Page 74 of Rivals

“You’re so perfect, so fucking beautiful, babe. I’m going to love you every day for the rest of my life,” he murmurs, catching his breath.

My own chest shudders while I try to make sense of my feelings. “Reign, we have to talk. This was—”

“Perfect,” he interjects. His eyes move up my body to my arm and he frowns. I glance too, and see that the blood flow has stopped, but the cut is there, and I’m not sure what to do with it.

“Stay there,” he says before gently kissing the side of my head. Reign lifts off the bed and grabs his sweatpants off the floor, pulling them on before walking into his bathroom. I hear him rummage in his cabinet before coming back with a first-aid kit.

I lie limp, thoroughly fucked and yet peaceful despite the cut on my arm. Reign cleans it and covers it with surgical glue before wrapping it up. I’ll have to go see the doctor tomorrow to get it sorted. Right now I just can’t move. Reign goes back to the bathroom and this time comes out with a washcloth. He cleans between my legs and a small whimper escapes me from the coldness on my tender flesh.

“Not that I’m complaining but what is your thing with always giving me three orgasms.”

Reign smirks and pulls back the blankets, then pulls me into bed with him. “Hat trick, babe.”

Riley

After I completed my registration for Michigan and sent in the needed paperwork to receive the scholarship money, I thought things would calm down. I even shredded the other college acceptance letters, but Reign was still wound tight. I just let him be, knowing he needed the control to feel reassured that our plan was really happening. Even when his mom came to visit us over the weekend and all she talked about was the apartment he had for this fall and what else he wanted it stocked with, Reign kept looking for reassurance. I knew in every detail what would be in our fridge on move-in weekend.

Now, prom is tonight and next week is our girls’ state championship game. Michigan is settled. Things should be back to normal but new worries are plaguing me. I haven’t made it to the doctor yet after Reign sliced my birth control out. And even when I asked him to pull out, he didn’t, reasoning that it was kind of pointless. I should make him wear a condom. I should be pissed off and willing to take an oath of celibacy until further notice, but I’m not. I’m the crazy one this time because I get more turned on when he refuses not to come inside me. When he casually blows it off telling me he likes being inside me without a condom. I’m screwed. Metaphorically and not.

Instead, here I am, standing in my room, in my dress, the color and shade of Reign’s eyes, a beautiful icy blue. My hair is curled and pulled partly up, showcasing my neck and teardrop earrings. Nerves are building my stomach and I repeatedly have to skate my hands over the sweetheart neckline, down the see-through corset style bodice, to the floor length skirt, in order to feel calm. I love this dress. Appliques adorn the bodice and fall like vines down the tulle skirt. The best feature though, I think, is the thigh-high slit in the front. With our proms on the same day, I was able to meet up with Sam and Emma to get our hair done, and we snapped a few pictures together before going our separate ways. I thought for sure they’d ask about the band-aid on my arm but it was never brought up.

My heart isn’t ready when Reign shows up at my dorm to pick me up. Even though we discussed matching and what he would wear, I’m not prepared for how sexy he looks in the navy tux with a white shirt and bowtie that matches my dress. Reign’s perfect smile lights up his face and he runs his hands over the bodice of my dress. With the mesh fabric I can feel the heat of his skin and shivers spread over my body.

“You look beautiful, Riles,” he says before kissing the top of my head.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, Thorn.” I wink at him and hug my body to his. With our hands intertwined, we head down to the school’s auditorium for the grand march.

Like everything else, prom at All Saints Academy is an over-the-top deal. The theme this year is Shooting Stars, and I don’t even want to know how much money the planning committee spent to have thousands of little stars cover a midnight colored sky ceiling drape, in addition to holding the prom at the River’s Edge, the nicest hotel in the area.

Carter and Leif join us with their dates and I actually don’t mind talking with the other girls. They seem nice and totally out of both the guys’ leagues. Like all other parties, everyone comes to Reign. We don’t move much from our spot in the room all night except to dance. Reign dances with me. Fast, slow, line dance, he does it all. I’m smiling so much by the end of the night and it’s all thanks to him. The last big moment of our school lives is made perfect because I get to share it with him.

“What are you thinking, Riles?” he asks me, bending to whisper in my ear while we slow dance our last dance for the night.

“That I enjoyed tonight more than I thought I ever would.”

He chuckles. “You never looked forward to prom?”

I thought back to last year and going with my friends. It was fun, but this night holds an air of romance. “Thanks to someone, I was never asked to prom. This is my first time doing it right.”

“I’m not even sorry, babe. Just the thought of another guy holding you like this, seeing you this dressed up for him, I would have killed him.” Reign smirks, his hand coming up to cradle my face. Fucking psycho. But he’s mine.

“What would you have done if I left after this year and we went our separate ways? We almost missed all of this, Reign.” My breath shudders in my chest.

His eyes get a faraway look, and he holds my body tighter in his arms. “I don’t know. I think I would have felt it the minute it happened. When you finally were out of my reach, I would have snapped and come back to find you. This time it would have been me tackling you to the ground.”

A giggle escapes my lips. “The look on your face when I jumped you in the woods was priceless.”

Reign’s smile softens with the memory. “We were always meant to be, Riley. I feel it in every heartbeat and breath I take.”

“Well, let’s hope you feel that way still when I’m pregnant and in nine months when a baby is following us to college.” I let sarcasm lace my tone.

“Think how cute she’ll be though. Wearing a miniature jersey of mine with some pigtails. I bet her hair is the same color as her mommy’s.” Reign’s eyes light up with mischievousness.

I scoff. “Yup. That it is. You are truly crazy. Monday I’m going in to get a new implant.”

Reign’s eyes become scarily dark, and he grabs my arm. “I’ll cut out the next one too. If you put an implant in your cervix, I’ll just get more creative about how I take it out.”

“Reign—-”

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