Chapter 52

KAIA

After we were done eating, Adrien offered to drive me back to campus. I hesitated for half a second—only because I knew how this might look if anyone saw us—but I said yes. I wanted to say yes. And besides, it wasn’t anyone’s business.

The drive back was quiet but comfortable. I stared out the window, lost in thought, the conversations we’d just had still echoing in my head. About Amy. About Nate. About… us. Adrien didn’t push for more. He just drove, one hand resting casually on the wheel, the other drumming lightly to the beat of the song playing low on the stereo.

But the moment we turned into campus and my dorm building came into view, that peace was ripped away from me.

Because parked right out front—like a neon-red threat—was a sleek red Ferrari.

My stomach dropped. Callum.

And there he was, standing beside the car, arms crossed and jaw clenched, glaring daggers not at the building… but directly at Adrien’s car as we pulled up.

“Oh my God,” I whispered, panic crawling up my spine.

Adrien hadn’t even parked fully when I unbuckled my seatbelt and practically jumped out. I rounded the front of the car quickly, trying to intercept whatever the hell this was.

“Callum?” I called out, approaching him carefully.

His eyes weren’t on me. They were locked—burning holes—into Adrien behind me.

“Callum,” I repeated, this time gently touching his arm, trying to get him to look at me.

He finally turned his head. And the expression on his face? Pure rage.

“What are you doing here?” I asked quietly, my heart thudding fast.

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone, and shoved it in front of me.

“What the hell is this?”

I looked at the screen.

It was a photo of me and Adrien at the ice rink. Laughing. Holding hands.

My breath caught. What the hell…?

I blinked up at him. “Where did you get this?”

“It doesn’t fucking matter,” he snapped. “Why were you with him?”

“Callum—”

“No. Don’t,” he cut me off sharply, stepping forward. His attention snapped back to Adrien, who was now leaning against his car, arms folded, watching with infuriating calm.

“Of course it’s you,” Callum seethed. “You just can’t help yourself, can you? First you screw me over with my team, and now what—Kaia too? You really can’t stop trying to steal everything I have, huh?”

Adrien didn’t flinch. His tone was smooth, cold.

“First of all, let’s get one thing straight—you and Kaia aren’t even dating. So don’t act like she’s some possession you own.”

Callum let out a sharp, humorless laugh.

“You’re unbelievable, man.”

“No,” Adrien replied. “What’s unbelievable is you showing up like some territorial psycho because a girl you never actually dated is hanging out with someone who treats her better.”

“Fucking say that again,” Callum growled, stepping forward.

“Gladly—”

“Enough!” I hissed, shoving my hands against Callum’s chest to hold him back. His body was tense, coiled like he was seconds away from lunging at Adrien.

The tension between them was suffocating. Voices were rising. I could already feel eyes on us—girls lingering outside the dorm, whispering, watching.

“Callum, please, not here,” I begged. “Don’t do this here.”

He took a shaky breath through his nose, forcing himself to still. Then, with a low voice, he said, “We need to talk.”

I nodded quickly, desperate to de-escalate. “Okay. Fine.”

He grabbed onto my wrist—not roughly, but firmly—and started to lead me toward the entrance.

But then Adrien’s hand shot out, resting over Callum’s grip on me.

We both froze.

Adrien’s expression was steel. His voice even sharper.

“She doesn’t have to go with you if she doesn’t want to.”

Callum’s entire body jerked, and I saw it—the exact second he snapped.

“Adrien—” I said quickly, pulling his hand off mine before Callum exploded. “It’s okay. Really.” I forced a smile at him, even though everything in me was shaking.

“Thanks for today. I’ll see you around, okay?”

He stared at me, stunned. Confused.

Like he wasn’t expecting me to defuse it that way.

His jaw clenched tight, and he looked between me and Callum, his eyes dark and unreadable.

“Yeah,” he muttered. “Sure.”

I turned before either of them could say anything else and pulled Callum with me toward the dorm. He kept glancing back at Adrien, his mouth twitching like he still wanted to go back and say more.

Please don’t, I prayed silently. Please just walk.

Because if they fought again, there wouldn’t be any coming back from it.

Not for them.

And maybe not for me either.

We stormed into my dorm room, the door slamming shut behind us with a loud thud that made me wince. My eyes immediately scanned the space—bed, desk, closet corner—Amy. I sighed in relief when I realized she wasn’t here.

Thank God.

I turned around slowly.

Callum was already standing there, arms folded tightly across his chest, his eyes narrowed and locked on me like he was holding himself back from exploding. He didn’t say anything—he didn’t need to. I knew that look. He was waiting.

For answers.

“What are you really doing here, Callum?” I asked, crossing my arms to match his energy even though my heart was beating like a drum inside my chest.

His jaw clenched.

“Someone from school saw you at Glacier Hall today,” he bit out. “Holding hands with Adrien Levont.” His voice turned sharp. “I didn’t wanna believe it until they sent me a picture.”

He ran a hand through his hair in frustration and let out a bitter laugh.

“God, Kaia. What the hell is even going on? I thought you didn’t even like Adrien.”

“I don’t,” I said quickly. Too quickly.

And the moment the words left my mouth, I felt the weight of the lie press down on my chest. It sounded hollow. Weak. Because I did like Adrien. Maybe not in the way I liked Callum.

Maybe not yet. But something was there—and denying it made the disappointment settle low in my stomach.

Callum blinked at me. “Then what were you doing with him all day?”

“He offered me free skating lessons,” I said quietly. “He was just teaching me how to skate.”

Callum scoffed. “Seriously? You do remember I play hockey, right? You could’ve asked me.”

“I didn’t want to bother you,” I muttered. “You’re always busy.”

His eyes narrowed even further.

“So you decided to ask him? My arch-nemesis? That made more sense to you?”

I stepped toward him. “Callum—”

“Do you have feelings for him?” he cut in sharply, his voice low and direct.

I froze.

He stared at me with the kind of intensity that made my skin buzz. Like he could see right through me, past every excuse and deflection I could throw.

“I need you to be honest with me, Kaia. Right now. Tell me the truth.”

“No,” I said softly, blinking up at him. “I don’t.”

He nodded once. “Good.”

Then, without another word, he surged forward and kissed me.

It was sudden. Hard. The kind of kiss that steals the breath right from your lungs and makes your thoughts shatter like glass.

I gasped into it, stunned, but before I could react, something deep and dark and stupid inside me responded.

His mouth on mine woke something I’d been desperately trying to keep buried. The want. The confusion. The ache. That electric pull I always felt around him but hated admitting.

When he pulled away, my lips still tingled.

He cupped my face, holding it in his hands like I was something fragile.

“I want you to be my girlfriend.”

My breath caught.

“What?” I whispered.

“We’ve gotten to know each other better,” he said confidently. “And it just feels right. So I’m asking. Be my girlfriend.”

He grinned a little—cocky but genuine—as he let go of my face and took my hands in his instead.

I glanced down at our intertwined fingers. His thumb gently brushed over mine and I looked up again.

“I want you to be mine, Kaia,” he said. “I haven’t felt like this about anyone before. You make me feel… things I don’t even know how to explain.”

My heart twisted.

“I know this is probably a surprise,” he continued. “But I just needed to say it. I needed you to know I’m serious about us. And I’ll take you out properly next time, I swear. I’ll ask you again then. But for now… just think about it, okay?”

I nodded slowly, a smile forming on my lips—but it didn’t quite reach my eyes.

Because inside, everything was tangled.

Callum is officially asking me to be his girlfriend.

The boy who's making me feel a lot of mixed signals. The one I promised myself not to catch feelings for in the first place.

But all I could think about was Adrien.

The softness in his voice when he talked about his interests. The way he looked at me at the rink. The quiet protectiveness in the parking lot. That calm, steady presence I was starting to crave.

I hugged Callum back, resting my chin on his shoulder.

And I stared blankly at the wall behind him, heart twisting into knots.

Who does my heart really want me to choose?