Chapter 20

**•KAIA•**

The party turned out to be at some rich dude's house, which they also go to school with. People were already buzzed by the time we got there, and the crowd was getting boring until they saw Callum's crew walking in.

It turns out Mr. Hotshot was a party animal. That much I could tell based on the reactions from the hundreds of people who greeted him the moment we walked in.

I swear I would've been swallowed by the crowd and got lost on my way in when everyone started crowding around us, if it wasn't for him and his tight grip around my wrist, to not lose me somewhere in between.

That, for me, would've earned him a gentleman point, but we're still on stage two at the moment, and I'm not saying anything too early until I get to know him better.

The fun was starting to pick up again, the music was on, and everyone was acting the way they used to before the party went sucky a few hours ago.

We finally made it to the kitchen, and everyone started helping themselves to the drinks served on the countertop. I braced myself on the side and waited, and Callum suddenly turned around and offered me a blue solo cup.

"Drink?" I quickly shook my head while smiling.

"I'm good, thanks." He raised his brows in amusement.

"What, not a fan of alcohol?"

"Something like that. I'm just trying not to get involved in any drinking more often. It makes me do crazy stuff."

He chuckled while leaning his back against the counter and pouring a glass of alcohol into his cup.

"You're a lightweight, huh?"

It was my turn to chuckle after realizing how stupid I was to give that away so easily.

"Did I make it that obvious?"

He nodded while taking a sip from his cup, eyeing me over the brim with curiosity swimming in his eyes.

He was getting interested quickly. I didn't even have to pull out any rizz or flirting skills to get his attention. All I did was pretend to drop a bowling ball on his feet and bam! Here we are.

At this point, I'm almost convinced that this guy could be interested in anything with a vagina between their legs.

"Cool party," I said, trying to make small talk.

"Yeah, but I've been to many better ones."

Okay, brag much?

"Can I at least get you a coke or anything? I mean, I can't watch you stand empty-handed there. You're making me think that you're not really into all this."

Oh, shit. I didn't think I would be giving out that kind of expression. That's a minus point from my side.

"Yeah, sure." I quickly answered. "A Coke would be fine."

He looked satisfied with my response and turned around to find the drink somewhere around the counter. After he found it, he poured some into my cup and passed it to me.

Meanwhile, I was watching the whole thing with sharp eyes. I was trying to make sure no idiot would slip any sort of white powder or shit inside my drink.

I've watched too many movies to take note of stuff like this happening in real life. So, I came prepared.

I accepted the cup from him, and he placed his hand on the small of my back, nodding in the opposite direction.

"Let's go to someplace quieter where we can talk."

A sliver of panic immediately surged in. But to my relief, he didn't take me to any bedroom or any kind of private space with a door and a lock on it.

We just went outside and sat down on the backyard patio. LED lights were hanging from the walls, lighting up the whole area with nice, colorful lights that changed every few seconds.

"So, tell me something about yourself, Kaia. I'm curious."

I looked at him with wide eyes while sipping my Coke quietly.

I have to say something cool to make him like me at this point. Something he never hears often from the girls he's been with before.

"I.....read." I blurted it out without thinking. "Books. Nice, uh, romantic books."

He smiled, looking surprised by my answer.

"What kind of books?"

Oh sh*t, now's the hard part.

"Um..."

How do I rephrase that I read porn using safe terms that he can understand?

"Smut." I finally responded.

"Oh, now that is interesting." He said this while leaning forward and propping his hands on top of his knees while looking at me.

"It is?" I pretended to look confused. "Because it's all about romance, happily ever after, and all that. I didn't think anyone would find that interesting. I mean-"

"I know what smut is, Kaia." He suddenly interrupted.

"You do?" I asked in genuine surprise.

"It's 2024; everyone kind of knows what smut is by now."

Shit. I guess we have to change those code names from now on.

I tried racking my brain for something else to say, but he suddenly surprised me by laughing.

"You look panicked." He stated between fits of laughter. "Relax; I'm not going to ask you anything else about it. I'm glad you were being honest with me."

I awkwardly laughed as well.

Once the excitement finally died down, I gave him a straight look, pretending to look like I was genuinely interested. Which I am actually. But I don't want him to think that I'm onto him or something.

If I needed this to work, he needed I was to have absolutely no idea that the only reason I'm here with him is because I have an ulterior motive.

"I'm curious about something." I told him in a clear tone.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Why do you hate our school's hockey team so much?"

A long pause.

He stared off at a distance without saying anything and then slowly looked at me again with a blank look on his face, but the tick on his jaw immediately told me that he was fuming inside.

"It's not exactly the whole team that I don't like." He answered. "There's just one guy on their team that I don't get along with. He's been a pain in my ass ever since we had our first tournament together."

Adrian?

"What's his name?"

He chuckled while shaking his head and looking away.

"You probably don't know him."

"I might." I quickly added, and his eyes snapped back to mine.

"Adrian Levont." He spat out with venom dripping in his tone.

He raised his brows questioningly, waiting for my response, and I shrugged while throwing up my hands.

"You're right, I don't actually know him." I lied.

"Figured." He responded while sipping his drink. "He's not that popular anyway."

I'm starting to worry about the way he keeps drinking. He said he was going to offer me a ride back to the dorm, but I guess I'll just have to Uber back.

"What's your problem with him?" His eyes slightly narrowed at the question.

"I don't have a problem with him. It's him who has a problem with me. I mean, I totally get it. I'm a rising star athlete; I have a verified Instagram account; plus, I have a golden ticket that could get me selected at the NHL draft and play for any teams in the National Hockey League in the next two years."

He finished his drink, scrunched up the plastic cup into a ball, and threw it to the side before leaning forward and smirking at me.

"That is what Adrian Levont can only dream of having. He's jealous of my achievements, and he's always pissed off with me about that."

I'm not sure whether to believe what he's saying since I barely know Adrian. But I do know that he hates Callum so much, but could all these be the reasons why?

I mean, Adrian seems like the guy who already has everything he wants, and everything that Callum just described about himself is probably what Adrian has also achieved.

But I wouldn't know, since I don't know him very well and I do not intend to find out anything about his life at all.

Yet, I'm out here befriending his arch nemesis just to keep him on a leash so that he won't start shit with Adrian again.

Especially if it's about that damn rumor that I fucking started.

So, this is more than I could have ever done for that asshole, so he should thank me later by getting my grades back for me.

It's the least he could do anyway.