Page 22 of Rivals

“Where is the party?”

He glances over at me, “At Bradshaws.”

Kris Bradshaw goes to All Saints but often has groups of Public students party at his place too. We’re both quiet the rest of the drive and my stomach feels uneasy. Reign pulls into a long driveway and parks among the other, mostly luxury brand, cars. He kills the engine and I’m out of my seat before he has time to react. He calls my name, but I keep walking, hoping to reach the party and my friends, losing Reign in the process. At least for a while.

“Riley,” he growls my name at the same time his arm wraps around my waist and I’m forced to face him again.

“Do you always have to manhandle me?”

“Do you always have to run away from me? What the hell was that?” He keeps his arms around my waist. We’re gaining attention from people passing by and the small crowd out front. I stop fighting and his grip relaxes.

“It wasn’t anything, I just wanted to see my friends.”

Reign’s eyes search mine. Somehow I manage to keep up the calm mask of indifference. He shakes his head, the long strands falling into his face. “Let’s go see your friends, then.”

His arm slings around my shoulders, keeping my body against his side. Before I can protest or move out of his grasp, we’re heading in the front doors. The atmosphere is completely different than the last party I was at before school started. When Reign and I were still firmly teamed off against each other.

I’m used to arriving at a party and it’s not a big deal. My teammates would say hi, and other kids from Public would acknowledge me. I would find Emma or Sam or both of them and we would spend the night dancing or sitting at the bonfire. Low key. The way I like it.

Arriving with Reign wrapped around me, that is a different story. We can’t go two steps without someone coming up to him, clapping hands, fist bumps, or asking questions about the upcoming season. Most everyone does a double take to see the girl under his arm, and then they look again, when they notice who it is. In all the years I’ve seen Reign at parties, he never has a girl under his arm or on his lap. They flock to him yes, pressing their tits into his arm, while they try and be his pick for the night. But he never holds them. He never kisses them in front of anyone. So the fact that it’s me is stirring drama. The guys are less obvious about their curiosity. It’s the girls in the room that are whispering behind their hands to each other, and running their eyes over me, judging me that I have a problem with. I arch my brow at them, daring them to say something to my face.

Reign must mistake my tenseness for nervousness because his arm slides off my shoulders. Instead his hand cups the back of my neck, his thumb running over that stupid pulse point there. I don’t know why it works, but I do start to relax in his hold. He maneuvers us through the rest of the crowd, never taking his grip off me. We make it out to Bradshaw’s backyard and I find a few groups of Public students. They are also watching me closely, and my ex-team’s words come back to haunt me. Sell out.

“Your girls are over there.” Reign leans in, his lips brushing my cheek with his words, sending shivers over my skin. I follow his line of sight and find Emma and Sam with a crowd around the fire. I start to walk away before I’m pulled back to Reign’s side.

“What are you doing?”

His head dips down and his hair tickles my face. “Kissing my girl goodbye for a while. You have a problem with that?”

My mouth drops open and I quickly look around at everyone. “Your girl, huh?” I feel the resentment I’ve been carrying around all day get stuck in my throat, choking me. This is exactly what I was afraid of if I had sex with Reign. The indecisiveness, the in between before he decides he’s done with me. “Didn’t we move past that after last night? For being your girl, you haven’t kissed me all day. You can’t even be bothered to walk me to or from my dorm.”

The teasing smirk falls off Reign’s face. I caught him off guard and I use that to my advantage, shrugging out of his grip and heading toward my friends. I want to feel like myself again and not the emotional mess that Reign makes me with his whiplash. I don’t even make it five steps before his hand lands on my arm and I’m spun around to face him. This time I’m ready, my hands up to push against his chest, but he’s too strong. My body collides with his, his hands gripping my face before his mouth finds mine. Reign’s kiss is brutal, possessive, fully meant to be witnessed by everyone around us. It ends as fast as it began and when he pulls back, I’m breathless.

With a satisfied smile on his lips, Reign lets me go, and I stumble away from him and over to where Emma and Sam are now both watching with open mouth stares. As I make my way over, I can feel eyes on me.

Emma throws her arms around my neck. “Did Reign Thorn just kiss you in front of everyone?”

“He staked his claim.” Sam laughs and drapes her arms around both of us.

“Stop.” I try to laugh, but it sounds choked up. I pull away from them. “He did not. I don’t know what that was.”

Sam’s eyebrows shoot up. “You don’t know. Does he just go around kissing anyone?”

“Especially you,” Emma throws in. “We saw the famous beach kiss at camp, but some of these newbies didn’t.”

“Is everyone watching?” My hands cover my lips. I can’t make myself look around, too scared to see what I might find.

“Oh yeah, everyone was looking.” Sam nods her head. “Yup. All these Saint girlies look pissed.

“Public ones too,” Emma adds. I watch her stare some of the girls down on my behalf, daring them to say negative things about me.

I hold up my hands. “Can we just get tipsy and catch up, please. I don’t want to think about All Saints or Reign right now.”

They wrap their arms around me and we walk over to the drinks. I didn’t realize until now how much I needed them and this time to just relax. I automatically reach for the same seltzer in a can that Emma has when another body slides next to me, reaching for the bottled Corona.

“You seriously came with him?”

I pop the top on my can and look up to see who the hell is trying to ruin my good time. I glare at him when I see who it is. “I’m sorry, are we friends? You have no right to talk to me.”

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