All Chapters of Falling for the Bad Boy Athlete: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

POV: KaiThe smell of Bengay and stale sweat usually feels like home. Today, it feels like a cage. My right knee is throbbing, a dull, rhythmic ache that reminds me I’m one bad landing away from losing everything. The scholarship. The scouts. The only way out of this town.I gripped the edge of the wooden bench, knuckles white. The locker room was mostly empty, the rest of the guys already out on the field or hitting the showers. I’d stayed behind, claiming I needed to double-check my gear. Really, I just needed to wrap the joint before anyone saw the swelling. It’s a mess—purple, angry, and twice its normal size.The heavy metal door groaned open."Kai? You’re ten minutes late. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it now."Ava. Of course. The girl doesn’t know how to take a hint, or how to mind her own business. She stood in the doorway, clutching her bag like a shield, her eyes scanning the rows of lockers until they landed on me. She looked completely out of place in this world of test

POV: Rival (Jax)Watching Kai is like watching a car crash in slow motion. Except the car is a custom-built Italian engine, and the driver is actively trying to hit the wall. Usually, I’d be the one cheering from the sidelines, waiting to scavenge the parts. But today? Today, Kai isn’t just being reckless. He’s being stupid.I leaned against the brick wall of the athletic center, bouncing a basketball between my palms. The thud-thud-thud echoed through the hallway, a steady rhythm that usually helped me think. Right now, it just underscored the irritation crawling up my spine.Ava walked past. She didn't even see me. She never sees me. She’s too busy clutching those textbooks like they’re holy relics, her eyes fixed on some invisible point in the distance. She’s the "Good Girl." The scholarship pride of the university. The girl who shouldn't be within ten feet of a guy like Kai.And yet, there she was, heading toward the private study rooms in the back of the gym. Toward him."You're

POV: KaiThe bass from the pre-season bonfire party thumps in my chest, a heavy, rhythmic reminder that I’m supposed to be the life of this disaster. Usually, I love it. I love the smell of woodsmoke, the cheap plastic cups, and the way people move out of my way like I’m royalty. But tonight, my knee is a dull, throbbing mess, and every time I laugh, it feels like a lie.I see Ava standing near the edge of the light. She looks like she stumbled into a lion’s den by mistake. She’s wearing a sweater that’s way too big for her and holding a soda like it’s a shield. Why is she even here? This isn’t her scene. She belongs in the quiet corners of the library, not surrounded by sweat and bad decisions.I want to go over there. I want to see if she still smells like that vanilla and old paper scent that’s been stuck in my head since the cafeteria. But then I see Coach Miller’s SUV pull into the gravel lot near the restricted equipment sheds."Move," I mutter to myself.If Miller catches me he

POV: AvaThe bleachers felt like ice against my legs. I huddled into my oversized hoodie, trying to blend into the shadows of the stadium. Below me, the Crestwood University soccer team moved like a single, aggressive organism under the harsh floodlights. But my eyes only tracked one person.Kai.He was effortlessly fast. He wove through defenders with a grace that felt almost offensive, given how much trouble he caused off the field. Every time he kicked the ball, the sound echoed like a gunshot through the nearly empty stands. He looked invincible.So why was he struggling to get back up after a routine slide?I checked my watch. We were supposed to meet in the library ten minutes ago for his first mandatory tutoring session. If he failed this midterm, my scholarship was the one on the line. The dean hadn't been subtle about it. Help our star athlete pass, Ava, and your financial aid remains secure. It was blackmail, plain and simple."You're late," I muttered to the empty air.On t

POV : AvaThe neon sign of the campus coffee shop flickered, casting a rhythmic blue glow over my open textbook. I’d been staring at the same paragraph about macroeconomic theory for twenty minutes, but the words were just ink on a page. My mind was back in that quiet corner of the gym, still feeling the phantom heat of Kai’s presence.Why couldn't I shake the look in his eyes? For weeks, I’d told myself he was nothing more than a distraction, a reckless athlete who viewed life as one big highlight reel. But the way he’d almost spoken tonight—the vulnerability he’d nearly let slip before he pulled the mask of the campus heartthrob back on—it didn’t fit the story I’d written for him."Earth to Ava," Chloe said, sliding into the booth across from me. She dropped her heavy bag with a thud that made my coffee slosh against the rim of the cup. "You’re doing that thing again where you look like you’re calculating the trajectory of a rocket, but you’re actually thinking about a certain point