Page 3 of I Blame the Rival

It’s the Tiger’s captain.

The one with the kind smile.

“CODY!” A piercing scream cuts through the bleachers as a girl goes running for the field. I can’t tear my eyes away as she sprints past the medics and drops to her knees beside him. My stomach surges and soon I’m running as well, except I’m running in the opposite direction.

Away from my brother’s carnage and my equally horrifying poster.

I make it to the parking lot before nausea takes a hold of me. I collapse to the ground, throwing up the breakfast I’d eaten hours before. I heave until there’s nothing left then crawl along the pavement towards my car. It takes me a few tries to get my door unlocked and even more tries to drag my shaking body into the driver’s seat.

I don’t touch the ignition once I get inside. I just sit there, trembling as I watch the ambulance pull into the stadium through my cracked windshield.

It doesn’t matter what I do, or who I try to become.

The monster will always find me.

Chapter1

Present day…

Lacey

I wake up to the sound of clapping.

And not the good kind.

“YES! Right there, baby. Hit me right there.” Cecelia’s moans float through our adjourning wall and I shudder, pulling my blankets over my head to try and block out the noise.

“Harder, baby! I’m getting close.”

I throw my blankets back down and glare at the patchy ceiling above me. This isn’t the first time Cecelia has woken me up with a front row seat to the porn show and I doubt it’s going to be the last. Cursing whoever was in charge of roommate distribution, I cross my arms and wait for the sound of slapping skin to fade, half-heartedly listening to my roommate’s squeals of ecstasy.

My God. Does it really take that long to come?

Doing my best to ignore the masculine grunts drifting through my wall, I roll over and grab the book from my nightstand. There’s just enough light streaming in through the dusty window that I can see the words on the page in front of me.

Naturally, I stopped reading the night before on a sex scene.

“I’M COMING!”

I snap my book shut and fling it across my first-year dorm room. It slaps the window and falls face down onto the gross beige carpet. Regret fills me immediately and I abandon my warm bed to retrieve the fallen soldier.

Carefully smoothing the corners back into place, I put the book back on my nightstand and turn to look at my makeshift bookshelf above the small desk pushed tight against the wall.

I run my finger along the colourful spines, the fourteen books I managed to squish in between the drawers holding my school supplies putting a warm feeling in my chest. There is nothing like a pretty bookshelf, however small.

Especially when each novel contains a happy ending.

The screams from the next door finally fade into an unrhythmic pattern of heavy breathing. I turn my attention to the envelope tucked between my favourite romance novels. Gently pulling it out of its hiding spot, I open it up and pull out the first photograph.

“Mi amor? You in there?”

A loud knock on the main door has me hurrying to put the envelope back in its hiding spot.

“Coming!” Wincing at my word choice, I leave my bedroom and walk through the tiny living room to open the main door that connects to the residence building. Nico Montez grins back at me, his pink polo shirt unbuttoned to show off the tanned, lean chest underneath.

I smile, giving his bare torso a glance, “Isn’t it a little early for a strip tease?”

“Babe, it’s never too early for a strip tease. Maurice would know.”

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