Page 33 of Rivals

“Barely,” she groans out.

I look her up and down, unable to control myself. “We’re almost done here.”

“Thank goodness, even though I hate to say that. I had so much fun with these kids today. This has been one of my favorite stops so far,” she admits.

Her stormy blue gray eyes seem bluer than gray today. A large, genuine smile graces her face as she looks up at me. “Then you’ll love the very last stop where we team up with CD Enterprises.”

“Colton Donavan, right?”

I nod my head. “Yeah, his wife, Rylee, is involved with Corporate Cares. It’s a place where they deal with orphaned boys. I think they’re trying to enlarge the company so they can include girls now too but I’m not sure. Anyways, instead of shuffling kids from foster home to foster home, they place them in one house with a set of counselors that rotate in. They get stability.” I don’t know why but I can feel the sudden change in Sutton’s demeanor. She goes completely still and quiet. I’m just about to ask her if she’s okay but Jowanna walks over and announces it’s time to wrap things up. I keep a close eye on Sutton. She smiles and laughs with the kids as we prepare to leave but it never looks as genuine as it did earlier. It never seems to reach her eyes. The car ride back to the hotel is quiet and even though Sutton and I are acting as if nothing has changed, I can feel the distance between us. She’s withdrawn.

The silence continues as she reaches her door. Sutton looks back over her shoulder at me. “I’m beat. I’m just going to shower and then crawl into bed, but I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I don’t think you get much choice in the matter,” I try and joke with her. She smiles but again I notice it’s not a true Sutton smile. She opens her door and disappears behind it. I stand there for a while just staring at the closed door trying to figure out what could have caused the shift but I’m coming up with nothing. As I finally give up and step into my room, I can’t ignore that pit in my stomach. I know something is bothering Sutton, but I don’t know her well enough to know how to help her with it. As I pass the adjoining door of our rooms, I’m tempted to knock and pull her into my arms. My mom always says that hugs are the best medicine. I used to think it was bullshit, but maybe it could help Sutton. However, when I step towards the door and raise my hand to knock, I freeze. She clearly wanted to be alone otherwise she would have asked me to come over, right?

I sigh and step away from the door. Once I reach the bathroom, I turn the shower on as hot as it will go and stand under the heavy stream of scalding hot water until my skin goes numb. Inside the confines of the shower I forget about the world outside. I can forget about racing and rather I’m going to win or lose. There is no worry of anxiety. However, there is Sutton and this nagging feeling in my stomach telling me she just needs someone to hold her and tell her everything is going to be alright. She’s never struck me as that type of woman before, but something about that look in her eyes tonight did. In here, though, I can’t ignore those growing feelings for her. The ones that are growing too fast, like wildfire in dry woods. She’s consuming me in ways I never thought were possible. It’s frightening to be honest but at the same time I don’t want to fight it. She calms that war of anxiety within me in a way no medicine has ever managed before.

Eventually, the water turns cold and I climb out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my waist. I stop by the fogged mirror and wipe it away so that I can move my hair out of my face. As I enter the bedroom area my eyes are instantly drawn to the form curled up like a ball in the middle of my bed. Her dark hair is damp and covering one of the pillowcases. I make my way to my luggage to pull on some shorts, assuming she’s asleep however as I’m quietly rummaging through my suitcase, I feel her arms come around me from behind. She wraps them around my torso with more strength than I could have anticipated. I feel her rest her forehead against the center of my back, her long eyelashes brush lightly against my skin, before I feel the light pressure of her feather soft kisses. “You smell good,” she says quietly.

“You smell better,” I counter. Pulling her hand into mine I bring it up to my nose and inhale the tropical scent that seems to always cling to her skin before pressing a light kiss to the inside of her wrist. Her pulse beats beneath my lips.

I don’t know how long we stand like this, but Sutton finally says, “I’m sorry for earlier. I just kind of slipped into my own mind for a bit.

“Was it something I said?”

I can feel Sutton shaking her head no. “It wasn’t you. It’s just how I’m wired. My head can be a dangerous place sometimes.”

“We all have that problem,” I tell her. My mind instantly goes to that anxiety that has caused me so many issues lately, especially on the track. I turn around in her arms to face her. I cup her face between my hands and relish how good she feels against me. How is it possible for someone I barely know to feel so right? “Do you want to talk about it?”

She shakes her head slightly as she leans into one of my hands. “No, I just want to be here...with you.” Her voice is quiet with her admission.

“That’s totally good with me but first I have one question.” Sutton raises her eyebrows at me. I can see worry swimming in the pools of her eyes. “How’d you get into my room?” I ask with a laugh.

“I may have told a little white lie to the front desk about getting locked out of my room and when she told me this wasn’t my room number I told her we had switched because my bed seemed better for you back.” She gives me a mischievous smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

I don’t even try to fight off the smirk. “It almost sounds like you’re implying that I’m old with back issues.”

She pretends to be innocent and all it does is make me want to kiss the hell out of her sharp-tongued mouth. “I would never do such a thing but if she came to that conclusion on her own, I can’t help it.”

I shake my head. “Oh, really now?” I tell her as I lean down and scoop her up and over my shoulder. She squeals in surprise as I bring my hand down on her ass before dropping her onto the bed. “I may just have to teach you a lesson.”

Sutton gives me a coy smile. “Looks like that was already your plan.” She glances down and I realize I lost my towel along the way.

I shrug and meet her eyes. “It would seem like it. Now, let’s take your mind off whatever is weighing on it.”

She sits up and looks at me. Her eyes are so unguarded right now that it throws me for a loop. “Thank you, Rathe.”

“You don’t need to thank me.” I lean down and claim her mouth in a soft kiss that quickly turns into a heated war between us.

Thirty-Five

Sutton

I’ve never wanted to be open to someone as badly as I do with Rathe. I don’t even have a good reason why I want to. There’s just something about him that makes me comfortable. Those walls I’ve built so high to keep everyone out start to crumble when I’m around him. This past week has been eye opening, but it’s also been a bit scary. I mean, sneaking around isn’t necessarily the easiest thing. I’m always worried about getting caught, especially with Jowanna around. We’ve been lucky so far because we’ve been next door to each other in every hotel and they’ve all had connecting doors. Tonight, is the last night of the press tour. We’ll be back in California in the morning and the following day is the last event. It’s the one for Corporate Cares, the one I’m most curious about. Then the race season will be upon us, and who knows what will happen then.

I roll over carefully. I don’t want to jostle Rathe’s arm that is resting on my body. I like to watch him while he’s sleeping. His face is so stress free, the worry line between his eyebrows is missing and I swear, there’s a little smile constantly on his face. I reach out and gently trace the outline of his lips. I’m worried about what will happen when this tour is over. What becomes of us? I mean, did this only start because we’ve been pushed together every day and right next door to one another every night? Was it out of convenience and loneliness? I know my answer and it terrifies me, but I need to know his.

Rathe stirs slightly and I jerk my fingertip away from his lips. “Mmm...don’t stop doing that it feels nice.” His voice is thick with sleep.

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