I squirted some shampoo into my palm with a permanent wrinkle in my nose. “She does realize this isn’t a nudist colony, doesn’t she? And there are laws against all that.” I shiver.
Kayla laughs. “Oh, I thought you were going to hit her with your shower caddy. I know I was thinking about it if she started talking to me without covering up.”
I laugh at the idea of Kayla hitting an old woman with a plastic basket filled with shampoo, body wash, and conditioner. “All right, my conditioner has set for about three minutes, time to rinse.” She slips out of my shower and returns to her own beside mine.
I can see this being a start of a great new friendship. To be honest, it’s kind of nice.
Chapter 36
Caleb
The championship game is tonight. Then next weekend is Thanksgiving break. I would have thought by now Skylar might have come around and talked to me, but she hasn’t. Hell, I barely see the girl. Besides the few nights she’s home for dinner and the classes we share, it’s almost like she doesn’t exist.
I hate it. I really hate how it’s messing with me, like in class there are times I need to stop myself from staring at her. Especially in English. Civics is a little more difficult because I sit in front of her, but every once in a while I can sneak in a glance here and there. Problem is she’s never looking at me. She doesn’t even acknowledge me when I ask a question; she just ignores me.
Can’t she see what she’s doing to me? Does she enjoy torturing me like this?
It’s three-thirty in the morning. I can’t sleep. My mind and body are too wound up. Conceding, I get up and take a shower. After returning to my room, the sound of an alarm going off causes my attention to revert from my boxer drawer to the hallway. I slip on my clothes quickly and step out into the hall just in time to catch Skylar exiting her room.
“Sky? Do you have a second?”
She glances over at me and her face is full of surprise; it’s beyond adorable too. “What are you doing?” she stammers.
“Couldn’t sleep.” Walking with her I say, “Anyway, I was wondering if you were coming to the game tonight?” Why in the hell did I ask her that? The last thing she wants to see is a football game that I’m playing in. Idiot.
She shrugs. “I don’t know. Why?”
“I’d like you to be there.” I almost smack myself. I can’t believe I just admitted that. I better shut the hell up before any more shit comes out.
“Oh, um…okay.”
“Really?”
“Sure. I’ve gone to almost all your games so far.”
“No you haven’t.”
She nods. “Um…yeah, I have. I’ve gotta go.”
I don’t want this conversation to end. “Where are you going?”
She quirks an eyebrow. “Practice?” I snatch my coat off the rack and slip my feet into my shoes. “What are you doing?”
“Going with you. Is that okay?”
She shrugs and goes out the door. I’m following in silence. Sliding into her Mini Cooper I glance down and notice her car is a standard. “What the hell, you can drive a stick?”
She gives me a dirty look. “Where’ve you been? Of course I can drive a stick.”
“You’re amazing. You know that, don’t you?”
Sky laughs. “Oh, I’m sure Danielle and her Pepto-Bismol fashion sense made the Caleb’s List of Amazing Girls cut too.”
I frown at her joke. Danielle is nothing like her. And tonight I can finally be rid of Danielle and her bubble-gum-pink fetish. I can’t handle another week of her clinginess. As soon as I cut the cord on that little train wreck, I’m going to have to find another tutor. I’m also going to have three months to make sure the baseball team will still let me play.
A song on the radio comes on, Crossfade’s “So Far Away.” I cut my eyes over in her direction and smile. “You’ve got a good collection of music.”
“Yeah. When did…never mind, I know when.”
I smile at the memory of her wrapped in a towel and me looking through her music collection on her iPod. I rest my head while listening to the lyrics and hum the song softly. A few minutes later, we pull up in a driveway and she looks over at me. “Kayla will need to get in.”
“Wait, you and Kayla have been training together?”
She nods. “Yup. Now scooch, she’s at your door.”
I get out of the car and let Kayla into the back. She eyes me and then looks over at Skylar while slipping into the back. “Am I going crazy?” she asks.
Skylar laughs. “Nope. Caleb is coming to our practice.”
“Next time, you should bring Lance with you,” Kayla suggests.
“I’ll make a note of that.”
Not much time passes and we’re at school. We all get out and head to one of the side doors near the pool. Sky pulls out a key and I look at her with wide eyes. “No way. They trusted you with a key?”
“I guess.” She shrugs like it’s no big deal, but she and I know better. She leans in close and hisses, “I’m not stupid. I know exactly what you’re thinking and yes, I thought about it. But again, I’m not stupid—I’d be the first person everyone would accuse.”
Kayla is already a good three feet ahead of us, and as I stare into Sky’s eyes, which hold so much challenge, I feel myself leaning toward her. “I’m impressed, Bulldog.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. If I was positive there was a way to do it without being blamed, you’re damn straight I’d tag this place in a heartbeat.”
I smile at her fiery statement and follow her into the pool area. Before she and Kayla head to the locker room, Sky hands me a sheet of paper with a bunch of numbers and stuff like Fly, Free, Finger drag—whatever the hell that is—on it. She asks me to copy whatever is on the paper onto the chalkboard for her, while she’s getting dressed. I figure it’s the least I can do.
I copy everything down then walk over to the side bench and lie down. My sights are on the ceiling when a dark curtain of hair and crazy, wild orange eyes block my view. It takes everything in me to restrain myself from grabbing the back of her head and pulling her lips down to mine. “Hey, since you’re here, I could use your help with something.”
“What’s that?” I ask, trying to sound casual.
She pulls back as I start to sit up. Skylar twirls a stopwatch in front of me. “Do you know how to work one of these?”
I smile. “Yeah. You want me to time you then?”
“Please. I need to see how much time Kayla and I need to drop for our events.”
I grab the watch and walk with her to the starting block. Kayla eyes us with a smile. I have a feeling she knows something that I don’t. “All right, so, how am I…” Before I finish, my body is shoved forward. I try to grab onto something but miss and tumble into the icy water. I emerge, letting out a gasp, and glare at Skylar who’s bent over laughing. Kayla is on the floor laughing as well and saying, “Oh my God, did you see his face? Price-less!”
“Ha. Ha. Laugh it up.” I swim to the side. My clothes feel like a million pounds on me as I try to pull myself out of the water. I take off my shoes and socks, and rip off my t-shirt. I hear a gasp beside me, which means it came from Skylar. Good, I hope you enjoy all of what you’re about to see.
I undo my jeans and Skylar clears her throat, “Um…what do you think you’re doing?”
“I think I’m going to take off my pants and let them dry. Don’t get your panties in a twist, I’m leaving my boxers on.”
Before I stand up to yank off my jeans, I can’t help but sneak a peek at Skylar to see if she’s watching me undress. She is, and from the look of her chewing on her lower lip, it’s like she’s secretly enjoying this little show as much as me. After I yank off my jeans and toss them in the same area where my t-shirt is, I start to walk over to the bench.
“In all seriousness, I really do want you to time us. I just couldn’t resist not getting you back for gluing my shoes to my closet floor.”
I snort at her. “What? T
hat was like a month ago.”
“Exactly. I told you I’d get you back.” She waves the stopwatch out to me and I shake my head.
“Fine. When am I stopping?” I grab the watch from her. My gaze drops from her eyes and skims the rest of her body. Damn she looks sexy as hell, even if she’s just sporting a one-piece. She clears her throat and I redirect my stare to her eyes again.
Sky smiles while Kayla takes the large red covers off the white blocks. “Well, I won’t make you time my five hundred just yet,” Sky says with a wink. “But you can time my two hundred and my backstroke that’s only a hundred.” Again all of this makes no sense to me.
I sigh. “So…”
“It’s a yard pool. Starting from the blocks and going to the wall is twenty-five yards, coming back is fifty yards. Is this making sense yet?”
“Fifty means someone going down and coming back. Wall to wall is one lap. Four laps equals a hundred. Eight laps is a two hundred. Twenty laps is a five hundred,” Kayla says while she puts her goggles on.
I nod. “Okay. I’m getting it. So what are you starting off with?”
Skylar covers her pretty hair with a blue and white swirled cap while answering me. “Um, Kayla is going to do her hundred free first. I’m going to do my two hundred free next.”
Kayla gets up on the block. Sky stands on the left side and tells Kayla where to place her feet. Then Sky looks back at me and says, “As soon as I say ‘go’ start timing her.”
I nod. Skylar says, “Take you mark.” Kayla hunches over and grips the side of the block. “Go!”
I press the button while Kayla leaps off the small diving board. I stop watching Kayla and notice Skylar studying her as she swims. And it makes me wonder what she’s thinking. How does someone like Skylar think? Is this how she looks when she’s watching me play—all intense and drawn in so much that even the sound of a gun going off wouldn’t pull her from her trance?
Kayla splashes her feet into the wall and makes her way to the other end again. “What was her split?”
“Her what?”
Skylar shakes her head and moves beside me. I keep my eyes on Kayla to distract myself from how close Sky is to me. I’m keeping the thoughts of what I’d love to do to her right now as far away from my brain as possible. Kayla flips into the wall right as Sky’s breath warms my shoulder. I want her so freaking bad it’s not even funny. “You’re making me uncomfortable,” I admit.
“I am?” She takes a step forward and I almost tell her to come back. “I’m not going to push you in again.” She laughs. If only that were my problem, but it’s definitely not that at all. Kayla is coming toward us and Skylar says, “Stop the clock as soon as her fingers touch the wall.”
I’ve got to move to see Kayla touching which means standing right beside Skylar. I lean over her and her leg brushes against mine. It’s almost my undoing. Especially when she straightens, making her close enough that all I’d have to do is wrap my arm around her and pull her back two inches for her body to be pressed up against mine. A spot I definitely want her in. I blink and refocus on Kayla who’s coming into the wall. I click the button and she pops her head up, panting. “How was that?”
I glance down and show the time to Sky. I’ve got no idea if a 00:48:00 in a hundred-yard freestyle is any good.
Skylar squeals. “Oh that was the tits! Forty-eight seconds, booyah! Okay, my turn.”
Kayla gets out, wraps a towel around herself, and stands next to me. Skylar places her goggles on and I reset the watch. As soon as she jumps in and begins swimming it dawns on me this is the first time I’ve ever actually seen her swim. I’ve seen the snapshots in the papers, been to a couple of swim meets, but I was only there to check out the chicks in swimsuits. And as I watch Skylar swim, I suddenly see what everyone else has been saying about her for years. Her energy and fierceness is something so unique and rare it makes me want her that much more. But what really sucks is I don’t think I have a shot in hell of getting her.
Chapter 37
Skylar
To say that I’m not nervous when I’m around Caleb would be a flat-out lie. The boy has abs in places one should never have abs. And it’s so difficult not to stare, let alone trace my fingers along his washboard stomach. So I’m happy to be away from him for a few minutes.
I think about staying in the cold water as long as possible in order to drown my desires for Caleb. At the same time, the competitive side of me wants to impress him with my skill. So instead of swimming at a medium pace, I’m all-out sprinting this two hundred. My first hundred is done with ease, it’s around the hundred-and-fifty mark I start to feel the solid burn in my lungs and legs. I flip into the wall and push myself through the pain. I feel winded; I should have paced a little during that last fifty but my stubbornness is in overdrive.
Using whatever else is left in me, I finish. Pulling my head out of the water, I take a huge gulp of air. Caleb stares at me with a look I’ve never seen before. I look away and breathe heavily. “What’s my damage?”
“One minute, twenty-seven seconds, and forty-seven milliseconds.” Kayla beams with a closed fist extended out to me. I hit it with my own and pull myself out of the water. My limbs are on fire so I slip a little, but a strong grip catches my arm and helps me out of the water. I pant as water beads off me and Caleb gazes at me. He’s so close his hot breath is setting butterflies off in my stomach. My skin tingles not from cold but want. He shakes out my towel and wraps it around me. His touch burns right through the cotton. I start to lean toward him, wanting more of his touch but then stop and remember myself. He rejected me. He doesn’t want me like I want him.
I laugh to shake off my own stupidity and turn my attention to Kayla. “Ready for your fifty breast?”
She nods. We continue to swim like this for the first half hour. However, as much as I want to forget about my horrible crush on Caleb, it’s very difficult to do when he’s standing so close to me. Sometimes I want to press myself against him, tilt my head a little, and place kisses along his neck and chin. And why does he have to look so hot without his shirt and pants? I swear God is punishing me for something.
After practice, Kyla and I head to the locker room, where she attacks me with a thousand questions regarding Caleb. “Oh. My. Goodness.” She slaps my arm as I pull back the shower curtain to the shower I’m going to use. “You have a major crush on Caleb.”
“Oh…whatever. You’re high.”
“You totally do.” She laughs. “You’re blushing and everything. Does he even know?”
I feel my eyes expand. “No!” I grab her by the shoulders and shake her a little. “You can’t tell anyone either.”
She smiles. “It’s so cute. The two of you.” She claps her hands and squeals. “Oh wouldn’t it be so fun if Lance and I finally went out and you and Caleb went out? It would be completely awesome.”
I can’t glow in her little happy dream like I want to. Because no matter what, I can’t lose myself to false hopes, and Caleb falling for me is totally a false hope. He showed me a few times how much he doesn’t want to get with this, so there is no use wishing for something different. That kind of crap is for people who watch way too much Disney and expect Prince Charming to come sweep them off their feet. However, the reality is the world doesn’t work that way.
We slip into our own separate shower stalls and for a moment or two, I can forget about everything.
***
Caleb and I are in my car heading back to the house. He taps his hand against his thigh and hums along to the song currently on my iPod. “I hate winter, well, I hate snow,” I blurt out.
He laughs, and the volume on my car stereo lowers. “I’m worried when I go off to college someone will be a better quarterback than me, and all this stardom will be gone.”
“All I ever wanted was to go to Duke. And at the Reynoldsburg game, I was so jealous and pissed because someone from my dream college was scouting you. It was like one of my worse nightmares coming true.�
�� I sigh. “But here I am thinking I can finally have my chance. Impress the college I’ve been dying to go to since I was nine. And you know what? I’m flat-out terrified that once the rest of the swim team finds out I’m on the team they’ll do everything to screw my chances of getting a scholarship to go there.” I can’t believe I admitted one of my biggest fears to him.
“Take a left up ahead.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Just do it, Fletch.”
I turn onto Manchester and sigh. “Where am I going?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll direct you. For now, just go straight.”
I drive about five minutes down the road and Caleb says, “Turn right and take this out of the city.”
I do as he says. We are silent for most of the ride. He hums softly to whatever is on the radio, and I take in the countryside we’re passing. Caleb points over at a two-story, dark-red brick home. “That’s where I grew up, well…until I was thirteen.”
I keep driving. The house is beautiful with a great big yard. It makes me a little sad to see a part of his past. It looked like the kind of house that would be filled with a lot of great memories. About ten more minutes down the road he whispers, “Turn right.”
We’re at a cemetery. I glance over at Caleb but he’s looking out the side window. He tells me to park my car along one of the paths close to the back of the graveyard. He gets out and I don’t know what to do.
“You coming, Fletch?”
I swallow and get out of the car. I follow him but make sure to keep a little distance between us. He stops in front of two tombs decorated with concrete angels. I look down at the scriptures and read, “Victoria Morgan and Jackson Morgan, beloved parents of Caleb Alexander Morgan. May you both rest in peace.”
“Oh, Caleb, I’m so sorry,” I breathe.
“I don’t bring people here.” I just want to hug him and absorb all his pain away. I chew on my lower lip instead. “They were that sickly-in-love couple you see every once in a while, either in passing or maybe they visit your coffee shop. You know what I’m talking about?”
Rival Love Page 17