Page 15 of Rivals

I walk fast and determined to the clearing where everyone is waiting and probably wondering what the hell is happening. I can feel Reign and Leif behind me, a dark shadow right on my heels. When we reach the group, I stand next to Emma and Sam, both of whom are eyeing me. Emma clutches my hand in hers. We’re faced off against our team’s greatest rivals. Quinn, who is captain of the girls’ Saints’ team and a few of her minions. Her lips turn up in disgust at me, but I stare her down, refusing to appear weak. I may not have set up this challenge but I am not backing down from it either.

“I’m here, Quinny. What is it that you want to tell me?Quinn hates when I call her that, just like she really hates everything else in life. Her eyes narrow on me. “Since you thought you were so clever with taking our coach’s keys, we decided to make it more interesting.” Her finger points behind her and for the first time I notice the two cars sitting at the top of the hill. Coaches’ cars.

“How did you–”

“Don’t even finish that sentence, Conrad. Clearly you underestimated the skills of the girls you wanted to fuck with.”

My eyes slide to Reign who is still glaring at me icily now, as per his usual in these situations. At least Leif has the decency to look somewhat sheepish as if this wasn’t part of his brilliant plan. We just went from stolen keys to grand theft auto.

“What’s the plan?”

Quinn steps forward sneering. “Two drivers take the car of the opposite team’s coach. Down the hill and through town square. Last person to park back in the lot by the time the meeting is over loses. You’re down to ten minutes.”

“I know you don’t like to get messy, Quinn, it’s not your style. You’re more of a pin it on the other person type player. So who’s driving from All Saints?” It takes fifteen minutes to get to the town square from here. My head tilts, my eyes moving from a fuming Quinn to her little friends with matching expressions. Quinn opens her mouth to argue, but Reign intervenes instead.

“I am.”

I can’t even look at him right now. It shouldn’t surprise me as this was part of his brain child. It just goes to show that Reign and I will always have too much bitterness between us with our history. My heart hammers in my chest as I turn to him. My gaze running from his white sneakers up his distressed jeans, to the torn t-shirt he wears as a tank top, to settle on his face. I step toward him and his eyebrows bunch. A smile plays on my lips when it dawns on me how I can make both my problems tonight disappear. My feet move so I’m standing right in front of him. My head tilts back and whatever he sees in my eyes makes his own spark.

“How about throwing a favor, you could say, into this mess?”

Reign shakes his head like he knows what I’m about to say. “You think you can handle more?”

I shrug. “We’re wasting time, so what do you say, Thorn? Care to make it interesting for both of us?”

His eyes become liquid ice. “Name it.”

“I win the race, you get my v-card. You win, and your teammate does.” My eyes slant to where Leif is standing. This is a fucking bold move, and I know Reign thinks I won’t go through with it. “You know I always follow through on my favors.”

The muscle in Reign’s jaw ticks and murder crosses his features. He thinks he knows me so well, and he does. Reign is the only one who knows me better than I know myself after years of being friends to years of just always being in each other’s space. He sometimes forgets though that I know him just as well. Reign never backs out of a favor. He also never likes to lose.

People keep chattering around us, so I know they haven’t heard the favor I just threw in. Except maybe Emma who gasps a little and Leif whose face heats up. We do need a witness after all.

“Deal,” Reign grits out between his clenched teeth and I smile victoriously. I think I might have killed all the birds with a few different stones.

Reign

Blood rushes to my head, my veins pumping extra hard. I feel like I ran a marathon while also being so full of adrenaline I wish I could hit something. Riley. It’s just like her to amp this up instead of just admit that something between us is changing. I throw my keys to Leif, to make sure he gets down there with my car for after the challenge. He nods and jogs away.

I slide into her coach’s car and adjust the seat to fit my over six-foot-tall frame. Riley slips into the Saint’s coach’s car and I watch her patiently while she makes any adjustments. We’re running out of time until the meeting concludes. We both fire up the engines at the same time and I give the little car a rev of the engine. Even through the windshield, I can see Riley roll her eyes and I chuckle to myself.

Quinn steps to the sides of the vehicles with her arm raised, her eyes blazing in a premature triumph. When I told her I’d drive instead of her, she was relieved and also thankful. From our history, she knew I’d never let Riley win and she trusted me. That was a stupid move on her part. Quinn is a great hockey player, she’s the captain of our girls’ team and therefore I have respect for her. But she often makes digs at Riley or gets in the middle of our challenges and our favors and that bothers me. Riley is mine to torment. She’s mine, period.

I nod to Quinn, just a tilt of my chin, and her arm slashes through the air, signaling the start of our race. Riley and I both slam on the pedals and her car leaps in front of mine. I smirk in response. She’s always so eager. My mind screams at me to figure out how I’ll make this work. I refuse to let her win, after she offered her cherry up to me that way. I won’t be winning it through a favor or a challenge. And I sure as fuck am not letting anyone on my team take it. I’ll take it with her consent while she’s moaning underneath me, begging me to slide in and pop it.

We race into town and I start speeding up, using the momentum from the hill to rocket this car faster. Riley glances at me once out of her driver’s side window and I see her smirk. I nudge my car faster, trying to guess her game. Does she want me to win? Does she think I’m scum enough that I’ll let her win this challenge just for her virginity? I roll my eyes. Keeping my vehicle a few inches in front of hers, we race around the last curve of the town square. I spot Leif in my car and Emma in Leif’s truck, both waiting to get us out of there.

We swing around, and the parking lot by the bay is right ahead. The clock on the dash lets me know that the meeting is over. At any minute they’ll be leaving the building. I slow at the last minute and watch as a horrified expression crosses Riley’s face, before I match my bumper to hers right as we park. We tied. For the first time in all the years of challenges, there is a tie between us. I put the car in park and get out, leaving the keys on the seat. Riley is slower to get out.

I grab her hand and start jogging toward our waiting get-away cars. Her chest is rising and falling rapidly, the adrenaline hitting her hard, and maybe something else. “Breath, babe.”

Her gaze swings to me, her dark eyes throwing daggers. “What was that?”

I get in her face, feeling insulted. She really thought I’d rise to her bait. “A tie.”

“We never tie,” she grits out.

I fold my arms over my chest. “You know I hate to lose, Riles. I won’t lose you to a stupid favor on a challenge I initiated either.”

---