Rival Dreams (Rival Love #3) (12 page)

“Sure.”

He gives me a thumbs-up and leaves. I shove the notebook back into the box and grab my bag. Looking through the box made my mood worse. But I can’t regret my decisions. They’re done.

A knock comes at the door and I groan when I open it. It’s not pizza. It’s not someone who recently pissed me off or is stalking me. Nope. It’s Vince.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” I say and clap my hand into his and we pull into a half hug then pull away.

“Kyle’s got pizza coming. Dude, you look so depressed. What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” I lie.

He shakes his buzzed head. “You’re so full of shit, man. Look, if it’s about your girl, it’s cool. You don’t gotta spill, but you should talk to her. Before it’s too late.”

“It is too late.” I point at the box on the floor and sigh. “What the hell was I thinking?”

“You were thinking that this was a good idea. Or that you thought this was the better option. You know, crazy fans and all.”

I shake my head. “Yeah, I guess. It’s just …”

“You miss her. She’s familiar. What?”

I look at him strangely. I can’t help it. Guys don’t share this kind of stuff. Well, we share about positions and the wildest things we’ve ever done, but never feelings.

Vince throws his hands up. “I’m just saying it’s hard to fully let go.”

I nod. That’s exactly it. I don’t want to fully let go. That means there won’t be a chance in hell to get her back. If, you know, in a couple years she still wants me, that is.

Chapter 19

Skylar

Brie is at her desk, wrapped in a towel and drying her hair. She keeps shouting at me over the noise of the hair dryer. First, if you’re using a loud appliance like a hair dryer or a blender, don’t try having a conversation. The other person more than likely can’t hear a flipping thing you’re saying and they end up nodding to things with no actual clue what’s happening. So as she’s shouting, I’m nodding, not really listening.

She shuts off the dryer. “So you’ll go? Really?”

“Go?”

“To the party. You just agreed you would.”

Damn it! I can’t tell her hell, no now. She’ll know I wasn’t paying attention to her. Ugh. And that will start a fight and I like sleeping in my bed. Because here’s the thing about roommates: sometimes if you piss them off they tend to make your room very uncomfortable for the next few days until all is forgiven. What I mean by uncomfortable is loud, disgusting, raunchy sex at all hours of the night. So you’re either forced to leave or hold a pillow over your head for the rest of the night. If this wasn’t disturbing enough, my roommate will leave a desk light on so I can see it too. Free porn is not always a great thing.

“Are you going to get him something?”

I stare at Brie like she’s lost her ever-loving mind. “Why would I get him something?”

“Because. It’s the last time you’ll see him. It’s like one last screw so you can officially say goodbye. You know?”

I’ve got no clue what she’s talking about. Is this what people do to get the person they want out of their system? It sounds stupid.

She winks. “Think of it like this. You give him a taste of what he’s going to be missing while he’s gone. His loss. Not yours.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea.” Because wouldn’t it be both of our losses? I want Caleb. I’ll always want Caleb. Trying to tease him with something he’ll be missing would torment me as well.

She shrugs. “Fine, do what you’ve been doing. Moping isn’t helping.”

I ignore her. I know she’s right about the moping. But a week’s worth of moping isn’t that bad, is it? Considering everything, the blindsiding breakup, the two years we were together, and let’s not forget how much I still love him. A week’s worth of moping seems reasonable.

Of course, what do I know? This is only the third relationship I’ve ever had. So maybe I
am
going about this all wrong.

With a sigh, I grab my coat, keys, and purse. “I’ll be back.”

Brie points to the clock. “Just remember the party starts at nine, so be back here at eight so you have time to be one gorgeous, available girl.”

On that note, I smile and leave. I hate to break Brie’s optimistic bubble but there is no way I’ll go back into the dating pond. Not while I’m in school. Focus on my degree, and swimming, that’s it. Relationships will just complicate that.

I drive around and try to decide what to get him. I stop by the CVS and shake my head. “What are you going to do? Get some condoms and say, ‘Bon voyage’?” That’s a terrible idea.

I get out of my car and do just that, though. I buy a blank card, a gift bag, and some condoms. On my way back, I stop at the sport shop and pick up a hoodie, hat, and football keychain.

I return to my room with my bags and start putting his gift together. As I’m getting some extra tissue paper out of my drawer of my desk, something at the bottom of the drawer catches my eye. It’s a dark box, and I swear I can’t breathe.

Clutching my chest, I swallow back some tears and snatch up the evil reminder. I meant to put it in the box of reminders for him to keep. I put it in the gift bag along with Caleb’s gifts.

After wiping away my tears, I write my farewell message inside the card, seal it up, and toss it into the bag.

Brie enters the room laughing with some tall boy with bleach-blond hair following her. She stumbles a little and smiles. “Oh, Sky, this is Travis.”

I nod. “Hi.”

“Hi. So are you ladies ready?”

Brie looks me up and down and shakes her head. “Give her twenty minutes.”

I look down at myself and then at Brie. “I’m good to …” She yanks me from my chair and snatches up my shower caddy and towel, then shoves me out of our room.

“Go shower.” She slams the door in my face. I flinch and walk toward the bathroom. I still can’t believe I agreed to this.

Eventually, though, I’ve got to face him. I can’t avoid all future holidays, or breaks spent with my mom and his uncle, just because of him. Besides, this was the risk, was it not?

As I’m showering I hear another set of voices enter the bathroom. One girl is really high-pitched, like she’s a singer or something. I’m not trying to eavesdrop but her voice carries into my stall. “He’s so going to hook up with me tonight. I can feel it.”

“Yeah,” the second voice says. It’s a little deeper, like sexy-sultry. “Has he called you yet?”

“No. But who cares? I’ll be at the party. And I’ve got a special present for him.”

“Well, I think it’s a bad idea. Caleb just broke up with his girlfriend. I don’t think he’s really looking for someone new, Vicki.”

“Shut up! He broke up with her because she’s lame. The girl isn’t even pretty. And God, have you seen what she wears? No wonder he ditched her.”

I finish my shower and wrap a towel around myself. I am not listening to these girls anymore. Caleb didn’t break up with me because of how I dress. When I start toward the door I let my eyes linger on the girls by the giant mirror. The one with short black hair spots me and her jaw drops. The redhead, the same girl I saw in the library, glares at me. “What?”

I say nothing. Just smile and walk out the door.

I go directly into my room and look at Brie. “I need to be really hot. And Travis, you need to leave for, like, two minutes.”

Travis looks me up and down and then looks over at Brie. She smiles and pushes him out into the hallway. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll get her changed and you can come back in here.”

“Alright,” he grumbles.

She closes the door and starts going through my closet. “Oh Sky, don’t you have anything that’s like rawww hear me roar, because I’m sexy, wild, and fun?”

I bite my lower lip. “Um … no.”

“Well, good thing I do, and we’re about the same size.” She goes to her closet and pulls out two really revealing outfits. One is a skirt, and a halter that shows a lot of cleavage. If you were blessed in the boob department it would be great. I’m not blessed in that department.

I’ve got a decent ass though. I try on the other outfit, which is a red strapless dress. It’s really short. As in if I bend over everyone will be able to see everything. I fidget with the hemline and Brie slaps my hand. “Stop it. You look fantastic. How are you in heels?”

“Like how high of a heel?”

She pulls out some stilettos with six inches of heel. My eyes widen. “Oh no. I’ll break my neck. And I’m not holding your hand the entire night.”

Travis knocks on the door and whines, “Are you girls done yet?”

Brie opens the door for Travis and he glances over at me. Brie orders him to sit down while she works on my hair. It takes about ten minutes of her bitching, drying, and bitching some more about how dry and gross my hair is. But she finally gets it curled and pinned up. She does my makeup quickly and then spins me to face the mirror.

I stare at myself and then look up at Brie. “Wow.”

“I know. I have talent. Let’s go.” She tosses me my black sandal wedges. I put them on, grab Caleb’s gift, and head out the door.

Travis lends an arm to each of us and jokes, “Two hot women on my arms. This is going to be the best party ever.”

Brie leans on him and says, “It definitely is.” She looks down at my bag and asks, “What did you get him?”

“Condoms.”

Travis and Brie look at me like I’ve lost my mind. “You didn’t,” Brie says.

“I did. I also got him a hat, a hoodie, a keychain, and, um, a necklace.”

“A necklace?” they both say.

“It’s special. Caleb’s parents died in a horrible car accident, and there was a necklace that Caleb’s father always wore. It was in shambles. I took it to a jeweler in town who specializes in these kinds of repairs. Anyway, he fixed the necklace, and now Caleb has something from them that he can wear always.”

“Wow.” Travis says as he opens the door for us.

I walk through. “Yeah, that was the idea when I thought of it for an anniversary present. But that’s not happening. It’s better this way.”

Brie frowns at me. “Aw, honey.”

“Caleb is a stupid son of a bitch for dumping you,” Travis says. I smile.

“Thanks.” This is so awkward. I hope to hell her date doesn’t decide to hit on me. Or make any more comments like that.

Chapter 20

Caleb

The party is, well, raging. There are so many freaking people at Matt’s house it’s hard to move without bumping into someone. The cops are surely going to get called.

I’ve taken a seat by the pool table where I can still see what’s going on, pretend to be enjoying myself, and socialize without making too much of an effort. This is how smart people party.

Matt comes over with another red cup filled with beer and cheers me after he hands it over. “Dude, check it out.” He points toward the living room, and the cup of beer slips from my hands when I see Skylar come through the front door. She shrugs off her coat, revealing a red dress that hugs her body. Matt yells at me, “Bro, party foul!”

I don’t give a fuck about the beer. I hop off my chair and make my way over to Sky. My steps falter a bit as soon as she turns and there is a guy’s hand pressed to her lower back. He guides her through the house over to the area where people are dancing.

Like a pervert, I watch. Watch while he twirls her, places his hands on her hips, grinds against her to the point I fucking explode.

Someone grabs my arm. “Hey man, what are you doing?”

I shove Vince and snap, “Let me go.”

He looks around the room and apparently spots what I’ve been seeing. “Dude, come on.”

“No.”

“Seriously. Caleb, you need to come with me before you do something really stupid.”

“I’ll fucking kill him.”

Vince tries to pull me and he whistles for someone to help. “Man, listen to me. It’s probably not what you think. And you can’t go kicking that guy’s ass.”

“Why not?” I growl.

“Because his dad is one of Sky’s coaches.”

I stare at the prick. “What? I’ve never seen that little punk before.”

“That’s because Travis just started. He’s only a freshman.”

“I don’t care. I don’t want him touching Skylar.”

A hand clamps down on my shoulder and someone picks me up. “What the fuck!” I yell.

Someone drops me and I spin around to punch the stupid ass in the face, but I stop. “Derrick?”

He has longer hair than he did in high school and a freaking beard. “Yeah, man. Good to see you. Sky called me.”

“Sky? Why?”

He shrugs. “Going away party.”

Lance smacks my hand. “Had to pick the dickhead up.”

Derrick laughs and elbows me. “I can’t believe he still drives that piece of shit truck. How old is that damn thing anyway? I thought we were going to break down on the way here.” I start to laugh.

“Fuck off! I’ll have you both know that truck is awesome!” Lance shouts.

Derrick and I just continue to laugh while Vince nudges me, “You good, man? I’m going to get a drink, you guys want anything?”

They all say beer and I tell Vince I’m good. Then my arm is yanked and I turn right as a girl’s arm wraps around mine. “Um …”

Derrick laughs. “Nice. I feel like this is high school all over again.”

I shake my head. “Don’t start.”

“Hi Caleb! I’ve been looking for you all night.”

“Yeah, uh …”

“Vicki. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to open up my present?”

Lance looks over at the girl and then around the room. He nods to someone and says, “Hey Caleb, I’m going to say hi to Sky.”

Derrick looks over at where Lance is heading and says, “Holy fuck! That’s Sky? Oh my God, I think I just nutted my pants. No offense dude, but wow. Just wow.”

“I know,” I say through gritted teeth. She looks amazing. But it doesn’t mean I want my friends to drool all over her.

“Caleb,” the redhead grabs my face and pulls it down to hers. I untangle myself from her.

“Vicki, I’m sure you’re nice. But I’m not interested.”

She flutters her eyelashes and juts out a lip. It’s not going to change my mind. In fact, it only confirms my decision. “But my present is really, really special.”