Chapter 4

"What did you just say?"

I stared at Kai, wide-eyed and in shock. My brain felt like it had just exploded.

So it wasn't enough for him to steal my girlfriends? He also wanted me now? Was he out of his mind?

"Kai, calm down, okay?" I found myself saying. "We're both men. There's no need for any of this to happen."

I tried talking sense into him, but I couldn't stop my voice from shaking.

Kai just chuckled coldly and pressed his chest impossibly closer to mine. "Calm down? My ass. Didn't you just say at the bar earlier that love knows no gender?"

My heart was thumping wildly now. "You…"

I gritted my teeth and tried to push him off, but I kept feeling how firm his chest was beneath my palms. It felt so hot that my fingertips almost burned. "Get your hands off me, Kai Valentine! I'm as straight as a ruler!"

Kai just gripped me even harder and thumbed my slit. "Straight? Oh, then why are you hard? Look, you're even getting a little wet."

He then slid his arm around my waist and said, "Did you really think I wouldn't see through your act with Cody?"

I felt my face heating up. I replied stubbornly, "Cody's hotter than you!"

Kai's eyes went dark as he forcefully shoved me back against the wall. He then shoved his pants down, something hard springing up from being released from its fabric constraints.

"Oh, yeah? Then take a good look at my nine-inch monster. Think it's hot enough?"

He suddenly hugged me and said, "Aiden, I'm sorry. Please don't abandon me. I was wrong for stealing all your girlfriends. I just… I just didn't want to see you with anybody else."

I swear my heart felt like it was about to combust. Just as I was about to speak, the door was thrown open with a kick.

Mick, that idiot, then rushed in with a box of pizza. But when he saw us hugging each other against the wall, his eyes turned as wide as saucers.

"A-Aiden?" he stammered. "I… I never saw anything!"

With that, he dropped the pizza box and dashed out of the room.

I shoved Kai away and picked up my towel. "Come back, Mick, you idiot!"

It took forever, but I finally managed to get a hold of Mick and drag him back into the room. When we got back, Kai was already lying in my bed with his eyes closed as though he was asleep.

I suspected that he was just pretending to be asleep and kicked the side of the bed, but he didn't move.

In the end, I just sighed and pushed him farther against the wall so I could fit into the mattress as well.

I really regretted making friends with him at the basketball court when we were kids. Why did I just have to decide to play with him when there were so many other people on the court as well?

Mick was confused too. "How did you even know each other? Your personalities are so different."

"That's why we stopped being friends."

"Why? Why did he keep stealing your girlfriends away? Did you offend him or something?"

"I have no idea," I snapped. "Maybe he just doesn't have anything better to do."

…

Come to think about it, Kai had always treated me well in the past. Although we were both of the same age, he still treated me like his younger brother. He would always share nice things with me whenever he could.

Even when we fought on the streets, he would always make sure to look out for me and shield me behind him. And if we ever got rounded up by the cops, he would shoulder the blame all by himself.

Even Mom once said, "I don't even need to worry about nobody looking after you as long as Kai is around."

I thought that our relationship would be like that forever.

However, when I was in high school, my parents passed away in an accident, and I slowly stopped seeing Kai.

People always said that people in the gang only cared about value. Once someone was no longer deemed useful, he would be kicked out immediately.

I bet Kai must have thought that too. So, when he sensed that I was distancing myself from him, he began to turn on me as well.

Once, he came into the community college I went to and sought me out. He then dragged me into the toilet and wrapped his hands around my neck. His eyes were so dark and intense, as if he wanted to tear me apart.

"Aiden Winston, I'm done being your friend!"

As I expected, he'd never treated me as a real friend. Everything nice he'd done for me in the past had been nothing more than an act.

I shoved him off. "The feeling's mutual. Don't find me ever again."

Kai was momentarily stunned. Then, he said angrily, "Fine! I've already grown sick of you anyway!"

I replied, "I only stayed friends with you because my dad told me to. Now that he's gone, I don't need to be your friend anymore."

It was over between me and Kai. After that fight, I finally started to date around.

But who would've thought that Kai would steal every single one of my girlfriends before we'd even gotten to first base?

Exactly one month after our huge fight, Kai appeared at my apartment building. His eyes were so red I didn't know if it was because he'd been crying or if he hadn't slept well for the month.

I felt sorry for him and asked him if he was alright.

Instead, he glared at my girlfriend behind me and said, voice laced with betrayal, "You blocked my number just to go chasing after love?"

He continued, "Aiden Winston, I guess it doesn't make a difference for you whether or not I'm around, does it?"

I recalled the time his housekeeper had barred me from his house, and I'd seen his childhood friend, Mia Jugg, at his apartment.

"Don't come looking for me anymore," I shot back. "I don't want to see you ever again!"

That night, I cried into my pillow as soon as I got home. It seriously felt as though I'd just broken up with the love of my life.

We'd been close friends for years. There was no way I'd be able to forget him that easily.

…

The next morning, Kai was already gone by the time I woke up.

Suddenly, I received a text message from Cody.

"That guy from last night. Is he your boyfriend? Can we meet if you're free today? I'd like to talk to you."

I didn't reply to him.

The weather was getting hot, and I just wore a plain sleeveless shirt today.

Mick was busy shoving pizza down his throat when he suddenly glanced at me and looked shocked.

"Damn, did you just get yourself another girlfriend?"

"What do you mean?"

Mick dragged me over to the mirror. "Look!"

There was a large, visible red mark smack on the side of my neck.

I was so shocked that I just froze on the spot.