Rival Hearts (Rival Love #2)

by Natalie Decker

  “Hey, man, she’s with me,” a deep voice says. I look over and see Alex standing there, arms crossed.

  “Sorry, man, I was just helping my boy out and didn’t want her to be alone.”

  “She’s not.”

  Alex grabs me from Jake and starts dancing with me. It’s a little weird at first. I don’t know where to put my hands. I don’t know how to dance with my boss. I can’t grind against him like Sam is clearly doing with the strange guy she’s with. Alex pulls me against him and starts to move me slowly from side to side, then he turns me and I don’t know, I lose myself.

  By the time the third song is over, Alex and I are grinding against each other in a dirty way and I don’t care. I’m laughing, shouting words to songs, and having fun. Something that seemed so impossible to do before tonight.

  When the next song dies down and another starts up Alex waves me down. “I need a drink.”

  We head to the table and Mikia is giving me a look. “Just friends, huh?”

  “We are.”

  “Mmm-hmm. Sure you are.”

  I chug the rest of my drink and Alex winks at me. “Ready for another?”

  “Round of dancing? Yes.”

  “I was going to say drink, but sure, I can do that too.”

  The music flips to a slow song, and Alex presses me against him. His hands slide down my waist and cup my butt. “Um … ”

  “Sorry. Hands, I know. It’s just … ”

  I pull back. “Alex. Don’t say whatever was going to come out of your mouth, please don’t.”

  “I know. Caleb. Look, I probably shouldn’t say this, but there are a thousand guys who would love to be with you. You shouldn’t be hung up on him.”

  I smile and rest my head against his chest. I shouldn’t. It’s probably giving him the wrong signal, but I really want his friendship. It’s what I crave right now. And is that such a bad thing?

  ***

  When Alex drops me off, he kisses my cheek and tells me he’ll see me tomorrow. Which he will, because I’m working. I smile and leave the car. As I hit Brian’s porch, a figure pulls from the shadows and startles me. “Jesus, Caleb!”

  “Do you know what time it is?”

  “I don’t know, one? What are you, the curfew police?”

  He steps closer to me. I draw in his scent. Gosh, he smells so great. “Are you drunk?”

  I push him back. “So what if I am.”

  “Did he slip something in your drink? Did he do stuff to you? Why doesn’t he go out with some twenty-seven-year-old! You know someone who’s his own fucking age.”

  I walk into the house in a rage. I don’t know why I’m so mad. Maybe if I weren’t trashed I could laugh about the fact he thinks Alex is way older than he is.

  “Why do you care? I mean, we’re done. And you don’t want me.”

  “The hell I don’t! You push me away. I’ve been telling you I love you and I want this but you keep shoving me away!”

  He can’t have me and her. I’m not like that. I climb the stairs, or I attempt to climb the stairs. Caleb is behind me, scowling, cursing, but helping me up to my room. I try to tell him I’m fine.

  He brings me over to the bed and says, “I love you. I’ve never stopped loving you. I never will.” His lips brush mine so softly, sweetly, I can’t stand it. Doesn’t he know how much I miss his kisses? Miss him?

  “You’re having a baby, though. I can’t. I just … why does everyone want me to do impossible things this year? You expect me, in spite of the fact you’re having someone else’s baby, to be all team Caleb. And I think Alex wants to date me. Which I can’t do.”

  “He wants to what?” he asks with more venom than I’ve heard in a while.

  “What, you don’t think people can find me attractive now?” Yeah, because when I’ve had one too many this is the person I turn into.

  “Sky, I didn’t say that.”

  “You don’t have to. It was implied by how you expressed that question.”

  Caleb wraps his hands around mine, pleads with me. I snap, “Leave me alone. Just go. I wish I never met you!”

  He nods, lets go of my hands, and makes his way out of my room. And there was the idiot version of me displayed for all to see. I vow never to drink again.

  Chapter 38

  Caleb

  I give up. I have little to no interaction with Skylar for a few weeks. But my uncle guilt-trips me into attending her long-ass meets. Erie Conference, Sectionals, and now Sky’s at Districts. She’s competing for a spot at State. I swear I’ve seen the same event twelve times now. I literally want to beat my skull against these bleachers.

  “Jesus, how many more of these before it’s her event?” I ask.

  “Um, this is heat five. She’s in heat six,” Erin says.

  What the hell is the purpose of all these heats? Why can’t they have two and say sorry to the other thirty-two swimmers? I mean, for shit’s sake, that’s why this bullshit meet takes so freaking long. I’ve been listening to her swim lingo for weeks and I’m still lost. “She’s up,” Erin says.

  “Is she done after this?”

  Erin shakes her head. “Not even close.”

  I slouch as much as I can in these uncomfortable bleachers. And to think there are people who enjoy watching this.

  Skylar steps up to the blocks. She’s in lane five. A person hits my legs and I look up to tell them off but the shock of who it is paralyzes me. Sky’s dad smiles at me and mumbles an apology while taking a seat beside my uncle. “I know, I missed some. Our flight was delayed,” her dad says. Erin smiles.

  Lidia slaps my knee when she plops down beside me. “How’s she doing?” she whispers, and she sounds genuinely interested.

  I smile because I know their presence will make Sky happy. “Good. She’s about to swim her five hundred free.”

  “Five hundred?”

  “Yards. Twenty laps.”

  She nods. I’m pretty sure it went in one ear and out the other, though. “So, I’ve got a few questions for you.” She pokes me in my arm. “And if you don’t answer them now, I’ve got until Tuesday to get them out of you.”

  I raise my eyebrows. “Okay.”

  “How come my sister sounds utterly wrecked when I call? Want to tell me what’s going on? I mean, she used to be annoyed or busy when I called, which is typical. She and I have that kind of relationship. But for the past couple of weeks, she’s sounded depressed and mopey.”

  “I … uh … I don’t really know.”

  She eyes me up. “I call bullshit! I don’t know you very well, Caleb, but I can tell when someone is lying. And you, sir, are lying.”

  “I accidently knocked someone up. So Sky broke up with me.” There, I said it.

  “You got some other girl pregnant while Skylar was in New York?”

  I shake my head. “Apparently it was before we started dating. Anyway, long story short, your sister loathes me.”

  She laughs. “No, she doesn’t. If she hated your guts, trust me, she wouldn’t sound like her whole soul was ripped from her body. She certainly didn’t sound that way when she and Kevin broke up.”

  I concentrate on the gorgeous girl swimming in lane five and wish with all my might that whatever her damn sister is saying is true.

  “She’s better off without me.” I sigh. “Look at her. She’s got her whole future ahead of her. What the hell do I have to offer her? Nothing. I love her too much and all I do is hurt her.”

  Lidia smiles. “Skylar is lucky. To be loved by someone like you.”

  ***

  Skylar is swimming her final event for the evening then we’re heading out to eat and coming back tomorrow morning for round two. In her heat for the hundred backstroke, Skylar rises up out of the water, and the gun goes off. All the swimmers dive back into the water. Skylar races, swinging her arms like a giant windmill. One. Two. Three. She flips and keeps at it. The girl next to her is starting to catch up. Skylar looks like she’s coasting through the water, not
at a fast pace at all, but the time on the board says differently.

  “Come on, Sky!” Lidia shouts.

  “Go, honey!” her dad shouts. I remain quiet. I want to cheer her on, I do. But I’m probably the last person she wants cheering for her. Not that she can hear me from this distance anyway.

  Sky sprints to the wall to end the race and smacks it with what looks like the back of her head. I stand up. She pulls herself from the water but not as quickly as usual. I don’t wait; I react by running down to the pool deck, hopping over the railing separating the crowd from the swimmers. A couple of guys in white polo shirts try to stop me, but I use my football skills to dodge the one, then break the hold of the other by twisting my body and running to her.

  She sways a little and I catch her just in time. Her eyes lock with mine and she mumbles, “Always my hero.”

  “Babe, don’t go to sleep. Don’t go to sleep on me.”

  “Caleb, did you see me?”

  I nod. “Yeah, baby. I saw. You did so good. Hey, you can’t go to sleep, though. Someone is here for you. You’ve gotta stay awake for them.”

  She nods, but it’s so overly exaggerated it scares me. I try to pull her away from the other swimmers and officials. I don’t want them to see her and disqualify her. I head to the stands. Coach Grim meets us right at the stairs, looks her over, and then asks me if she’s okay.

  I lie. I’m not going to destroy her dreams. I’m not going to bring agony to her ever again, and honestly, she could be fine by tomorrow. So there is no reason to tell the truth. Not yet at least.

  I carry her up to the stands and sit her down beside Erin. “I think she bumped her head pretty hard,” I whisper so only she can hear.

  Erin prods and examines Sky then starts to ask her questions. Sky giggles her answers. Erin shakes her head. “I don’t know; we might have to wait it out. Take her to the H-O-S-P—”

  Skylar bursts into a fit of laughter. “Pee! Hahaha. Mom, you’re so weird!”

  “Oh my,” her dad says.

  “Caleb, do you think you can pick her up and carry her to the car?” Erin asks.

  “Yeah.” I scoop her up, my uncle throws a blanket over her, and we all march to the SUV. Erin collects Sky’s things and her dad, well, he hangs back and waits for Erin.

  None of this matters, though. I focus on Sky. Make sure she’s awake and talking to me. About whatever she wants. Hell, I don’t even care if she starts calling me an ass and every name in the book, as long as she’s talking and doesn’t go to sleep on me.

  “Caleb, my dad is here. Did you see?”

  “I know. It’s great. You did so great!”

  “I need to do better tomorrow. I hit my head. I can’t believe I did that. Lidia, I hit my head!” she yells in a giggly voice.

  “I saw,” Lidia says with a smile. “Is she going to be effed up in the morning?”

  I shake my head. I hope the hell not. Sky rests her head in the nook of my shoulder. I shake her a little and whisper, “Baby, don’t go to sleep, remember?”

  “I’m not. Just resting.”

  “Nope. Babe, you can’t rest.”

  “Keep me awake then. Tell me something. Kiss me. That will wake me.” God, if she’s for real I’d gladly do it. But if she’s only teasing, I don’t want to upset her.

  I drop my lips to her forehead. “Later. I promise.”

  Lidia helps me with the door. I move Skylar and me into the back. Lidia shuts the door and slides into the other seat. She glances over at Skylar and slaps her leg.

  “Malcom says hey. By the way. You need to call him.”

  My fists tighten. “How is Malcom?” she asks.

  “He’s good.” Lidia smiles like she has a secret.

  Sky stares at her then up at me. “Caleb, my head is throbbing.”

  “I know.” I kiss her forehead again. “We’re going to get you all taken care of.”

  She smiles and looks over at Lidia. “Thanks for coming, Liddy.”

  “Sky, I know there’s a good chance you won’t remember this conversation but I hope you do. I know you think I hate you, but I really don’t. Yes, I’m spoiled, sometimes forget myself, and say crap that’s really mean or hurtful. I only do that stuff because I’m jealous. You have your shit altogether, know where you want to go, get good grades, are great at everything, and all Dad does is harp on about how I should be more like you. He’s always telling everyone how proud he is of you, and it’s hard. I felt like I was constantly living in your shadow, and for what? You weren’t even there. So yeah, I thought I could get you back by being a total bitch.” Lidia places her hand on Sky’s and squeezes. “Today, though, I can see what Dad means. You were awesome out there, and I am so proud you’re my sister. I just wish you could teach me to swim like that. One day.”

  Sky’s eyes water and she sniffles. “Liddy, I’d really like that. I’m so sorry I never tried to be a better sister to you. Even when I was there. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. Anyway, it wasn’t all my idea to come here. Malcom talked me into it. So I convinced Dad to bring us.”

  Sky laughs. “Malcom is good for you. You know that, right?”

  “He is. I know this.”

  The girls seem to chat without anger, and with the baggage of the past settling between them. My uncle and Erin pile into the vehicle without complaint that Lidia’s going to the hospital with us.

  We arrive at the nearest hospital within ten minutes and get out. I carry Sky to the ER, and everyone else follows. Once Sky’s admitted, I lay her on her assigned bed and leave her with her parents and the doctors looking her over.

  Lidia, my uncle Brian, and I wait around in the waiting area. Eventually, Erin and her dad are told to wait with us. It doesn’t make my nerves any better. Some simple tests and a few hours later, a doctor comes out to tell us the results. He pulls the adults to the side and starts talking to them.

  Lidia texts someone on her phone while I sit in agony, wanting to know what is going on. Is Skylar going to be okay?

  “You can go in and see her,” Erin whispers to me and Lidia when she returns to us. “We just to have to sign some paperwork and we can take her home.”

  I don’t wait. I hop out of my chair and hurry to the room where Skylar is. She’s lying against the pillows, sighing up at the ceiling when I walk in. She looks over at me and smiles. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” I breathe.

  “I’m glad you were there today. Even if your efforts at heroism were a little wasted. I’m fine. Just had a little dizzy spell come over me, and my head might have a little bump from colliding with the wall. Still, I’m glad you were there. You’re always there when I really need you.”

  “I love you, Sky. I’ll do anything for you. Anything. Even if you say we can never be together ever again, or if you’re so mad at me you never want to speak to me. I will never stop watching over you.”

  She smiles. “Never?”

  “Never.”

  Chapter 39

  Skylar

  To say this week has been a little, well, crazy would be an understatement. First, Districts was total madness. Not only did my dad and Lidia come to my meet, they’re coming to State, too. Lidia and I have slowly started to come to terms with being sisters and are trying to become friends. It’s not perfect, but it’s coming along.

  I’m swimming every event I do at State. So are Kayla, Amber, and most of the girls on the team. Coach Grim says it’s because we’ve been helping each other and working like a unit. I think it’s a little more than that. I think it’s because we realized that we all want the same things, so we should strive for it.

  Kayla and I are sitting in my room with Sam and Mikia when my door opens up. My mom looks at me with crossed arms and mumbles for me to get out into the hallway.

  I honestly don’t know what I’ve done, but I join her in the hall and say, “Yeah?”

  “Well, I want to run something by you before I do it. During State, would you like me to
rent a suite for you, Kayla, and Lidia to stay in?”

  “That’d be cool. Kayla’s mom says she can come down, but only on Saturday. She has to work during the Monday meet and can’t get off.”

  “I know. I talked to her mom. The hospital is being flexible with my schedule, but Brian and Caleb won’t be there for Monday’s meet either.”

  I nod. “It’s fine.”

  She rubs my shoulder. “You sure?”

  “Yeah, Mom.”

  She smiles and walks off. I re-enter my room with a deep pain in my chest. Caleb won’t be there. Not on Monday. I swim so much better with him watching. It’s hard to explain but, every meet he’s at, I feel like I can do anything. Beat any time. But when he’s not there, I swim “eh,” not my best.

  Sam snorts. “Oh, wow, you want him to bite you?”

  “What?” I ask.

  They all look up and Kayla is blushing. “Oh, nothing. Just … okay, so you know Lance and I’ve been getting some nights where it’s perfect alone time. Like his parents are chilling upstairs and we’re watching movies or playing video games in his basement.”

  I nod. “Yeah.”

  “Well, we got to make out a few of those nights, and it was amazing. Like, oh my God, I can’t believe he can kiss like that, it should be downright illegal! Anyway, the other night his—”

  “Teeth were scraping at her shoulder and Miss Kayla here was super turned on,” Mikia teases.

  Kayla’s blush deepens. “It was unexpected but yes, I liked it. I think he thinks I didn’t, though because I hissed. And we’ve kind of not had that intense of a make-out session again.”

  “If you want him to do it again just tell him or, better yet, bite him,” I suggest. “I don’t know.”

  Sam brings up Alex, but I haven’t told Kayla about Alex. She stares at me in disbelief, but I just sigh. “Nothing will happen with Alex.” Because someone has my damn heart and no one else can have it.

  “So, I need to tell you something,” Kayla says.

  Mikia pushes her arm. “We’ve heard enough about you and Lance.”