Page 48 of Rival for Rent

Omg, he’s such an asshole

I don’t know why he’s in here. I’m not even sure he can read.

Omg ?????? So true

I didn’t care what Kai thought of me. He was a smug, nerdy suck-up. But Ava? It mattered what she thought. And knowing she saw me the same way Kai did? That fucking killed me.

“I know how to fucking read,” I snapped.

Then I yanked him out of his chair and slammed him into the back wall.

“Were you looking at my phone?” he spat. “God, you’re a cretin.”

“And you’re a little bitch,” I hissed.

I curled my hand into a fist and punched him in the gut. He folded instantly, his mouth dropping open in pain, hands scrabbling weakly against my chest like he wanted to push me off. But I didn’t move.

When he opened his eyes again, I expected rage. Or more of that superior sneer. But it wasn’t there. All I saw was fear. Real fear.

He didn’t say anything. Didn’t fight. Just froze, like a rabbit caught in the jaws of a wolf.

My anger vanished. It disappeared, replaced by disgust with myself. What the hell was I doing? This wasn’t going to make Ava like me. This wasn’t going to fix anything. I let him go and stormed out.

The dream shifted again.

Now I was on the football field. It was early morning, the grass damp, the sky pale. There was a crowd of kids, laughing, taking pictures. I pushed my way through and saw what they were all staring at.

Kai. Naked. Duct-taped to the goalpost.

And when he saw me, his face went pale with terror.

I woke up with a gasp, chest clenching, breath coming in shallow bursts. My hand flew to my heart. Just a dream, I told myself. But it didn’t feel like just a dream. It felt real. Like another goddamn memory.

I sat up slowly on the couch in Kai’s living room, scanning the space. Something was wrong. But it wasn’t my dreams—or at least, not only them. I didn’t know what yet, but every instinct in my body screamed that something was off.

Everything looked normal. Quiet. Nothing out of place. No alarm system yet—that would arrive soon—but I’d have heard if someone had broken in, wouldn’t I? Surely Bella would have made some kind of noise.

Where was she, anyway?

“Bella?” I called. “You here, sweetheart?”

A rustling sound came from the kitchen. A second later, she padded into view with something sticky and white smeared across her snout. I stood and followed her back into the kitchen. She’d knocked the trash can over and was chewing on dinner napkins, soaked with last night’s risotto.

“Napkins aren’t food, missy,” I told her. “Even if they are covered in risotto.”

She looked up at me, wagging her tail, completely unrepentant. Some dogs had shame. Others had iron stomachs. I supposed this at least answered the question of what kind of coffee she would prefer—day old, with a dash of spinach.

We really needed cloth napkins. I’d bring it up later. Kai would resist because that was what he did, but it wasn’t safe for Bella to be rooting through trash.

Speaking of Kai—where the hell was he?

I didn’t hear the shower running upstairs, and it was past time for him to be up. A thread of worry wound through my chest.

“Kai?” I called. Nothing.

I’d gotten distracted by the damn dog, but that crawling unease was back in full force now.

“Kai?” I called again. “Where are you?”

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