Chapter 4
1367 Words
Aria’s POV
It was either I was really high on drugs or I was still stuck in the nightmare of last night, because there’s really no way in hell that Kingston Lance just walked over to this block and said what he just said.
I blinked, almost forgetting that my airflow was still very blocked as Ryder’s hard steel arms remained on my throat.
“You have two seconds.” Kingston’s voice dispelled all the doubts I had.
He’s really… here?
I couldn’t think further as Kingston moved. Moved? He flew! I didn’t see him come close to me and I most definitely didn’t see his hand move so fast that it found its way to Ryder’s neck. He pulled Ryder up so that his legs hung in the air then slammed him into the wall.
I yelped, but it wasn’t, as were the gasps from the pool of students around us.
“I f*****g warned you,” Kingston yelled into his face, his hold so strong on Ryder’s neck that his veins popped out.
“You’ve really been with my leftover since?” Ryder struggled to say, “I expected more from you, Lance.”
Kingston laughed and it wasn’t anywhere near the normal laugh. It was so deep that I could feel the vibrations in my body.
“You’re her leftover too, should I say the same for Cindy?”
Wait, did he miscall Chloe’s name?
My eyes strayed over to the said Chloe and she was blushing crazily. Hell, she’d die for Kingston if the need be. Because how could she even be blushing so hard for someone who didn’t know her name?
Ryder clawed at Kingston’s grip, “Let me… go.” He coughed. “Or I’ll show everyone a clearer video of you doing drugs—”
He hadn’t finished talking before Kingston landed a punch to his face.
It was so gory that a crunch sound came from Ryder.
“How dare you?” Kingston growled, his fists already balled up like he was ready to hit Ryder again.
I moved instinctively on the spot and just as I did that, someone gasped and yelled. “The president is coming over!”
Fuck, no!
He couldn’t know that the huge crowd around actually existed because of me. And Kingston…?
He dropped Ryder whose body hit the ground like a sack of tomatoes then swiveled on the spot. His eyes clashed with mine and before I could say Jack, his rough hand had grabbed mine and he had dragged me — through the crowd gathered around, away from their peering eyes and over to an empty classroom.
He pushed me in first then came in, shutting the door behind him and resting his lanky body against it.
His eyes met mine again, “Are you okay?” He asked, breathing heavily.
My brows pulled up, “I should be asking you that, what you did out there…” I trailed off, lost as to what to say next.
“You surely haven’t seen your neck. Hayes is one big loser.”
My neck did hurt but that wasn’t the issue at the moment.
“Why did you do it?” I asked instead.
“Do what? Defend you?”
“Yes. You barely even know me. You already have drug charges, this could get you suspended for real.”
He relaxed against the door even more, “I didn’t do it. And Ryder is insufferable. I couldn’t just stand there and watch him run his mouth.”
I tilted my head, “You didn’t have to hit him for me.” I said quietly, the words left my mouth before I could control myself and the moment they did, I clamped my hand over it.
But he heard it already.
His eyes twitched, “Don’t boyfriends defend their girlfriends?”
“Huh?” I mumbled, still mute.
“You declared to the whole school that you’re my girlfriend. That makes you my girlfriend and in turn, I’m your boyfriend.”
My eyes widened so much that I almost feared they’d pop out of their socket.
“Aren’t you mad that I said that?”
“No.” He got off the door and got so close to me that his cologne invaded my nostrils. “And I don’t have a drug case with the school, so that makes me clean and free to do whatever I like with Ryder.”
If anyone told me a week ago that I’d be leisurely discussing with Kingston Lance like this, I’d have called their bluff right there.
“You don’t?” I asked and he sighed.
He dug his hands into his pocket and brought out a drug bottle — the same one that I was using on that day.”
“So, you have weeds in here?” I asked, staring at it courteously.
“What? No, that’s an edited video. The bottle in that video is way bigger than this. And I have another mediation completely in here. It contains my sleeping pills.”
Now I didn’t expect that.
“Why didn’t you defend yourself immediately then? Everyone still thinks it’s true.”
“Because the real bottle miraculously disappeared — what I have here is a fresh prescription.” Then he chuckled humorlessly, “I barely sleep because of my hockey team, and your boyfriend still had the nerve to set me up in a bid to ruin everything I’ve built.”
“Ryder framed you?”
He looked right into Ng's eyes and kept the drug bottle in his pocket again.
“Yes. But it’s not proven yet,”
And for certain reasons, I believed him. My mind played every single red flag that I ignored in Ryder all through last night while I was in bed. But standing before Kingston, I started to connect the dots on how shady he really was.
Hell, I’ve been such a fool for a long time.
An idea dropped into my head instantly and I said it out loud before I could rethink it. “Let’s team up.”
“Team up?” He asked.
“Yes. Ryder would most definitely want to avenge me after the things that happened. I could really use your… protection now while also thinking of what to do to him because I still want my own revenge.” I explained.
“And what do I get in revenge?”
“I know a lot about Ryder and can easily help you with things that could expose him. Trust me, he doesn’t even have a stable family.” I chuckled. “So if we find a way to work together and push him to the wall, I’m sure we’d prevail over him.”
He thought for a while, “That’s… convenient. So we’re keeping up with the relationship claim?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
Then very slowly, a smile crept up to his face. “It’s a good thing I sent you that message then.”
“What message?”
“Maybe you wouldn’t be alive to talk to me now if I hadn’t texted you. But were you really about to jump over that bridge got that fucker?”
My eyes widened, “You sent that text?” I questioned, “Were you following me of what? How did you know what I was going to do?”
“Well, my guys were at the party and they updated me on what was happening. I was around the corner so I drove behind you that night.”
Wow…
“Why did you do all these things? Shouldn’t you hate me for being affiliated with Ryder to begin with?”
He looked away from me, “Trust me, I really wanted to.” He chuckled humorously, “But I knew you before Ryder picked you to be his prey.”
My brows knitted, “What?”
“Once upon a time, I used to like you.”
Once upon a time. That meant a long time ago, right? Why then did my heart race so wiildly like it wanted to jump out?
Kingston Lance used to like me?!
- Writer
