Page 31 of Rivals

Rathe

I wake up to aches in my muscles that I haven’t felt in a while. The warmth besides me startles me at first, but then as I look over, I see Sutton. Watching her sleep is much more fascinating than it should be, but I watch as her bare back rises and falls with her slow and even breathing. Her dark brown hair fanned over the stark white pillowcases. The little flutter of her eyelashes. My hands itch to touch her. None of this makes sense. I barely know her, yet I crave her on such a different level from anything I’ve ever felt before. That yearning in the pit of my stomach and dead flat in the middle of my chest. I could have never predicted Sutton.

I move to my side and lightly trace my fingertips up and down her spine lazily. There’s a scar over her right shoulder blade and I want to know the story behind it. I want to know it all. Frustration settles within my soul because I can’t know it all. I shouldn’t even be here right now. The contract that ultimately gave me my life is also quite possibly ruining it. To have Sutton right next to me but completely untouchable is my own personal hell that I could have never prepared for. I’m so close to saying screw the contract. I’ve made more than enough money to live comfortably for years, if not for the rest of my life. I could manage just fine but then I know I can’t. I’d miss the thrill, speed and adrenaline. The three things that I just got back, thanks to Sutton. How do I walk away from the only thing I’ve ever known? Is it worth it? I’d be walking away for a woman who I don’t even know. We have no history and no ties to one another aside from racing. There’s no guarantee she’d stay or that she even feels the same way I do at the end of the day. Plus, it wouldn’t just be my career I’d be ending…. it’d be hers, too.

I sigh and roll back to stare at the ceiling. Time passes, but I don’t seem to notice until I hear the growl coming from Sutton’s stomach just before she stirs. My head rolls to the side as she opens her eyes. “Well hello beautiful.”

The blush floods her cheeks, and she closes her eyes. She really doesn’t take compliments well. “Hi,” she says quietly. Her stomach rumbles again and she groans as she buries her face into the pillow. I laugh because I can’t stop it. “I’m so hungry.”

“I caught that,” I tease her. “It might be because you’ve barely eaten all week.”

She brings her face back to look at me and runs a hand through her hair. “I’ve eaten just when I’m alone. When I’m around you it’s too hard. Everything is just...more.”

The honesty in her eyes shocks me. She truly means that. The selfish bastard I am eats up her words as if they will be my last. “Is that why you ordered a whole pizza?” She nods her head. I sit up and reach for the room’s phone.

“What are you doing?” she asks. I feel the bed shifting beside me. She comes to stand in front of me a few seconds later, her discarded shorts and tank top back in place. She watches as I order two fresh sodas and side of ranch dressing. When I hang up the phone, she shakes her head. “I can’t believe you are going to ruin the best food in the world with ranch dressing.”

“Darlin’ I’m not ruining anything. I’m enhancing it and I’m not sure you can classify pizza as the best food in the world.”

“Oh, I can, and I did, and you are in fact ruining it. It should be criminal the way society slaps ranch dressing on every single thing nowadays,” she says, as she stalks across the room and turns the lamp light on.

I laugh as I pull my shorts on. “What is your issue with ranch? I mean seriously, what did it ever do to you?”

She shrugs. “I’m allergic to it.”

I feel like my jaw is on the floor right now. That wasn’t what I was expecting. “I didn’t even know it was possible to be allergic to ranch.”

Sutton rolls her eyes and grabs the pizza box and starts placing pieces on paper plates. “It’s possible to be allergic to anything, I think anyways.” A knock on the door causes her to jump and I chuckle. I go to answer it, but she pushes me back behind the wall. The look on my face must show my shock. “You aren’t supposed to be in, here right?” I nod as the issue settles between us. She opens the door and collects the sodas and ranch. After the pizza is reheated and we are seated in bed watching Pretty Woman on the TV Sutton looks over at me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” I ask. I think I know what she’s referring to, but I should be sure before I answer.

She wipes her hand on a napkin. “About the contract.”

I shrug. “I just figured either you knew and didn’t care, or you didn’t know, and it would be best if I was just an ass to you. I could make you hate me; make you forget me and then it wouldn’t matter.”

Sutton shakes her head. “Your logic is dumb. I could never forget you. I doubt I could hate you.”

“So, why are we watching Pretty Woman?” I ask.

She smiles at me when she turns towards me. “Because it’s one of my favorite movies but hardly anyone knows that so don’t go advertising.”

“Really?”

Sutton nods. “Yeah, I mean, every girl dreams of her knight in shining armor coming to rescue her. Even the strongest, most independent woman in the world still wants someone to care about her. We all want to know that we matter to someone.” I study her and there’s a sag in her shoulders and sadness in her eyes right now. Something or someone has made her feel like she didn’t matter, and I hate that. I want to fix that. “What are we going to do Rathe?”

I don’t have to ask what she means because I know. She wants to know what we are going to do about us. My hand reaches across the bed in search of hers. Her slender hand finds mine, halfway. “I don’t know for sure. I know what I want, but it doesn’t agree to the terms we signed on for. We could always keep it a secret and see where it goes.”

“And what? We act like rivals in front of everyone else?” she asks.

My thumb caresses the soft skin on the back of her hand. How do women’s hands always feel so unbelievably soft? “Yeah, we could. I mean at least until we find out what we want from one another. I know we both want to race, but I can also tell we both want this to a certain extent too.”

Sutton takes a deep breath and releases it slowly. “You’re not wrong. So, we sneak around and keep this quiet, but still act like we always have in front of everyone else.”

“That’s the best I can come up with. It’s juvenile but it’s all I’ve got.” I give her an apologetic look.

I can see her brain processing it all, so I collect our now empty plates in the trash and clean up any mess we made. I don’t climb back into the bed; I just stand beside it and wait to see what she wants to do. “I don’t have any other solution either, so we’ll just have to make sure we’re careful.”

“We’ll be very, very careful.”

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