the first place.”
“You can’t escape this time! Your participation is compulsory.”
That had me frowning. “Why is it compulsory for someone to join a contest?”
Wasn’t that kind of like favorism? What was the point of the contest anyways if they already had fixed players?
“Oh right, you’re a freshman so you don’t know the rules.” Yin shook her head. “It’s compulsory for Kai because he’s the Student Council Vice President and the reigning champion for Most Popular Hotshot for the last two years.”
Holy shit! Say what now?
*
It was past ten thirty at night when I finally made it back to my room. I was dead tired and ready to pass out as soon as my head hit the bed, but it looks like someone already beat me to it.
Kai was lying on his bed, on his stomach with his head resting on his hands and a pile of notes and notebooks sprawled in front of him, but his eyes were closed and he looked to be sleeping peacefully without a care in the world.
I let out a sigh as I placed my backpack at the foot of my bed and went on to take a quick shower. When I came back out, Kai was still fast asleep and I was wondering if I should call him to ask if he had had dinner or not. In the end, I decided against it and let him sleep, since he looked so peaceful that I didn’t feel like disturbing him.
I went ahead and arranged his books, placing them back on his bedside table so he could find them easily tomorrow morning before I drew the covers over his body.
When I had first seen Kai, I honestly didn’t have much of an opinion on him except that the guy was hot and there was no denying that. Before I moved to the dorm, I hadn't thought to think deeper than that about the man I would be sharing a room with for the rest of the semester because honestly…why would I need to? We were just gonna be roommates. He would be doing his share of the chores and I would do mine and that’s all there would be about sharing a room…right?
But something felt different ever since I found him staring at me through the bathroom mirror at the club. I had been with someone else at that time…but still, I had kept looking out of the slit in the door, my eyes searching for the man who had looked at me with so much intensity that it had left me speechless. And then he had closed the door shut on his way out, almost making me laugh out at his action.
I had thought that would be the end of it but unfortunately, fate had other plans. Otherwise, how could I explain the same guy who saw me having a hookup at the club…end up becoming my dorm-mate at the University and my senior?
Vice-President of the Student Council as well as the winner of Most Popular Hotshot Award two years in a row? That’s not something I had expected when I had when I had first laid eyes on him. Kai looked more like the bad boy heartbreaker who never dated and never committed to anyone and to some extent I had been right.
According to Tina and Yin, the girls who were the founders of the University HotShots page, which was essentially a fan page dedicated to Kai’s entire group; Kai and the boys hardly ever dated anyone since they entered the University and even if they did, their longest relationship had only lasted two months.
I think I was finding out that in many way, Kai and I were a lot similar than I had initially thought and that’s what made me even more intrigued about him.
So far, it felt like I didn’t know a thing about him, but now I wanted to. I wanted to know what made him tick. I wanted to know what he liked and what he didn’t like. I wanted to know what made him the person he was and most importantly…I wanted to know Kai Hunter.
I realized I was starting to get overly curious about Kai Hunter and that was a first for me. Now wasn’t that interesting?
Chapter 8: Breaking the IceKai’s P.O.VTo call…or not to call…wasn’t that the question?I sat frowning at the sleeping figure on the opposite bed, meanwhile waiting for the security to deliver my DoorDash order as I kept shaking my legs in agitation. I was lowkey hoping that the sound of the knocking would wake him up, so I wouldn’t have to, but with my luck…that didn’t happen.The security knocked only once and that too in such a ‘polite’ manner that it was hard for even me to catch the sound. Sighing, I got up from my bed and accepted the package before setting up the breakfast on the little table we had to the side of the dorm room that acted as the ‘living’ area and got out two plates.Finally, I went over to Night’s bed and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly so I could wake him up.“Night.” I called out to him, keeping my voice low so I don’t wake him up suddenly. “It’s time to wake up.”“Ughhh…mom…five more minutesss…” He groaned in a soft voice, pulling the co
Chapter 9: Unknown Troubles Kai’s P.O.V “So? The freshmen really managed to drag us into their group party?” Devon sighed, swirling the whiskey inside the glass. “But I gotta admit…the bar’s pretty lit.” “Who cares about the bar? The drinks are free and the chicks are hot!” Cole smirked as he waved at a pretty girl at the bar, who waved back at Cole shyly. “I think I’m gonna go buy her a drink.” “Sure.” I shook my head. “And I’m pretty sure that’s her girlfriend right next to her…the one giving you the evil eye.” That had Cole’s eyes widening until they looked like saucers. He shook his head, rubbed his eyes…and then looked at the woman once again…only to find the dark haired biker woman next to her pull her in for one hot, steamy make out session. “Holy shit!” Cole’s jaw dropped to the floor as he observed the couple before his eyes roamed around the entire room once more. “We’re at a freaking gay bar!” “That’s why I said it’s pretty lit,” Devon smirked at our poor friend. “Th
Chapter 10: Deeper wounds Kai’s P.O.V Author’s Note: Proceed with caution; this chapter might have a few trigger warnings. I closed the door the our dorm, locking it shut before making my way over to the fridge and getting out two ice packs. “Hmm.” Walking over to Night’s bed, I handed him one of the packs before taking a seat next to him and placing the ice to my cheek, wincing a bit when the sting came from out of nowhere. It hadn't hurt when I had gotten that punch, probably because I had been too preoccupied with punching the life out of that fucker. “Good thing Landon got Devon to help us in time.” I sighed, trying to break the ice between us. Night had been unusually quiet since the whole incident. Landon and Devon had taken the other kid home first, who…as we had found out later, wasn’t even out of high school yet. But we were glad that he and his friend were both safe, at least for now. As for what will happen in the future…we had no clue. Hopefully the kids got their le
Chapter 11: Crossing the Lines Kai’s P.O.V His lips were soft…softer than I had anticipated a man’s lips to be. My first experience in kissing a man…why I was doing this…I didn’t know… I was trying to comfort him the first time…right? To let him know that I understood the shit he’d been through and that I didn’t judge him for who he was or what he’d been through. I shouldn’t be bothered by the kiss, right? I was straight…I didn’t…I shouldn’t be affected by the softness of his lips…or the taste of alcohol that still clung to it…but then…why was my heart hammering against my ribcage like a drum? Why did I find myself pressing my hands to his cheeks to pull his face closer? There was a second’s interval as Night moved his lips away from mine to kiss my cheek tenderly, before kissing his way down my neck in a soft, slow motion, leaving a trail of tiny kisses down the line of my jaw. “Kai…” his voice was a breathless purr against my neck as he clamped his lips on to the side of the
Chapter 12: Bickering Like Kids Kai’s P.O.V I ducked behind the sofa, looking left and right to see if the coast was clear before aiming for my next target. The table towards the center of the room was a bit too low, so if someone came down the staircase…shit! If someone came down the staircase, they’d be able to see me anyway. The sofas were all white and I was wearing a bright red shirt! ‘Think Kai, think!’ I told myself as I looked around once again before turning back to look at the engraved wooden door that I had just come in through. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea? Oh, what was I thinking? ‘Maybe’? It was a fucking horrible idea to be sneaking around at 1 AM like a bloody thief in my own bloody house! However…the last thing I wanted was for either my mom or my dad to find me. As if having a bruised cheek and forehead wasn’t enough, but if either of my parents saw my like this right now and figured out that I had been in a fight…I’m sure I’d be leaving with more bruises
Chapter 13: We Kissed Kai’s P.O.V “You know you’re acting awfully suspicious, right?” Cole gave me a narrowed eyed look from over his coffee cup. “What happened to the bad boy of H University? The guy who dated left, right and centre without so much as caring if he was dating two women at the same time?” “And what’s so suspicious about taking a break?” I scoffed, turning away from him to look outside at the college grounds. “We got two more years to figure our shit out before we need to start making a living. The real world isn’t all fun and games or keeping tabs on how many notches we have on our bedpost.” “Ouch! What a low blow.” Cole rubbed a hand over his chest dramatically, making me roll my eyes. “Did your father give you a warning or something?” “My sister just became a resident at Alberta Medicave,” I told him grumpily. “The whole family will be holding a huge feast this weekend, to celebrate her finally getting her dream job. While I’ll be reminded, once again, of just wh
Chapter 14: UnderstandingNight’s P.O.VI paced around the floor with my hands in my pocket, anxiety making me sweat even though the weather today was nice enough.Why was I being anxious? Why was I waiting around for Kai to show up like a lost dog waiting for its owner? I didn’t understand any of this myself either.However, when I saw Cole, the blonde haired man who was one of Kai’s best friends, come in through the front doors of the dorm, I was immediately up from the waiting area and rushing to stop him before he headed to the elevators.“Hold that!” I called out just as Cole entered the elevator and he pressed the button to hold it until I was inside the doors. “Thanks!”Cole gave me a once-over, his eyes narrowing in on my face as I swallowed nervously. “Waiting for Kai?”“How did you know?” Shit! I wasn’t supposed to give myself away like this!“Kai has been bugging me since this morning.” Cole shrugged. “He went home for the weekend all of a sudden and then he showed up at my
Chapter 15: Just Friends Night’s P.O.V I hadn't expected Kai to return to the dorm-room at all. I hadn't expected him to come back that night. In fact, I wouldn’t even be surprised if he decided to move out or even asked me to move out the dorm permanently. That’s why when I heard the door unlocking around ten at night, I sat up in bed eagerly, waiting for Kai to come in. The relief I felt upon seeing his face after almost three days was not something I had expected. He stopped mid-way, frowning as he looked at me. “Why are you in my bed?” “I thought you weren’t coming back tonight.” “Why? You thought I’d run off to sleep with a girl just to forget about everything?” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Well…that’s what usually happens when people can’t come to terms with a mis-” “Yeah, well, I’m taking a break for hoeing around so...” He dropped his bag at the foot of the bed. “Maybe go back to your own bed then? I’m feeling tired.” I got up from his bed slowly, not enti