Rival Hearts (Rival Love #2)

by Natalie Decker

  “What’s that?”

  “My heart, silly girl. What else?”

  “Oh, I thought it was your ego,” I tease. He laughs and kisses my nose.

  “That too.”

  I roll my eyes and smile back. “When did you become so wise?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Probably when I started studying in order to get this hot chick to notice me.”

  “I’m pretty certain I noticed you the first time I saw you sitting in your uncle’s kitchen.”

  He barks with laughter and walks us down the street. “Yes, but you hated my guts then. I studied to get you to like me.”

  I nod. “Oh, in that case. I liked you the moment you came to my rescue when my stupid ex, Kevin, admitted to cheating on me.”

  He smiles and pulls me closer to him. “He obviously didn’t know what he had. His loss and my gain, I suppose.”

  “Even if I’m not ready for the whole getting naked thing?” I frown because I know he’s more experienced than me. And every guy I’ve ever dated has left me sooner or later because I wouldn’t turn in my V card. To be honest, I can’t go through that kind of stuff again.

  He pulls me around so we can face each other. “Skylar Olivia Fletcher, I might not like your middle name. I might hate like hell that you could decide to stay here in New York. But no matter what, I love you. Whether we do get naked and I am your first or not. I love you. Got me?”

  I blink. “You love me?”

  “Yeah, babe, I do. And I don’t ever say that.”

  “Really?”

  “Really, Sky. I love you.”

  My heart flutters and a happy tear slides down my cheek. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him down to me. “I love you, too. I really do.” Our lips brush against one another, and he slides his tongue over mine. I moan as we deepen our kiss.

  He pulls back and we continue walking hand in hand down the street.

  Maybe I can do this. Maybe I can be with Caleb. Maybe I can go to Ohio with him. He’s right about not belonging here. And if I were honest with myself, I really don’t need to fix my relationship with my dad. He left me. He hasn’t tried to make amends, it was always me. As far as making my relationship better with him and his new family, it’s up to them now.

  I need to go back.

  Chapter 13

  Caleb

  For the next couple days, Sky and I were inseparable. We went ice skating, held hands, talked, and made out, a lot. I’m in deep and can’t get enough of those lips or her sweet marmalade scent. This has been pretty much the best couple of days ever, and I’m scared it will come to an end.

  The cab pulls up to the Renaissance, where I’m staying for the rest of this trip, although I’d love to keep sleeping next to Sky. At the same time, I want to give her a little space too. Show her I can and will always respect her boundaries about sex and taking our relationship to that level.

  I feel like I’m on top of the world and not a damn thing can chase that away until I walk into the hotel and spot them. My mood tailspins out of control, on a crash course for the ground. Sky’s mom and my uncle are at the front desk. My uncle waves a paper around, demanding information, and the poor receptionist shakes her head. Erin stares her down like her eyes can shoot lasers; I know that look all too well. It’s the same look Sky has whenever she’s totally pissed off. Discombobulated by what this could all mean, I stumble right into one of the chairs in the lobby area.

  The little incident hasn’t pulled the attention of my uncle or Erin, so I decide to make a mad dash for the exit. Skulking for the door, someone crashes into me, causing me to lose my balance and fall straight on my ass. Her scent bombards me. Her laugh fills me. And my dread only increases.

  My ass is officially grass.

  Sky’s eyes focus on mine while she has me pinned to the ground and then she lowers her mouth to mine. I dodge the kiss and roll her off of me. Her smile drops to a frown and she stares at me as if I’m the freaking devil. And honestly, I feel like a huge ass. I want to kiss her. I want to so damn bad it hurts, but this isn’t the time.

  “Your mom is here,” I mumble.

  She shoves my shoulder. “If you don’t want … what?”

  I jerk my head back and mouth, “Erin and my uncle are right there.”

  She looks up and her eyes expand. Her face is a mix of emotions, and I can’t tell what she’s thinking, not by her face, but whatever it is, it’s probably matching mine.

  “Sky, what are you thinking?” I whisper.

  “I think I should leave.”

  “Please don’t. We can handle them.” Not by ourselves, but together, I’m sure we can handle them. I hope we can. I stand up and help her to her feet. I’m still holding her hands and would continue, but Sky pulls away. She runs a hand over her coat, brushing out wrinkles or whatever.

  We walk toward my uncle and her mom. My uncle grumbles, “Oh, there you are.” Erin looks over at me and then at Skylar. Her eyes swim with tears and then she snatches Skylar up into a hug. I assume it’s one of those suffocating ones because Sky’s cheeks turn from cherry red to a purplish color as she gasps, “Mom. Too. Much.”

  “Oh, oh, I’m sorry.” Erin releases her and smiles with a few tears rolling down her cheeks. “I’ve missed you so much.” Erin runs her hand over Sky’s hair and sniffles. “I feel like it’s been months.”

  Skylar pulls away and laughs. “Come on, Mom, it’s only been a few weeks.” Which is true, but I know what Erin means. It felt like forever since I’d seen Sky. I don’t like not seeing her. It’s funny, because a few months ago, all I wanted to do was get rid of her. I couldn’t, though.

  “Caleb,” my uncle’s stern voice breaks through my thoughts. “What were you thinking?”

  I was thinking I needed to be with Skylar. I was thinking I needed to bring her back home because she doesn’t belong here. That’s what I was thinking. But I don’t say any of this. “Just wanted to.” I shrug.

  He stares at me. “So you thought you’d come up here?” He nods, but it’s not one of his regular nods. It’s more of a Yeah, uh-huh, how stupid do you think I am? nod.

  “Yeah.”

  Erin pulls Skylar over to us and sniffles. “We should go get some breakfast. Oh, and we’re going to have to see if we can check into our room early. That’s going to be tough during the holiday.” She looks directly at me. “Caleb, I should be angry at you for disappearing on us. Not telling us where you were and everything, but I’m glad you came here early.” She hugs me.

  “Well, you’re still grounded when we get back home,” my uncle informs me. Knew that was coming. “How about this, you girls go catch up, and Caleb and I will go get some things done.”

  Erin smiles and Sky gives me a worried look. I smile at her. I don’t want her stressing over me. I want her to enjoy her time with her mom.

  Sky unlatches from her mom and comes over to me. “Before we all split off, can I talk to Caleb for a second?” My uncle and Erin look at Sky and then me. Man, if we’re still trying to hide our relationship, it’s not exactly coming off like that. Not at all.

  Erin nods and Sky pulls me to the corner space near the door. I eye her up, study her lips a little longer than maybe I should. God, I want to kiss her. Say screw it, and kiss her right here, right now.

  “We’re going to have to cool this”—she moves her hand between me and her—“down a little, right?”

  “Why? Maybe we should just tell them.”

  She looks at me as if I slapped her in the face. Total shock. “Are you nuts?” She shoves me. “Oh my God, no. We can’t just … God, Caleb, I thought you’d understand. We’re just starting this, and I still have my decision of what I’m going to do. Am I going to stay or return? I mean, it’s just a lot to take in. I can’t add on to that pressure. I don’t need to hear their thoughts and all that bullshit.”

  What does she mean by still deciding whether to stay or leave New York? Wait. What the heck just happened here? What the hell have we bee
n doing these past couple days? I told her I love her, and I mean it. Why is she trying to kill us before we even get started, again?

  “Fine, we won’t tell them,” I grind out. We observe each other in silence for a moment, then she huffs. “We’ll keep our distance and whatever else you want.”

  “Stop doing that.” She shakes her head. “I just want us to keep some space. That’s all. I’m not asking you to turn into an asshole.”

  I roll my eyes. Seems like that’s exactly what she wants. She wants to stay here. She wants me to give her a reason to stay. “Fine.”

  She makes a growling noise and stomps off to her mom. Erin looks at me and then at Skylar. No one says anything, though. We all just head out the door to go our separate ways.

  ***

  Uncle Brian and I are inside another jewelry store. I’m bored. My uncle is sweating. Literally sweating. He talks to the saleswoman and she directs him over to a long case. I stay back because I don’t want to be asked what I think about anything. I glance down at the case near me, which is filled with necklaces and earrings in a box-set type deal.

  I look over at my uncle to make sure he’s not really paying attention to me. I don’t need his questions. “Can I help you find something?” a soft voice asks, averting my attention to a short girl with huge-ass rocks in her ears and her reddish hair slicked back into a ponytail.

  “Um … nah. I was just … ”

  “Looking?” she asks with a smile.

  I nod.

  “I’m Tricia. If you need some help, I’ll be over by that case over there.” She points and winks, then makes her way to the counter two cases away from where I am.

  I glance around the store and then back down at the case. A necklace pulls all my attention from the room. A tiny gold swimmer with a diamond marking the eye sits on a thin gold chain. It’s perfect. There’s a ring inside the box, too. It’s not shaped like a swimmer, but it’s a diamond, with two small blue stones on either side of it.

  Checking back on my uncle, I see him bent over, eyeing a case, and I’m glad for the distraction. I wave the girl over to me. I know Sky’s ears are pierced, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her wear earrings. Maybe she doesn’t have any. Or maybe she doesn’t like them.

  “Which one did you want?”

  I point to the swimmer, and she gives me an odd look. “That one? Okay.”

  She pulls the box from the case and sets it on the counter. “Yeah, I want that.”

  “Okay. If you need us to resize the ring, just bring it in and we’ll do that.”

  Barely listening at this point, I nod. She needs to check me out so I can hide my purchase in my coat before my uncle sees it.

  “Is this it then?”

  “Yeah.”

  She walks away to another counter and starts getting Sky’s gift together. I dig into my back pocket and pull out my wallet. My uncle walks over to me. He’s still sweating bullets. “Let’s go.”

  “Um … okay. Just a sec.”

  He gives me an odd look. “Did you buy something?”

  I shrug. “Might have.”

  He glares at me. “All right, out with it. What’s going on with you and Skylar? I swear, Caleb, you better not be … If you hurt her, so help me, you’ll wish you never went there.”

  I throw up my hands. “Uncle Bri, chill. I’m not doing anything with Sky.”

  The girl rings me up and my uncle’s heated glare is on me the whole time. Once we’re outside, he starts plaguing me with questions. But I’m not answering him. Even as we go to three more jewelry stores, he keeps asking what Skylar and I are doing. But I’m not giving in.

  Chapter 14

  Skylar

  Mom doesn’t say much over breakfast, but she does watch me carefully. I think she’s waiting for me to spill my guts or something. But my silence has to be killing her because she clears her throat and says, “So.”

  I squirm in my seat and mumble, “So?”

  “Are you going to tell me about it?”

  “About what?”

  She narrows her eyes and shakes her head. “Oh, I see. You’re going to make me ask you. Fine. Are you and Caleb getting close?”

  “Getting close? What does that even mean?”

  She frowns. “You know what I mean. Are you two in a relationship?”

  I practically spit my water out. “Caleb and I are just friends!” It’s a lie. I hope she doesn’t see it’s a lie. She can read me so well, though.

  She raises a brow. “Friends? Skylar, I saw you tackle that boy to the floor.”

  My blood drains. My stomach twists into a knot. Still, I play it off. “You saw me ram right into him. He broke my fall.”

  She shakes her head. “Okay, you don’t like him. I wouldn’t be mad, you know … if you did … like him.”

  And she thinks I’m going to fall for this? Wow, she’s really trying to pull this out of me. “Yea, okay, Mom.” I return the rest of my attention to my big stack of pancakes. Maybe if I ignore this long enough she’ll just drop it.

  ***

  One whole morning later and midway through the afternoon, my mom will not let the whole Caleb thing go. She’s found creative ways to weave his name into a piece of conversation. Like when we were at this dress shop. Mom held up this blood-red number, which was actually pretty awesome—if I wore dresses, that is, but I find them to be torture devices. Anyway, my mom holds this little number up and presses it against me and says, “I think you would look really cute in this. And Caleb probably wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off of you.” I scowl at that.

  You think she would stop there, but no, she continues with, “I’ve noticed a change in him. Around the house, without you there, it’s like … well, he’s moody a lot. In fact, it’s been a while since I’ve seen him smile. I think Caleb likes you.”

  Again, I will not let her bait me.

  After the fifteenth comment about me and Caleb, I finally growl my annoyance. “Mom! Seriously, stop. Okay. What do you want from me?”

  She turns to me in the middle of a busy sidewalk and stares at me. “I noticed a change in you. Liv, do you realize how many times I almost called your father to come take you at the start of this school year? When August came … you were … I don’t even know. Lifeless.” She pulls me into a coffee shop on the corner and orders us some drinks.

  While we wait, we take up residence at a table near the window. She sighs. I notice the bags under her eyes as if she hasn’t slept for a long time. “Liv, you just dropped everything. You stopped running. You stopped hanging out with your friends. You stopped coming in at all hours of the night.” I lift my head and she laughs. “Yes, I knew. I’m a nurse for God’s sake. I get calls at all hours. I knew when you snuck in. But you just stopped as soon as we moved into Brian’s house. At first, I thought you were just adjusting. Next, you came home with that bruise. I just … I didn’t know what to do.”

  Some girls at Delmont jumped me in the bathroom. Only one of them got a swing on me. “Order for Erin?” a guy shouts. Mom gets up and collects our drinks.

  She returns with two fraps. “Skylar, I’ve never been so worried about you. This year, I honestly didn’t know what to do. I thought maybe I pushed the move on you too fast. Maybe I was too selfish. But then … around October, I noticed you coming back around. It was a slow start, but you were you. And I also noticed a little light come back into your eyes every time Caleb was in a room with you.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “I’m saying I know. I know you’ve got feelings for him. And I really think he has feelings for you, too.”

  I roll my eyes. “Okay, Mom.”

  “You don’t think he does?”

  Okay, I know he does, but should we have these feelings for one another? That should be the question here. Am I staying in New York? If so, we should end this whole attempt at a long-distance relationship. I should really end this all now so I don’t prolong the pain of it ending really badly.


  I can feel my mom’s stare on me as I battle the war going on in my head. “You know, you can come home. We’ll figure something out.”

  “I can’t go home.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t take you more seriously.”

  I shrug. “That’s not it. I mean, it is. But I can’t go back if that person still hasn’t been caught. People won’t care about my innocence.”

  She nods. “I know. We can work something out, though. Maybe we can get you into a different school.”

  “And drive forty minutes away? Get up at five in the morning so I can be on the road by six? Mom, that leaves no room for swimming or training.”

  “Your father tells me you haven’t been training at all since you came here. I can’t have you fall into some dark, depressing hole again, Liv. So what can I do?”

  Was I really in a dark, depressing hole?

  ***

  I enter the brownstone after a long morning with my mom. I missed her a lot, but with her weird bombardment of questions I needed an escape. Up in my room, my body crumples to the bed. Inhaling my sheets, all I smell is Caleb. Mint, cedar, and a splash of cinnamon. Oh man, I could lie here for the rest of my life breathing in this wonderful scent. But, eventually, I’ll have to take a shower because long periods of time with a lack of shower equals über gross. Plus, girl’s gotta eat.

  But this smell that’s basking in my sheets, that’s taken a hold of my senses and made me all gooey inside, yes, this is home. Oh, my God … Caleb is home.

  Chapter 15

  Caleb

  Ever been doused by a bucket of ice-cold water? The whole cool, wet, stinging sensation always puts you on high alert. Well, that’s exactly what it’s like when I walk into my hotel room and notice my uncle following me with his luggage.