Chapter 5
It took exactly five months for Kasen Reed to become part of my everyday life without either of us realizing it. At first it was just little conversations through the security speakers after my last class ended.
Then random texts. Then him sending me playlists with no explanation attached. Then me bullying him into leaving his apartment for something other than work.
And now this man sat on FaceTime with Serenity helping her with kindergarten math homework like it was normal.
Now he had his own drawer in my kitchen for tea because apparently “your cabinets are unorganized and stress me out.”
Now I knew his coffee order by memory and he knew when I was overwhelmed before I even opened my mouth.
“Okay ladies, inhale deep and stretch through your spine,” I called out while walking slowly between reformers. “Don’t rush the movement.”
Studio 7 was packed wall to wall again.
I had added two more classes while brand deals coming in left and right while merch selling out and somehow my life had become this constant blur of movement and progress over the last few months.
I finally understood what people meant when they said hard work started paying you back.
The class groaned through their final stretch while I smiled tiredly.
“Aaaand done.”
Everybody instantly relaxed.
“Thank God.”
“I can’t feel my legs.”
“That means I did my job.”
The room filled with laughter while women started gathering their things.
“See y’all Thursday,” I called out.
I waited until the last client left before dropping dramatically onto one of the reformers with a groan.
Exhausted.
My body ached in the good way though.
The studio lights glowed softly around me while evening settled outside the windows.
Then the speaker crackled lightly overhead. “You skipped lunch again.”
I looked up toward the camera immediately. “See this why people think rich people weird.”
“You’re deflecting.”
“I had a smoothie.”
“That’s not lunch.”
“It had protein.”
Silence.
Then— “That explains why you’re laying on equipment like a fallen soldier.”
I laughed softly and closed my eyes for a second.
Conversations like this had become normal somehow.
Natural.
Most days Kasen worked while quietly checking in through the cameras whenever the studio emptied out.
Sometimes we talked for five minutes.
Sometimes it was two hours and sometimes he’d sit there silently while I cleaned up and worked on schedules just listening to me ramble.
And somehow… it never felt awkward.
“I’m going home in a minute,” I said. “I gotta shower before your little tournament thing.”
“It’s not little.”
“There go the gamer attitude.”
“It’s a professional competition.”
“Mhm.” I smirked tiredly. “For people who yell at televisions.”
“I do not yell.”
I sat up immediately. “You absolutely yelled when I beat you.”
“You button mashed.”
“A win is a win.”
“You hit random buttons.”
“And your character still died.” I grinned.
Five months later and annoying Kasen was still one of my favorite hobbies.
Especially because he got this tiny wrinkle between his eyebrows whenever he was trying not to react.
“Anyway,” I continued, standing up slowly, “I’m proud of you.”
His response came quieter this time. “…For what.”
“For competing.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Yes it is.” I grabbed my bag from behind the front desk. “You spent years hiding every hobby you got because you thought people would think it was lame.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Silence again.
That was another thing about Kasen. He rarely volunteered his feelings outright. I had learned him slowly like reading fine print.
The first time we hung out outside the studio was at some rooftop lounge downtown. He barely talked the first thirty minutes and damn near dropped his drink when he caught me staring at him too long.
His ears turned red so fast I almost screamed laughing. That’s when I knew for sure Kasen was shy.
And once he got comfortable, he was funny as hell. Between his dry humor and quiet sarcasm, he had a smart ass mouth hidden under all that discipline.
Plus he looked ridiculously good in street clothes which honestly felt disrespectful.
“You still coming?” he asked.
“Duh.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Kasen.”
“What.”
“I bought an outfit.”
“…Oh.”
I smiled immediately hearing the slight panic in his voice. “You nervous?”
“No.”
“Your lying.”
“I’m not nervous.”
“Mhm.”
Truth was, he’d been lowkey stressed about tonight all week. The stress came from me telling him I would attend. Outside of work and business, Mortal Kombat was the one thing Kasen genuinely loved without restraint and I knew enough about him now to understand how vulnerable that made him feel.
“You’re gonna do good,” I said softly.
The line stayed quiet for a second.
Then he spoke. “Drive safe going home.”
There he go again.
Never directly emotional. Just careful. Protective in tiny ways.
I grabbed my keys smiling to myself before heading toward the studio doors.
The tournament was nothing like I expected.
For starters? It was packed. Rows of monitors glowed beneath dim neon lighting while people crowded around massive projector screens yelling, arguing, laughing, trash talking.
Controllers clicked nonstop. Music vibrated through the convention center while different games rotated across setups everywhere.
I looked around slowly taking everything in. “…Oh this nerd shit got FUNDING funding.”
Wolf barked out a laugh beside me. “Told you.”
He had met me near the entrance after Kasen texted him saying I was coming. Apparently everybody in Kasen’s life had accepted the fact that I existed now.
I adjusted the layered plaid skirt around my hips while following Wolf deeper through the crowd. My boots hit against the concrete floors as heads turned left and right.
Not because of me specifically. Okay maybe a little because of me, but mostly because the energy in the room was loud as hell.
“You ever been to one before?” Wolf asked.
“No. I thought this was gone be like… six men in a basement screaming at TVs.”
“That’s exactly what it is. Just with sponsorships.”
I snorted.
Then I saw him and stopped walking completely.
…Oh.
Kasen sat at one of the main stations near the front tournament setups with a controller resting loosely in his hands.
He had on a grey compression shirt with grey athletic shorts stopping right above his knees and his gold chains resting against his chest.
His locs pulled back away from his face with big headphones hanging around his neck while he leaned forward slightly focused on the monitor in front of him.
And the craziest part? This man looked completely different here.
Still quiet, but there was confidence in him now.
People kept stopping to speak to him too. Dapping him up and asking questions while watching his screen.
One dude literally walked past and said, “That nigga Reed about to wash everybody tonight.”
Kasen barely reacted. He adjusted his glasses and kept playing.
My pussy developed a heartbeat.
“Oh,” I murmured before I could stop myself.
Wolf looked over at me immediately and started grinning. “Yeahhhh. There go your little Batman.”
Little? That man looked like he could bench press 5 of me.
Then Kasen glanced up.
Saw me and froze. His entire body paused for half a second before he stood up slowly from the gaming station.
And baby… The way his eyes dragged over me?
Panties immediately compromised.
I should’ve worn safer underwear.
His gaze moved from my boots… to my thighs… to the little bit of stomach showing beneath the cropped jersey… then finally landed on my face.
The tips of his ears turned red instantly.
I smiled slowly and started walking toward him through the crowd.
“You didn’t tell me this was a real event,” I said once I reached him.
His throat moved visibly before he spoke. “It is a real event.”
“No like…” I looked around dramatically. “People in here acting like you Kobe.”
Wolf cut in immediately. “To these niggas he basically is.”
“Kinda,” another guy nearby added while staring at Kasen. “He undefeated in HighVille regionals.”
I looked back at Kasen with my eyebrows raised. “Oh so you out here living a double life.”
“It’s not a double life.”
“Mhm.”
His eyes dropped toward my outfit again for a split second too long. Then away then back again.
“You look nice,” he said carefully.
Like the compliment physically hurt him to say out loud.
I stepped closer smiling. “You nervous?”
“No.”
“Your lying again.”
“I’m not nervous.”
His ears got even redder.
I laughed softly before wrapping my arms around his waist in a quick hug and the second my body pressed against his? That man went stiff as hell, still warm though. Solid too. Like hugging a very tense expensive wall.
His arms hesitated before finally wrapping around me carefully like he was scared to touch too much.
“You got this,” I murmured against his chest.
His hand flexed lightly against my back.
Then I felt it….A deep inhale near my hair.
Subtle but quick and for some reason…that tiny little breath had me ready to fuck on him.
By the third match, I understood why everybody in this room respected Kasen the way they did.
That man was terrifying.
He sat leaned slightly forward in his chair with the controller resting easy in his hands while chaos exploded around him. People yelling. Trash talk flying. Screens flashing.
Kasen was silent as hell, the only thing moving was his fingers.
“DAMN!”
“Nah Reed different.”
“That combo illegal as hell!”
I watched another opponent slump back in their chair after Kasen wiped them clean in under two minutes.
“…Oh he beating ass forreal,” I muttered.
Wolf barked out another laugh beside me. “Told you.”
The crowd around his station kept growing after every win too.
People were recording on phones, betting money on him and arguing over whether anybody there could even touch him tonight.
Nobody could apparently, because every single time somebody sat across from Kasen, the same thing happened.
Confidence.
Trash talk.
Then humiliation.
And the crazy part? He never bragged..
He’d just push his glasses up calmly afterward while people lost their minds around him.
That quiet confidence was doing something severe to my hormones.
Especially in that damn compression shirt.
The veins in his forearms flexed every time he tightened his grip on the controller and I found myself staring entirely too long.
“Sevyn.”
“Hm?”
“You drooling.”
I snapped my head toward Wolf immediately. “Mind your business.”
“I am. Your business just look thirsty.”
I rolled my eyes and looked back toward the screen just in time to catch Kasen glancing at me between rounds.
The second our eyes met, his ears turned red again. How was that still attractive after five months?
My phone buzzed suddenly in my hand.
Dad Calling.
I answered quickly and stepped slightly away from the crowd noise.
“Hey daddy.”
“Hey baby, Serenity wanted to tell you goodnight before she go down.”
Immediately my face softened.
“Put my sugarbug on.”
A few rustling noises later—“MOMMYYYY.”
“There go my baby.”
“I ate pancakes and grandpa let me put too much syrup.”
I gasped dramatically. “Not too much syrup.”
“Yes huh!” she giggled. “And we watched princess movies.”
I smiled hearing the excitement in her voice.
Serenity loved staying with my parents. Especially my daddy. That was his entire little best friend.
“You behaving?” I asked.
“Yes ma’am.”
“Mhm. I know that tone. What you do?”
“I accidentally spilled juice.”
“In grandpa house?”
“…Maybe.”
I laughed softly and leaned against the wall watching Kasen across the room while he adjusted his headset for the next match.
God he looked good.
“You better behave for grandpa before he send you home baldheaded,” I warned playfully.
Serenity gasped. “He would never!”
“Yes he would.”
“No he wouldn’t!”
I heard my daddy laughing loudly in the background.
“That’s because she got you wrapped around her finger,” I said.
“She my grandbaby,” he defended immediately once he took the phone back. “I’m supposed to.”
“Exactly why she spoiled.”
“And exactly why she happy.”
That softened me instantly because he was right.
“I love y’all,” I said quietly.
“Love you too baby. Be safe tonight.”
“I will.”
We hung up and I slipped my phone back into my bag just as the crowd around Kasen’s station erupted again.
“THAT’S GAME!”
I looked up in time to see another opponent standing up shaking his head in defeat while Kasen remained seated calm as ever.
Then slowly… He looked toward me again and this time… that tiny little smile tugging at the corner of his mouth looked proud.