Rival Hearts (Rival Love #2) (8 page)

Sky unlatches from her mom and comes over to me. “Before we all split off, can I talk to Caleb for a second?” My uncle and Erin look at Sky and then me. Man, if we’re still trying to hide our relationship, it’s not exactly coming off like that. Not at all.

Erin nods and Sky pulls me to the corner space near the door. I eye her up, study her lips a little longer than maybe I should. God, I want to kiss her. Say screw it, and kiss her right here, right now.

“We’re going to have to cool this”—she moves her hand between me and her—“down a little, right?”

“Why? Maybe we should just tell them.”

She looks at me as if I slapped her in the face. Total shock. “Are you nuts?” She shoves me. “Oh my God, no. We can’t just … God, Caleb, I thought you’d understand. We’re just starting this, and I still have my decision of what I’m going to do. Am I going to stay or return? I mean, it’s just a lot to take in. I can’t add on to that pressure. I don’t need to hear their thoughts and all that bullshit.”

What does she mean by still deciding whether to stay or leave New York? Wait. What the heck just happened here? What the hell have we been doing these past couple days? I told her I love her, and I mean it. Why is she trying to kill us before we even get started, again?

“Fine, we won’t tell them,” I grind out. We observe each other in silence for a moment, then she huffs. “We’ll keep our distance and whatever else you want.”

“Stop doing that.” She shakes her head. “I just want us to keep some space. That’s all. I’m not asking you to turn into an asshole.”

I roll my eyes. Seems like that’s exactly what she wants. She wants to stay here. She wants me to give her a reason to stay. “Fine.”

She makes a growling noise and stomps off to her mom. Erin looks at me and then at Skylar. No one says anything, though. We all just head out the door to go our separate ways.

***

Uncle Brian and I are inside another jewelry store. I’m bored. My uncle is sweating. Literally sweating. He talks to the saleswoman and she directs him over to a long case. I stay back because I don’t want to be asked what I think about anything. I glance down at the case near me, which is filled with necklaces and earrings in a box-set type deal.

I look over at my uncle to make sure he’s not really paying attention to me. I don’t need his questions. “Can I help you find something?” a soft voice asks, averting my attention to a short girl with huge-ass rocks in her ears and her reddish hair slicked back into a ponytail.

“Um … nah. I was just … ”

“Looking?” she asks with a smile.

I nod.

“I’m Tricia. If you need some help, I’ll be over by that case over there.” She points and winks, then makes her way to the counter two cases away from where I am.

I glance around the store and then back down at the case. A necklace pulls all my attention from the room. A tiny gold swimmer with a diamond marking the eye sits on a thin gold chain. It’s perfect. There’s a ring inside the box, too. It’s not shaped like a swimmer, but it’s a diamond, with two small blue stones on either side of it.

Checking back on my uncle, I see him bent over, eyeing a case, and I’m glad for the distraction. I wave the girl over to me. I know Sky’s ears are pierced, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen her wear earrings. Maybe she doesn’t have any. Or maybe she doesn’t like them.

“Which one did you want?”

I point to the swimmer, and she gives me an odd look. “That one? Okay.”

She pulls the box from the case and sets it on the counter. “Yeah, I want that.”

“Okay. If you need us to resize the ring, just bring it in and we’ll do that.”

Barely listening at this point, I nod. She needs to check me out so I can hide my purchase in my coat before my uncle sees it.

“Is this it then?”

“Yeah.”

She walks away to another counter and starts getting Sky’s gift together. I dig into my back pocket and pull out my wallet. My uncle walks over to me. He’s still sweating bullets. “Let’s go.”

“Um … okay. Just a sec.”

He gives me an odd look. “Did you buy something?”

I shrug. “Might have.”

He glares at me. “All right, out with it. What’s going on with you and Skylar? I swear, Caleb, you better not be … If you hurt her, so help me, you’ll wish you never went there.”

I throw up my hands. “Uncle Bri, chill. I’m not doing anything with Sky.”

The girl rings me up and my uncle’s heated glare is on me the whole time. Once we’re outside, he starts plaguing me with questions. But I’m not answering him. Even as we go to three more jewelry stores, he keeps asking what Skylar and I are doing. But I’m not giving in.

Chapter 14

Skylar

Mom doesn’t say much over breakfast, but she does watch me carefully. I think she’s waiting for me to spill my guts or something. But my silence has to be killing her because she clears her throat and says, “So.”

I squirm in my seat and mumble, “So?”

“Are you going to tell me about it?”

“About what?”

She narrows her eyes and shakes her head. “Oh, I see. You’re going to make me ask you. Fine. Are you and Caleb getting close?”

“Getting close? What does that even mean?”

She frowns. “You know what I mean. Are you two in a relationship?”

I practically spit my water out. “Caleb and I are just friends!” It’s a lie. I hope she doesn’t see it’s a lie. She can read me so well, though.

She raises a brow. “Friends? Skylar, I saw you tackle that boy to the floor.”

My blood drains. My stomach twists into a knot. Still, I play it off. “You saw me ram right into him. He broke my fall.”

She shakes her head. “Okay, you don’t like him. I wouldn’t be mad, you know … if you did … like him.”

And she thinks I’m going to fall for this? Wow, she’s really trying to pull this out of me. “Yea, okay, Mom.” I return the rest of my attention to my big stack of pancakes. Maybe if I ignore this long enough she’ll just drop it.

***

One whole morning later and midway through the afternoon, my mom will not let the whole Caleb thing go. She’s found creative ways to weave his name into a piece of conversation. Like when we were at this dress shop. Mom held up this blood-red number, which was actually pretty awesome—if I wore dresses, that is, but I find them to be torture devices. Anyway, my mom holds this little number up and presses it against me and says, “I think you would look really cute in this. And Caleb probably wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off of you.” I scowl at that.

You think she would stop there, but no, she continues with, “I’ve noticed a change in him. Around the house, without you there, it’s like … well, he’s moody a lot. In fact, it’s been a while since I’ve seen him smile. I think Caleb likes you.”

Again, I will not let her bait me.

After the fifteenth comment about me and Caleb, I finally growl my annoyance. “Mom! Seriously, stop. Okay. What do you want from me?”

She turns to me in the middle of a busy sidewalk and stares at me. “I noticed a change in you. Liv, do you realize how many times I almost called your father to come take you at the start of this school year? When August came … you were … I don’t even know. Lifeless.” She pulls me into a coffee shop on the corner and orders us some drinks.

While we wait, we take up residence at a table near the window. She sighs. I notice the bags under her eyes as if she hasn’t slept for a long time. “Liv, you just dropped everything. You stopped running. You stopped hanging out with your friends. You stopped coming in at all hours of the night.” I lift my head and she laughs. “Yes, I knew. I’m a nurse for God’s sake. I get calls at all hours. I knew when you snuck in. But you just stopped as soon as we moved into Brian’s house. At first, I thought you were just adjusting. Next, you came home with that bruise. I just … I didn’t know what to do.”

Some girls at Delmont jumped me in the bathroom. Only one of them got a swing on me. “Order for Erin?” a guy shouts. Mom gets up and collects our drinks.

She returns with two fraps. “Skylar, I’ve never been so worried about you. This year, I honestly didn’t know what to do. I thought maybe I pushed the move on you too fast. Maybe I was too selfish. But then … around October, I noticed you coming back around. It was a slow start, but you were you. And I also noticed a little light come back into your eyes every time Caleb was in a room with you.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying I know. I know you’ve got feelings for him. And I really think he has feelings for you, too.”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, Mom.”

“You don’t think he does?”

Okay, I know he does, but should we have these feelings for one another? That should be the question here. Am I staying in New York? If so, we should end this whole attempt at a long-distance relationship. I should really end this all now so I don’t prolong the pain of it ending really badly.

I can feel my mom’s stare on me as I battle the war going on in my head. “You know, you can come home. We’ll figure something out.”

“I can’t go home.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t take you more seriously.”

I shrug. “That’s not it. I mean, it is. But I can’t go back if that person still hasn’t been caught. People won’t care about my innocence.”

She nods. “I know. We can work something out, though. Maybe we can get you into a different school.”

“And drive forty minutes away? Get up at five in the morning so I can be on the road by six? Mom, that leaves no room for swimming or training.”

“Your father tells me you haven’t been training at all since you came here. I can’t have you fall into some dark, depressing hole again, Liv. So what can I do?”

Was I really in a dark, depressing hole?

***

I enter the brownstone after a long morning with my mom. I missed her a lot, but with her weird bombardment of questions I needed an escape. Up in my room, my body crumples to the bed. Inhaling my sheets, all I smell is Caleb. Mint, cedar, and a splash of cinnamon. Oh man, I could lie here for the rest of my life breathing in this wonderful scent. But, eventually, I’ll have to take a shower because long periods of time with a lack of shower equals über gross. Plus, girl’s gotta eat.

But this smell that’s basking in my sheets, that’s taken a hold of my senses and made me all gooey inside, yes, this is home. Oh, my God … Caleb is home.

Chapter 15

Caleb

Ever been doused by a bucket of ice-cold water? The whole cool, wet, stinging sensation always puts you on high alert. Well, that’s exactly what it’s like when I walk into my hotel room and notice my uncle following me with his luggage.

My plans to spend as much of my time alone with Skylar as possible just flew straight out the window and splatted on the cement out there. “I take it you’re staying with me?”

My uncle lifts his brow. “Is that going to be a problem? Were you planning on having a certain someone stay with you?”

“What? No.” My voice is not all nonchalant like I want it to be. Pretty sure my uncle knows this, too.

“How long?”

I throw my hands up. “Not this again!”

“Yes, this again! How long?”

Screw it. I’m telling him. “How long have I liked her? Way before homecoming.” Actually, I think it’s when she Saran-Wrapped my car that I actually started liking her. But we didn’t do anything—I mean, we kissed, but nothing else—after the championship. I stare at him, waiting for a response. He doesn’t give me one so I keep going. “I like her a lot. No, that’s not right. I love her. There, you happy? I want her to come back home. She needs to come back home.”

I slump into the chair in the corner and hide my face in my hands.

“Erin owes me twenty bucks.” I look up, confused, because his voice is awfully chipper. “Caleb, I’m happy for you. For you both, actually. It’s going to be a little awkward and I know this isn’t ideal stuff, but it’s not wrong or sick. But if you two decide to continue this relationship and she does come back with us, there are going to be some rules. A lot of rules.”

“So you aren’t mad at us?”

“Should I be?” His eyes narrow.

I shake my head.

He nods.

Now that my uncle knows, Erin is sure to find out. Where would that leave Skylar and me? She doesn’t want them to know, and I just spilled it. Damn it! I’m an idiot. She won’t come back now. I’ve lost her.

***

“Are you two ready?” Erin asks as Uncle Brian and I head out of the hotel room.

“You look beautiful, Erin,” Uncle Bri says.

She blushes and slaps his arm. “Thank you.”

I shake my head and step into the elevator. It feels like ten years pass before the doors open. The lobby is filled with people coming and going, but my sights land right on Sky sitting in a chair, blowing a piece of hair off her face.

I look back at my uncle and Erin, who aren’t paying attention to anyone but each other. That’s a good thing. I return my attention to Skylar, who is still looking bored, her stare glued to either her lap or the floor. Either way, I don’t care.

Carefully, I sneak up to her. I gently pull the necklace I bought her from the box and unhook the chain.

“Whatever you plan on doing, you shouldn’t. I’ll kick you then I’ll kiss you,” she says without lifting her head.

“How did you know it was me? And I’m still going to do something, but I don’t want to get kicked.” She lifts her head and I say, “Ah-ah. None of that. Close your eyes.”

I glance at her and she complies. My hands shake a little as I slip the necklace around her neck. Dropping my lips near her ear, I whisper, “Merry Christmas, Sky.”

I kiss her cheek and watch her. Her hand touches the charm and then she looks at me. “Caleb, I love it.” She swings her arms around my neck and kisses me. “I got you something, too.”