Page 29 of Rivals

“There’s nothing highlighted,” she says as she hands me the papers.

Sure, enough nothing is highlighted on her copy. “I haven’t checked mine. Come on in,” I tell her, as I cross the room to the desk where the stack of papers are. I pull mine out and see my lines highlighted. “Let me call down to the front desk and see if we can borrow a highlighter so we can highlight your lines for you.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she comments. She is barely standing inside my room, fidgeting with her hands.

“How else are you going to learn the lines darlin’? Also, you can come inside the room I don’t bite...too much.” I give her a big smile and she shakes her head.

“I think it’s safer for both of us if I stay over here.”

I cross the room until I’m directly in front of her. Toe to toe and nearly chest to chest. “Why would you say that?”

Sutton looks away. “Because this game is getting old.”

I reach out and lightly trace her jaw with the tip of my finger. “I told you earlier this isn’t a game.”

“Sure, it isn’t,” she shoots back. “I’m not some star stuck girl you know?”

I chuckle. “Believe me, I know that darlin’.”

Suddenly, a little frustrated growl escapes her. It’s one of the cutest yet sexiest things I’ve ever heard. “Don’t call me darlin’. I’m not some dumb bar bimbo you can toy with Rathe.”

“Dumb bar bimbo? Do I detect some jealousy?” I tease her, but inside I’m on cloud freaking nine. I wanted to make her jealous and it worked. She feels this too otherwise she wouldn’t have gotten jealous. I take a step forward and she steps back only to hit the wall behind her. “I wanted you to get jealous. I wanted to see that little green monster in those stormy blue gray eyes.”

“And you say this isn’t a game.” She scoffs and tries to push me away, but I don’t budge.

“It isn’t a game. When I saw you on the balcony flirting with that executive douche bag, I got so jealous I wanted to rip his hands off his body so he couldn’t touch you. I’m drawn to you even if it is against the rules. I need to know if you feel it, too.” Her eyes watch mine, never wavering and in a split second, rash decision her mouth is fused to mine. Our hands claw at one another and the world slips away. It's just her and I and how quickly we can become one.

Thirty

Sutton

I wake up to the sound of knocking on the door and a warmth beside me that I don’t understand. Then I roll over and smack my face into the chest of Rathe and I everything floods back. I sit up taking the sheet with me while shaking Rathe. “We forgot to set the alarm and I think Jowanna is knocking on my door.”

Rathe sits up quicker than I’ve seen anyone move before in my life. Don’t forget I’ve seen Evanna going on Black Friday sales so to say Rathe is moving faster than her is really something. He’s out of bed with his shorts on before I can even blink. “Stay here, let me handle this, please,” he says as he runs into my room, closing the connecting door on his way. I barely catch a glimpse of the artwork that takes up his back before the door closes. The moment I saw the tattoo, I was curious about it, but I have yet to get a good look at it. I climb from his bed quietly and slip my clothes back on. As I’m getting dressed, the door opens and Rathe reappears. “What was that all about?”

“Jowanna just reminding us that we need to be ready for hair and makeup in an hour and breakfast is being sent up.” Rathe looks nervous. That little stress line between his eyebrows is clearly visible and the muscles of his body are obviously tense.

I continue to study him. “That’s great, but why shut the door between the rooms?”

Rathe scans the room as if he’s looking for something but I know he isn’t before shrugging. “Oh, but if she asks, I switched rooms with you because the people next door were so loud, and you were already nervous and couldn’t sleep.”

The fact that he’s making up stories about why I was in his room makes me uncomfortable. Instantly, my defenses go up and I feel my attitude shift. “Why would I need to make up a story for why I was in your room?”

“Because that’s what I told Jowanna,” Rathe says, as he busies himself by digging through his luggage.

“Stop avoiding me,” I say harshly. Rathe looks up, shock registered on his face. Clearly, he didn’t expect me to question him. “Why did you tell her a story?”

“It was necessary.”

I scoff. “How was that necessary? I mean, we were two consenting adults the last time I checked, so why in the hell would you need some made up story?”

Rathe runs a hand through his hair and I remember the feel of it last night between my fingers. My body instantly reacts as the memories from last night come flooding back. He scrubs his hand over his face and dread settles in my gut. I’m clearly missing something here and I want to know what it is. “I didn’t make up the story because I regretted it or didn’t want her to know...it’s because she can’t know.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” A thought takes over my mind causing me to cringe. What if I’m the other girl? What if he has something going on with Jowanna? “Oh my god! Do you have something going on with Jowanna?”

Based on the look of utter disbelief on his face I’m going to say my assumption is wrong, but I need to hear him say it. “No, Jowanna is a great person and beautiful, but there’s nothing going on between us.”

“Then what is the problem?”

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