Chapter 22

Ryder’s POV

Every day I woke up hoping to hear from him.

It’d been only a week since the kiss and Zach had completely taken over my mind.

It was getting harder to deny the fact that I’d developed very strong feelings for him along the line, but at the same time just accepting it didn’t make it easier.

A lot was still very confusing to me, and the answers I turned to just left me even more dazed. Last night, I was so desperate to prove my own sexuality to myself that I turned on a gay video.

As expected, I was turned off from the get go and couldn’t wait for the two-minute video to end.

But then I thought about him for a fleeting second, the way his lips had felt against mine, soft yet insistent, the faint scent of his cologne mixed with the rain from that evening, and the entire narrative changed. I slammed my laptop shut the moment my body began to react and just sat there feeling more lost than when I started.

I needed to see him.

I paced my room like a caged animal, the wooden floorboards creaking under my weight. The dorms were usually quiet around now, most guys either out partying or buried in assignments. My phone lay on the desk, screen dark, mocking me with its silence. I’d typed out at least five messages to Zach in the last hour and deleted every single one. Hey, you free? Want to grab coffee? Too casual. I can’t stop thinking about you. Way too intense. You okay after everything?Pathetic.

The kiss replayed in my mind, our bodies pressed to the wall after I’d faced one of the most insane accusations of my life. One moment we were arguing about the possibility of me being a stalker, the next his hand was on my chest and his mouth was on mine. I hadn’t pulled away even when I desperately wanted to. I’d leaned in. And for those few seconds, everything made sense… until it didn’t.

I wasn’t gay. At least, I didn’t think I was. I’d dated girls. I liked girls. But none of them had ever made my pulse race like Zach did. None of them haunted my dreams or made me replay a single moment on loop until I felt dizzy.

Rain pattered against the window, steady and insistent. The forecast had warned of a downpour all night. Perfect weather for wallowing. I grabbed my hoodie, then tossed it aside. This was stupid. I should just text him tomorrow like a normal person. But the thought of another sleepless night wondering if he regretted it, if the stalker had shown up again, if he was safe… it clawed at me.

“Fuck it,” I muttered.

I pulled on my jacket, snatched my umbrella from the corner, and stepped out into the hallway. The decision felt reckless, but necessary. Zach’s dorm was not far from my apartment, maybe a fifteen-minute walk. I could check on him, make sure he was okay after the weird scene he’d mentioned last time we spoke. That was all. Just a friend checking on another friend.

If we could even be considered that.

Outside, the rain came down harder than I expected. It hammered against the umbrella in a relentless rhythm, soaking the cuffs of my jeans within seconds. Campus paths were mostly deserted, streetlamps casting hazy orange glows through the sheets of water. My sneakers squelched with every step. I kept my head down, mind racing through what I’d even say when I got there.

Hey, sorry for showing up unannounced in the middle of a storm. I just… needed to see you.

A shiver ran through me that had nothing to do with the cold. The memory of his hand on my chest, the way he’d moaned into the kiss right before pulling me deeper, that was what kept me walking.

I’d gone maybe halfway when I spotted the figure.

At first it was just a blur in the distance, moving unsteadily along the path toward me. Hunched shoulders, arms wrapped around itself. No umbrella. The rain had plastered whatever clothes they wore to their body. They staggered a little, like they were freezing or exhausted or both.

I slowed, instincts prickling. Campus was usually safe, but with everything going on lately with Zach’s stalker, I wasn’t taking chances. As the distance closed, something about the silhouette tugged at recognition. The height, the messy dark hair now dripping wet, the familiar curve of the shoulders.

My heart slammed against my ribs. “Zach?”

He didn’t seem to hear at first, head bowed against the rain. I hurried forward, umbrella tilted to shield more of the space between us. When I was close enough, his head snapped up. Wide, frightened eyes met mine. His face was pale, lips tinged blue from the cold. A cut on his cheekbone trickled blood diluted by rainwater. His hoodie was torn at the sleeve, and he clutched his phone like a lifeline.

“Ryder?” His voice cracked.

Without thinking, I closed the gap and pulled him under the umbrella. He was shivering violently, body trembling so hard I could feel it through the wet fabric. I wrapped my free arm around his shoulders, drawing him close. He smelled like rain and fear and that same cologne that had lingered in my memory all week.

“What the hell happened?” I asked, voice low and urgent. “You’re freezing. Come on, let’s get you somewhere dry.” He leaned into me for a second, then seemed to remember himself and straightened a little. “I… I ran. Didn’t have time to grab anything else.”

We started walking back the way I’d come, toward my dorm since it was closer. I kept the umbrella low, shielding us both as best I could. His steps were unsteady; I tightened my grip around him.

“Talk to me, Zach. You’re scaring the shit out of me right now.”

He swallowed hard, teeth chattering. “I hadn’t seen any signs of the stalker for a while. Thought maybe it was over, you know? I was in my room, studying late. Everything was normal. Then… I noticed a hand. Trying to creep through the window. The latch was loose, I’d been meaning to fix it. The fingers just… reached in while I was still sitting there.”

My stomach dropped. “Jesus.”

“I didn’t wait. Grabbed my phone and bolted. Ran straight out of the dorms. I’ve been walking around for like twenty minutes, trying to figure out what to do.

I stopped under the shelter of a large oak tree, the umbrella doing little against the wind-driven rain. “We’re going to my place. It’s safe. We’ll call campus security from there, get you warm clothes, whatever you need.”

Zach shook his head adamantly, water flying from his hair. “No. It’ll be better to just call the security guards now. Meet them at the main quad or something. I don’t want to drag you into this any more than I already have.”

“You’re not dragging me anywhere,” I said firmly. “I’m already here. And I’m not leaving you like this.”

He looked up at me then, really looked. Something raw and vulnerable passed between us. The kiss hung unspoken in the air, along with everything else we hadn’t said. His eyes softened for a moment before fear crept back in.

We kept moving. My arm stayed around him, and he didn’t pull away. The rain seemed to ease just a fraction as we neared the lit path toward the security station near the center of campus.

Zach’s phone buzzed in his hand. He glanced down, and I felt his entire body go rigid.

“What is it?” I asked.

He turned the screen toward me with shaking fingers. An unknown number. The message was short, chilling in its simplicity:

Got your number now, pretty boy. No running this time.

The words glowed coldly in the dim light. Zach’s breath hitched. I pulled him closer under the umbrella, my own pulse thundering in my ears. Whatever this was, whoever was doing it, they were just getting started.

But Zach wasn’t facing it alone anymore.

I wasn’t going anywhere.