Page 34 of Rivals

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” I whisper. I don’t know why I’m whispering except that in the quiet of his room it feels like that’s how things should be said. I don’t want to disturb the peaceful bubble we’ve found.

Rathe shakes his head slightly. “You didn’t. I was awake before you turned over. I was going to tell you but then you started tracing my lips and it felt so good.”

I chuckle. “I’m glad you didn’t find it weird.”

Rathe’s chocolate brown eyes find mine. Even though I can’t see in the dark, I can feel them on me. “I don’t find a single thing about you weird, Sutton. Intriguing...yes, but weird...definitely not.”

The silence falls between us, it’s not awkward, just heavy. I feel like we are both holding back. I know my reasons but I’m curious what his reasons are. “So, are you ready to get back home?”

Rathe shrugs. “As ready as you can be. I mean, I don’t know what I’m ready for to be honest. The quicker we get home the closer we are to race season and I don’t know what will happen when I’m on the track in an actual race. It’s scary.”

“I think you’re going to do great. There’s this feeling in my gut telling me that you are going to own that track this season.”

He scoots forward and lightly presses his lips to mine. “Thank you. I mean, obviously, we don’t know how I’ll react in a real race. I could completely freeze up again, but I needed to hear that.”

“Then I’m glad I could help.” Rathe tightens his grip on me and pulls me closer. I snuggle into his chest breathing in the scent of his soap, clean and masculine as my eyes drift closed. A few hours later, I wake up to the sound of Rathe rummaging around the room. I sit up in the bed. “Is everything okay?”

He turns around, his face in a full smile and his eyes light with life. “It’s great.” He walks over to the bed and leans down before claiming my mouth as his. “Good morning beautiful.”

I don’t even attempt to fight the smile that graces my face. “Good morning. You’re in a really good mood.”

“I am. So, I’m assuming you’re free tonight.” Rathe watches me with eager eyes.

I laugh. “Yeah, I think it’s safe to say that. The only plans I have had during this press tour have been with you and the bed.”

Rathe bites down on his lower lip. “And I love those plans, but I made us some different plans for tonight.”

“What? Why?” The worry and unease is instant in my gut. It’s the tone of his voice when he says plans that has me worried.

“We’re going to go out,” he announces.

I shake my head, quickly dismissing the idea. “Rathe, we can’t go out.”

“Why not?” he asks.

My eyes bug out of their sockets. I’m actually shocked they didn’t pop out and roll across the bed. “The contract for starters. Oh, and we aren’t supposed to like each other.”

Rathe holds up a hand to stop me. “Technically, it never said we couldn’tlikeeach other. The two of us hanging out doesn’t break the contract in any way.”

“I don’t know…”

“Sutton, I’m sure they’d like us to at least seem like friends. They don’t have to know what goes on between us outside of that. The plans I made will just look friendly to anyone outside of us. They’ll never know the difference. I’d never jeopardize your career, but I do think it would be good for both of us to have some time with one another outside of the four walls of a hotel room.” Rathe looks at me expectantly.

The look on his face and my own ridiculous hope has me actually considering this idea. I always believed hope was a dangerous thing and I’ve fought with my own negativity. When you’re thrown into the system you learned not to hope for much in the world, but right now, I can’t win the battle within my body. Eventually, I sigh and tell him, “Okay, we can play nice and friendly for them. A night out that has nothing to do with the tour will be nice.”

Rathe claps his hands and his grin grows ten times larger. I didn’t even think that would be possible. “You won’t regret it.” That pit in my stomach tells me I will, but I ignore it anyways.

Thirty-Six

Sutton

I’m not sure what to expect tonight. I didn’t exactly pack for a date in mind. Actually, this isn’t a date. It’s just two teammates going out together to relieve the stress of a press tour. I have to keep reminding myself of that, so I don’t cross a line or make things awkward. The pounding of my heart keeps reminding me that I’ve already crossed so many lines. I never intended for any of this, yet here I am. Rathe wouldn’t tell me what he had planned for us despite my begging, but he did tell me I could dress comfortably, so I decided on a pair of red denim shorts and a loose fitting black tank top with my signature Converse of course. I let my hair do whatever it naturally does because with this humidity there’s no point in fighting it. My makeup is light as well. There’s a knock on the door and instantly a swarm of pigeons takes up home in my stomach. I open the door and Rathe is standing there looking like he just walked out of a movie. His hair is perfectly messy, beard trimmed to perfection, clothes simple and comfortable which instantly makes me feel better about what I picked out to wear. His heated eyes roam my body from head to toe and the pigeons in my stomach morph into a raging wildfire. “Damn, I wish I could step into your space right now and devour that look in your eyes…” The look in his eyes tells me he’s being honest. The wildfire turns into a full-blown inferno at that confession. “But considering all the people in the hallway currently I better exercise my self-control.” I laugh and he shakes his head. “I’m serious woman. You look amazing.”

I feel the flush coating my body along with the goosebumps racing over my skin. “Thanks.” I grab my purse and make sure my room key is tucked inside. “So, you want to tell me what we’re doing now?”

Rathe chuckles. “You either aren’t good with someone else being in control or you don’t like surprises.”

“Both,” I answer, without a second thought.

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