Pulse

FIVE- PIPER

"Kai doesn’t ask just anyone for a chat," Blake said, his voice casual but eyes sharp. "Especially not someone who calls him a disgusting pig."

"I never—" My protest died on my lips. They weren't here to listen. They were here to deliver a message, one I wasn't sure I wanted to hear.

The room's stillness clawed at me, every breath heavy like damp cotton. Blake's stare pinned me to the spot.

"What do you want, Piper?" he asked, his voice low.

"Want?" My brow furrowed. "I don’t understand."

Their gazes locked before swinging back to mine, a silent exchange passing between them. Gunner’s lips curled into a smirk.

"What kind of s****l favor are you hoping to get from Kai?" His words hit like a slap.

My stomach lurched. I clutched my bag tighter to my chest, a shield against their crude assumptions. "None," I spat out. The word was a venomous dart, aimed to wound. "Why would you think I'd want anything from that... that disgusting pig?"

Blake's eyebrow arched, a challenge flickering in his piercing gaze. Silence hung thick. In that moment, the distance between us felt like miles.

"Then why does he care?" I pressed. "Is that girl his secret side piece he wants me to keep quiet about?"

Blake's presence loomed as he leaned in, my heart hammering against my ribs. His shadow swallowed me whole. "That secret side piece," he drawled, "was his underage sister."

I blinked. Once. Twice. My brain scrambled to process the information. His sister?

"Underage?" My voice was barely a whisper, stripped of its earlier fire.

"Fourteen," he confirmed, his face unreadable. "He's protective of her. Understandably." Blake straightened, and I exhaled, unaware

I'd been holding my breath.

The walls seemed to recede with the space he put between us, but the weight of his revelation pressed down on me. Guilt pooled in my stomach, a sour taste at the back of my throat.

"Kai's not what you think," Blake said, softer now. "He just offered what all the other girls beg for.

I nodded, mute, my previous misconceptions crumbling like a poorly built facade.

"Good talk, Pip," Gunner chimed in, sarcasm dripping from each syllable as they turned to leave, leaving me alone with the heavy silence and my swirling thoughts.