The Rival I Should Never Love

Whispers In Hallway

The security guards were ten steps behind me, their heavy boots clattering against the concrete steps as my media pass was officially revoked across the stadium system.

I didn't care about the pass. My mind was burning with Nora’s post. Within three minutes, the edited video had racked up fifty thousand views. Comments were pouring in—calling me unstable, calling me a bitter ex, demanding my scholarship be cancelled.

I burst into the shadowed storage tunnel behind the away locker rooms, my chest heaving, rain dripping from my hair onto my jacket.

A hand reached out from the dark, grabbed the strap of my camera bag, and yanked me sideways into the narrow space between two massive equipment crates.

My back hit the brick wall. A heavy, warm body stepped in, blocking me completely from the corridor's fluorescent lights.

Kaiden.

He was still half-dressed in his rain-soaked jersey, a white towel draped over his broad shoulders, steam practically rising off his skin. Up close, the scent of rain, sweat, and pure adrenaline on him was suffocating.

“They’re looking for you,” Kaiden murmured, his voice a low, raspy vibration that hit me straight in the chest.

“Nora leaked an edited video,” I said, my teeth clattering from a mix of freezing rain and pure fury. I held up my phone, the screen illuminating his sharp jawline and the dark, unreadable green of his eyes. “She cut out the cheating. Made it look like I assaulted Ethan in cold blood. ESU Athletics is already revoking my press clearance.”

Kaiden didn't look at the screen. He kept his eyes locked on mine, completely unmoved by the chaos echoing outside the tunnel.

“So?” he asked quietly.

“So?!” I hissed, my temper flaring. “That scholarship is my entire life, Black! If I lose my media credentials, I get kicked out of the university by Monday! Ethan and Nora are going to walk away looking like royalty while I’m turned into a social pariah!”

Kaiden took a half-step closer. The space between us evaporated until the damp fabric of his jersey was grazing the front of my jacket. He reached up, his calloused thumb catching a stray lock of wet hair stuck to my cheek and tucking it gently behind my ear.

His touch was surprisingly warm against my freezing skin.

“You’re shouting, Vale,” he said softly, his dark eyes dropping to my lips for a fraction of a second before snapping back to mine. “And you’re letting them see you bleed. That’s your first mistake.”

“I’m not a stone statue like you,” I snapped, though my breath hitched at his proximity. “I fight back with words and footage. Now I have neither.”

“Then we change the game,” Kaiden said.

I blinked, trapped against the wall by his massive frame. “What?”

“Ethan Cole thinks he owns this campus. He thinks his daddy’s money makes him untouchable,” Kaiden whispered, leaning down until his lips were inches from my ear. “And Nora thinks she’s the only strategist in the room. But Ethan is terrified of me. And you have a digital audience that believes in you if you give them the truth.”

He pulled back just enough to look me in the eye, his expression shifting into something predatory and dangerous.

“You need your scholarship back. I need ESU to stop treating me like a convict so the NFL scouts will actually sign me when I transfer here next week.”

My breath caught in my throat. “You’re transferring to ESU?”

“The papers are signed,” Kaiden said, a dark, lethal smile touching his lips. “I’m taking his field. I’m taking his captain’s armband. And if you’re smart, Vale... you’ll help me take his reputation.”

The sheer audacity of it made my heart hammer wildly against my ribs. It was insane. It was career suicide. It was the most addictive, intoxicating proposition I had ever heard.

“An alliance,” I whispered, staring up into those piercing green eyes. “I use my media machinery to clear your name and highlight your stats... and you act as my shield to crush Ethan on live television.”

“Not just a shield,” Kaiden corrected, his fingers sliding down my arm to wrap around my wrist, pulling my hand up to rest flat against his racing chest. I could feel the explosive, heavy thud of his heart through his jersey. “A weapon.”

The air between us charged with a raw, electric friction. For a second, neither of us breathed. He was dangerous, a man with a prison record and a body built for violence, but standing this close to him, I didn't feel afraid.

I felt empowered.

“Deal,” I breathed.

Before Kaiden could answer, the heavy double doors at the end of the corridor burst open.

“He went this way!” Ethan’s furious voice shouted, accompanied by the heavy footsteps of two campus security guards and Nora’s sharp heels clicking against the tile. “I saw him pull her into the storage corridor! Check every room!”

My heart dropped into my throat. If security caught me hidden in the dark with Kaiden Black right now, Nora’s narrative of me being an unstable clout-chaser would be sealed forever.

Kaiden didn't panic. He glanced over his shoulder at the approaching shadows, then looked back down at me, his eyes dark with immediate decision.

He grabbed my waist, lifted me effortlessly off my feet, and set me behind the secondary stack of wooden crates, completely out of sight.

“Stay quiet,” he ordered in a breathy whisper.

He stepped out into the middle of the hallway just as Ethan, Nora, and the security team rounded the corner.

“Where is she, Black?!” Ethan demanded, his face flushed red, a white ice-pack held against his bruised cheekbone. “We know she ran down here!”

Kaiden leaned back against a stack of gym mats, folding his massive arms across his chest with lazy, terrifying composure.

“You mean the girl you cheated on ten minutes before kickoff?” Kaiden asked, his voice echoing loudly in the narrow hall. “She went out the West exit five minutes ago, Cole. Probably going to upload the unedited locker room audio.”

Ethan went dead pale. Nora’s eyes narrowed into sharp slits as she stepped forward, her expensive perfume drifting into the corridor.

“You’re lying,” Nora said, her voice dropping into a venomous purr as she stepped uncomfortably close to Kaiden, looking up at his massive frame with a sudden, predatory curiosity. “You don't care about Seraphine, Kaiden. A man with your... history... shouldn’t be playing white knight for a ruined girl.”

Nora reached out, her manicured hand resting lightly on Kaiden’s chest, right over his heart.

From behind the crates, my fingers dug into the wood, a sudden, irrational surge of pure jealousy burning through my veins.

Kaiden didn't move away. He looked down at Nora’s hand, then raised his eyes to Ethan, who was watching Nora touch Kaiden with a look of pure, humiliated rage.

“Get your hand off me,” Kaiden said calmly, his voice dripping with ice. “Before I give your boyfriend a matching bruise on his other cheek.”

Nora pulled her hand back, but her eyes held a new, twisted fascination. “We’ll see you on campus on Monday, Transfer.”

Ethan glared at Kaiden, pulled Nora by the arm, and stormed back toward the stadium exits, the security guards following close behind.

The hallway fell dead silent.

I stepped out from behind the crates, my chest heaving, staring at Kaiden. “She touched you.”

Kaiden turned slowly, stepping back into my personal space until I was forced against the concrete wall once again. His green eyes held mine, burning with a dark, intoxicating heat.

“Are you jealous, partner?” he asked softly.

“I’m focused,” I lied, my voice trembling slightly as his gaze dropped down to my mouth.

“Good,” Kaiden murmured, leaning in so close his forehead almost touched mine. “Because Monday morning, we start playing dirty.”

He backed away, tossing his towel over his shoulder, and walked down the hall toward the showers, leaving me breathless, cold, and entirely hooked.

I picked up my bag, my heart hammering a dangerous rhythm. I pulled out my backup phone to check the ESU main portal before leaving.

A new email notification flashed on my screen. An official summons from the University Disciplinary Board, sent directly to my inbox thirty seconds ago.

OFFICIAL NOTICE:

Seraphine Vale, your sports media scholarship has been suspended pending an emergency ethics hearing on Monday morning at 8:00 AM. Furthermore, formal criminal property damage charges have been filed against you by Ethan Cole.

My blood ran cold. Ethan wasn't just trying to ruin my reputation.

He was trying to send me to jail.