Chapter 23

**KAIA**

He led me back downstairs, and we went straight outside. The cool air was like a refreshing slap across the face. I inhaled it deeply while letting him lead me to the other side of the porch that surrounds the whole sorority house.

We sat down on two lounge chairs outside, and I threw my head back against the chair and closed my eyes.

The guy was suddenly quiet by my side, and I opened one eye to take a peek and found him calling someone on his phone.

I tapped his shoulder, and he glanced sideways at me.

"Who are you calling?" He remained silent and looked away.

I pulled myself up and leaned closer toward him.

"Is it your girlfriend?"

His brows knitted together, and he pushed me away from him.

"No. Jesus get a fucking grip; you're drunk right now."

I rolled my eyes and leaned back against the chair.

"You sound like someone I know," I mumbled annoyingly under my breath, and his head immediately snapped back in my direction.

"Like who?" He asked with all seriousness in his tone.

"Like that one asshole that loves to get under my nerves."

He shook his head while turning away. I closed my eyes and rested on the chair. The cool breeze was already starting to make me feel sleepy.

"I can't reach Amy." He suddenly said, and my eyes flew open again. "Well, not my problem anyway. She'll find you."

He stood up and started to walk away, and I quickly grabbed his hand to stop him.

"Are you seriously leaving me here on my own?" I asked in a state of shock.

"Yeah, so?" He replied nonchalantly.

"Don't do that, please. Help me get back to the dorms. I'll pay you back."

I jutted out my lower lip for more pleading effect, and he just stared at me with no reaction on his face.

"No thanks." He said while pulling his hand away and starting to walk back inside the house.

"Okay!" I shouted after him. "Just leave the poor drunk girl out here with no one to look after her. I hope your consciousness and guilt haunt you for the rest of your life when you find out that something bad happened to her because you didn't do anything to protect her."

I smiled and closed my eyes again before resting back against the chair and crossing my arms together. Fifteen seconds later, a shadow loomed over me, blocking the light shining on my face.

I opened one eye and saw him standing at the same spot again, his eyes glaring down at me.

"Fuck. C'mon, let's go."

I smiled and reached my arms out towards him.

"Are you serious right now?" I lazily nodded.

He sighed while looking up at the ceiling, and then, after a minute, he suddenly leaned down and swooped me into his arms, carrying me in bridal style.

"Yay! To the dorms we shall head, my daring knight in shining armor." I said loudly while pointing straight ahead, and he glared at me.

"Say one more stupid thing again, and I'll drop you."

I pretended to lock my lips and throw away the key. He shook his head disapprovingly one more time before he carried me down the steps and then walked onto the sidewalk.

**OoO**

I couldn't stay awake during the walk, so I dozed off along the way. The only thing that managed to wake me up was when I felt him lowering me down on the bed.

I lazily opened my eyes, and he looked at me while placing my arms by my side and then covering me with the blanket.

I didn't feel scared of him or about the situation. I was relieved when I recognized the wallpaper in my room.

I don't know how he knew where my dorm room was or which room was even my bedroom, but I was glad that he helped me get back here safe and sound.

When he moved closer towards me while tucking the blanket by my side, I pulled my arms from underneath and wrapped them around his neck.

I pulled him closer to my face and planted a kiss on his cheek before dropping my arms back on the bed.

He seemed to be completely frozen because he didn't move for about a whole minute after I kissed him.

"Thank you for taking care of me tonight," I mumbled softly before closing my eyes and turning to lie on my side.

"I'll remember to pay you back." Was the last thing I could muster the energy to say before I was completely submerged in darkness.

**•ADRIAN•**

I could see their lips moving, yet the words barely registered in my head. The lecture had started almost an hour ago, yet, I couldn't seem to focus on anything that was happening in front of me.

I kept readjusting in my seat, I ended up annoying the student sitting next to me. I just couldn't find the concentration to listen to what the guest professor was saying.

Professor McKinley was the guest for our special lecture today. The dude was like a famous writer and professor from Harvard, that had been invited to give us a special lecture today for the students doing English courses.

I happened to be one of the unfortunate bunch to sit through the whole thing for three hours straight.

Yet, for the past hour and a half, nothing has ever gone through my head. All I could think about was what happened last night.

I get that she was drunk last night but what the fuck had possessed her to kiss me on the face?

Did she really not recognize me or was she pretending not to?

One has to be a reasonable explanation. I'm agonizing over here like hell because I've been trying to wrap my head around the situation since last night.

Five people had easily recognized me from the party and I didn't even have to show my face for them to confirm it was me. Besides, I didn't think I was that covered up with the neck gaiter and all.

It was just part of the outfit but anyone could still tell it was me underneath all that shit. So, how the fuck did she not recognize me at all?

Was the alcohol that bad that it messed up her brain? Because I know for a fact that drunk or not, Kaia Lilian wouldn't pull off something like that.

The girl hates me already, so why would she kiss me? Was that normal? Does she usually go around kissing strangers after they do something good for her, like taking care of her drunk ass after a party and bringing her back to her dorm room safely?

Fuck, this is messing up my head

I need to get a fucking grip. It was just a kiss, right? It wasn't even on the lips, so why the fuck am I overthinking about this shit?

Dammit!

I closed my eyes for a few brief seconds before opening them again and looking straight down at Professor McKinley standing on the stage below.

I blocked out the thoughts of Kaia and sat up straight, to force myself to concentrate on the lecture he was on about.

But everything suddenly stopped when a shadow passed by my peripheral vision. I looked to the side and saw her walking down the aisle, looking for a seat.

My heart skipped a beat like I just saw fucking ghost. I propped my arm on the armrest and slowly leaned back against my seat while watching her.

She shuffled through the third row below me and sat on an empty seat right between two others sitting in that row.

I leaned my face towards my closed fist and something stirred within me as I took in her appearance for the first time.

The fact that she looked like she rushed to get here, was amusing but, with her hair still wet and falling around her face in a hot curly mess, and the top two buttons of her shirt still opened

Fuck me.....

Every self-respect I had in my body immediately vanished. I usually do not fold this easily just by looking at a girl, let alone someone I strongly dislike, but something about the way she looked this morning, got me edging.

I grind my jaw before looking away, trying to stay focused on what Professor McKinley was saying, but my eyes kept wandering back to her.

I couldn't help myself. Especially when I suddenly remembered again that she had kissed me on the cheek last night.

It doesn't mean anything. I wouldn't put much meaning behind that kiss but I'm actually wondering if she had done it to mess with me or was it actually genuine after thanking me for bringing her back to the dorm.

Whichever reason, I'll figure it out later. What bothers me most, was the fact that she was talking to Callum fucking Morris the other day.

I wanna know how that had happened because whatever the fuck was going on there, does not sit right with me at all.

So she better have a good explanation for that one.