Page 21 of Rivals

The car ride was quiet and full of tension. Maybe it was sexual tension, but I can’t be sure in my current state. I can still feel Rathe everywhere. The rough skin of his hands against mine as he pinned me against the wall. His unwavering lips as he claimed my mouth in a kiss that would rival all other kisses. I’ve never been kissed like that before and I have this yearning to kiss him again. As I climb the stairs of the porch, I run my fingers through my hair, the breeze comes through and pulls Rathe’s scent from my clothes, it invades my senses all over again.

I open the door as quietly as possible. However, a blinding light comes on as soon as I step inside. “Where in the hell have you been? I’ve been worried sick!” Evanna is pacing from the sound of her footsteps against the hardwood floors.

My head pounds and I cover my eyes. “Do you have to yell?”

“I’m not even yelling,” she replies.

“Oh, for the love of God please turn off the damn light,” I complain, as I turn around only to tumble into the wall and slide down until my butt hits the floor.

Evanna squeals which is what she always does when someone might be hurt. The light goes out and I hear her rushing towards me. “Sutton, are you okay?”

“Yeah, but my ass hurts now so thanks for that.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve just been worried. It’s not like you to not be home at your normal time. I was worried something had happened to you. Where have you been and why do you look like a hot mess that was making out with someone?” I can hear the humor in her voice. She has no idea how correct she is.

My head drops back onto the wall and I take a deep breath. “I was at Pat’s with Rathe…”

“Wait, Rathe, as in Rathe McCall? Your rival?” I can picture the shock on her face without even looking at her.

I nod my head yes. “The one and only.”

“Okay, seriously, what the hell?”

The memories come flooding back and I can still feel the pressure of his lips on mine. I sigh. I’m not sure how to even explain this to Evanna. She’s my best friend. She has literally been there through every single thing since my world was yanked away from me. Yet, I haven’t told her about the attraction I’ve felt towards Rathe. I haven’t told her about the dreams and thoughts that make my stomach flutter when I think about him. I’ve only told her how much I despise him and complained to her about how he’s my rival and annoying. I don’t know how to tell her about what happened tonight between us. I roll my head to the side and peek my eyes open. “We may have kissed…”

The light comes back on, temporarily blinding me. However, once I can see again, I’m very certain that if Evanna’s eyes get any larger they will literally pop out of her head and roll across the floor of our house. The idea of her eyes rolling across our floor cracks me up and I start to laugh hysterically. Evanna is looking at me like I’m crazy now but then she begins to laugh along with me. After a few minutes, she wipes the tears away from her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Oh, I get it. You were making a joke.”

I could let her assume that and maybe I should, but she is my best friend. Hell, she’s like my sister and let’s face it;I need some girl advice. “Actually, I wasn’t. We totally kissed.”

“What the…” Evanna doesn’t finish her sentence as she slumps back against the wall, looking completely dumbfounded. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“You would have if I had told you what I’ve been thinking about,” I admit quietly.

Her head whips back around in my direction. “Okay, you need to spill it now!”

“I’ve been attracted to Rathe from the beginning. I just didn’t say anything. I felt like he was out of my league but then things changed today on the track. I helped him get over his fear a little, I think. Hopefully, it’ll stick and when we were leaving, he asked me to go have dinner with him. I agreed and got a little drunk, danced, got caught up in the moment then tried to storm off only to have Rathe chase me down and kiss the hell out of me, before he pinned me against the wall of the bar, my hands pinned above my head and made out with me like I was the air he breathed. It was hot and I don’t know what the hell any of it means...if it means anything at all,” I tell her, tossing my hands up in the air. I’m not completely sure she was able to follow any of that because I’m pretty sure I said it all in one breath and ran it together, but she smiles at me like the Cheshire cat fromAlice in Wonderland.

“I knew you two had something. I could tell the day he showed up to help us move our stuff.”

“You could?” I ask. Evanna nods her head. “Well, you think next time you could fill me in, please?”

Evanna wraps an arm around my shoulder. “I could but where’s the fun in that? Besides, you are both stubborn as hell so I knew the two of you would have to figure it out on your own. I’m glad to see it finally happened. So, tell me, is he a good kisser?”

She wags her eyebrows up and down as she waits for me to answer. I giggle in response. “He’s so good, it should be illegal.”

“Hmmm…”

I wait for Evanna to say more but she just gives me that grin that drives me crazy because it’s like she knows something I don’t. “What the hell does hmmm mean?”

“It means that the two of you clearly have more than a little rivalry going on. The two of you have some intense chemistry even if you both fight it and are trying to deny it. It’s still there and we can all see it. Ryann and I talked about it for about two hours the other day,” Evanna says casually.

“What?” I screech. “You and Ryann were talking about Rathe and I?”

Evanna rolls her eyes like I’m overreacting and I probably am. I mean I totally just had my tongue jammed down his throat so it’s not like they're wrong, but I’ve always just been a pretty private person by nature. It seems odd to have them talking about my non-relationship behind my back. “It wasn’t anything bad. Ryann just asked me if I thought you might be into Rathe because she knew he was into you, but he was fighting it.”

“Did she really say she thought he was into me?” I ask, like some silly schoolgirl who just heard through the grapevine that her crush likes her back.

Evanna nods. “Of course, but that’s not shocking, I mean what’s not to like. Sutton, you’re a catch. Anyways, I’m curious what’s going to happen while the two of you are on the press tour together.”

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