Chapter 6: Taken or Not?

Night’s P.O.V

“What ‘taken’?” Kai scowled at his friend before bringing up his hand to smack the back of his head. “Ruby and I broke up ages ago! Stop making up stupid gossip just for fun!”

I released the breath that I didn’t even realize I was holding.

Fuck! What was wrong with me? Yes, the guy was attractive…but it didn’t matter if he was taken or not! I hated commitments myself.

“Hey! Don’t insult me in front of the freshmeat!” The blonde guy rubbed the back of his head while pouting.

Kai shook his head before turning to face me. “This is Night Winters, one of the freshmen in Communication Arts and my new roommate.” He turned to face the blonde guy. “He’s also the one who helped me get your drunken ass back to your dorm last night.”

“Shit!” He stopped rubbing his head to turn towards me. “Now that’s embarrassing! I’m Cole Harvard by the way. Third year Economics major.”

Third year? Now that’s something I wasn’t expecting.

When I had seen Kai leave the building early this morning, I had known he must be older than me, even though it looked like we were the same age, but I hadn't expected him to be a third year. That meant he’d be graduating next year…

Once again, my brain tried to remind me that it didn’t matter if he was a third year or if he was taken, but my heart still managed to ignore the warning and beat just a little bit faster every time I found out something new about Kai Hunter.

“Good afternoon, seniors.” Landon offered them a smile. “I’m Landon Harvey and this is Trey Millar. We’re both from Communication Arts as well.”

“Joshua Wilson,” the red haired guy answered before pointing towards the burly man in the group who was built like a tank. “Devon King.”

“The boxing club president Devon King?” Trey asked them immediately, his eyes wide as he looked the guy from head to toe.

“Yes?” Devon gave him a strange look. “Are you interested in joining the club?”

“Oh…no…it’s not for me,” Trey looked visibly shaken. “My girlfriend will join the women’s boxing club soon.”

“Oh!” Devon gave him a small smile, shaking his head. “The women’s and men’s club president’s are different. Don’t worry, we practice together sometimes but not in real matches. It’s all friendly competition.”

“Oh!” Trey let out a huge sigh of relief. “That’s good to hear.”

“Why don’t you guys sit with us?” Landon spoke suddenly, before any of us could say anything else. “The cafeteria is crowded today and there aren’t any other seats available.”

The four seniors gave each other questioning looks before shrugging and taking seats next to us. I moved my bag aside and made way so Kai could sit next to me, followed by his friend Cole. I couldn’t quiet keep the smirk off my face when I saw him frowning from the corner of my eyes.

On the other side, Trey made way for Joshua and Devon went on to sit next to Landon.

“Did you guys decide what to get for lunch?”

The seniors soon started to discuss what to get as did my friends and soon, they were leaving one by one to get their food from the counter. I asked Landon to get me a couple sandwiches while he got his own lunch and handed him a twenty, which he happily took with a smirk. Yup…I wasn’t getting back any change from that bill.

But just as I saw Kai about to get up, I immediately caught a hold of the sleeve of his hoodie from under the table, making him fall back onto the seat with a perplexed expression.

“You’re not going?” Cole turned back to look at Kai with a frown.

“I…” He tried to get up, but I held onto his sleeve, hiding my smirk with the palm of my free hand as I watched him struggle to get up yet again. Finally, he gave up with a sigh. “Can you get me a burger or something from the counter? I’ll pay you once you get back.”

“Fine.” Cole left us then, shaking his head as he checked his wallet. And that was when Kai turned towards me with a frown, yanking his hand out of my grip.

“What the hell?” He hissed, clenching his jaw.

“I didn’t know she was your girl.” I told him truthfully. “She came here suddenly and asked to sit with us and then asked for my number. I didn’t know she was going to suddenly sit on my lap.”

“And I already told you, she isn’t my girl!” Kai rolled his eyes. “Ruby and I happened ages ago! I was literally guilt-tipped into a relationship! God, why am I even telling you all this?”

“So that means you’re not taken…right?” I smirked, bringing my face closer to his. “So I still have a chance?”

Kai’s eyes widened in a hilarious manner as he sprang back from me, nearly falling off of the seat. “What the fuck are you even getting at?”

I couldn’t help it. I burst out laughing, clutching my stomach as Kai tried his best to compose himself. Maybe it was his expression every time I flirted with him or the fact that he looked around as if we were about to do something scandalous…I just couldn’t stop myself from teasing him. Watching his expressions was the highlight of my day at the moment.

“Nothing,” I finally told him, shaking my head. “Nothing at all.”

“And what about you? Are you taken?” Kai shot back, his signature frown returning to his brows. “Or did you lie about being gay?”

“Why would I need to lie?” I shrugged. “I have nothing to gain by lying about my sexual orientation. Besides, if somebody chooses not to believe me, it’s not my fault.”

Damn! If looks could kill! Why the fuck did he look so hot when he was pissed? A strand of his midnight black hair that had fallen onto his forehead caught my attention and I had to curl my hands into fists to stop myself from reaching out to put it back in place…

Damnit! What was wrong with me? Why on earth was I suddenly getting a hard-on for a straight guy? I promised myself never to do it again…right?

“And no,” I said next. “To answer your previous question…I’m not taken either. I don’t prefer dating, too much emotional baggage. So I’ll just satisfy myself with one-night stands instead.”

“Emotional baggage?” Kai raised his eyebrows, seemingly wanting to ask more on the topic, but that was when the seniors and my friends all returned to the table with their lunch trays.

“Here you go!” Cole dropped the sandwiches in front of Kai and me with a look of annoyance at our direction. “Lazy asses!”

“At least the drinks were on the new kid.” Devon said with a smirk as he plopped down next to Landon once again, placing a hand on his shoulder before he could escape.

Landon turned to give me a sad puppy look, which was totally overacting on his part. Because I knew that he wasn’t sad that he didn’t get to return the change to me; he was sad that he didn’t get to buy snacks for himself.

But before I could comment on anything, two girls rushed over to our table, their faces drawn in excitement as they looked around while clapping their hands together.

“Oh! Look at that, Yin!” The taller girl with dark hair jumped up and down, her sunrise yellow dress seemingly brightening up the entire room. “All the hotshots on one table!”

“This makes our work so much easier!” Yin, the shorter girl with honey blonde hair smiled wide as she looked up at the other girl. “Let’s get started, shall we?"