Tempted | Kai Parker

twenty one: never mind

The sweet escape of my dream filled sleep suddenly seemed to shatter when a violent ring shrilled beside my resting head. As I mourned the loss of a dream which had, for once, felt like a good one, I extended my fingers to my nightstand in search of my cell phone.

Still half asleep, and hardly able to see in my darkened room, I winced as my desperate fingertips failed to land on the device.

When my hand finally did grasp the phone, I quickly flipped it over and squinted at the glowing screen. The bright display burned my sleepy, sensitive eyes, as I scrambled to see exactly who was calling.

Unknown number.

My drowsy mind quickly convinced myself that it was probably just someone calling by mistake, or just some telemarketing of some sort. And anyways, if it was something important, they'd call back in the morning.

Deciding I was definitely too tired to chat, I declined the call.

With a small sigh, I rolled back over into bed, hoping to drift seamlessly back into a serene sleep.

However, practically the moment my eyes fluttered closed, my ring tone violently chimed once more.

An agitated groan escaped my lips as I clutched my cell phone, my fingers racing to answer the call just to stop its melodic screams.

Someone better be dying.

"Hello?" I groaned.

"Andie!" A man gasped down the phone. "Oh, it works. Your number works."

The strangely over-joyed voice was eerily familiar. And the way my name rolled off his tongue was a sound I could never misplace.

"Kai?" I questioned.

"You're so clever." He complimented, with an obnoxiously loud gasp. "How did you know it's me?"

I sighed as I propped myself up in bed, tightly clutching my phone to my ear.

God, why was Caroline always right?

"Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?" I grumbled. "I told you. Emergencies only."

"No, you don't understand. This is an emergency." He wailed through the phone.

How could I just tell this was most certainly not an emergency?

"Fine." I sighed. "What is it?"

"I need to know, what's that song called?" He questioned, as my fingers started to grip the phone tighter. "You know the one you used to sing all the time?"

With my eyes scrunched together I forced a deep breath through my nostrils, using every ounce of strength I had not to scream.

"Are you kidding me, Kai?" I hissed.

"No, I need to know." He exaggerated. "Remember, it was like, 'beauty queen of only eighteen, she had some troubles with herself'?" He sung completely out of key. "Come on, you have to remember."

As Kai yammered through the phone, I noticed there was something just a little off about his mannerisms. His voice was more expressive than usual – more exaggerated. And he seemed to be babbling even more useless information than he normally did.

Which I didn't even think was possible.

"Kai, are you drunk?" I questioned.

The answer to my question was laughter echoing down the phone, his merry giggles falling into my ear.

"Kai?" I scolded down the line.

"Only a little." He whispered. "Remember the last time we got drunk? That was so fun."