Page 4 of I Blame the Rival

He winks and I laugh, picturing Nico’s brooding partner. The two of them met last summer when Mo came back to help coach Taber’s lacrosse team. It took a few fights and a drunken standoff, but finally the enemies-to-lovers became an official couple a few weeks ago.

The sound of my laughter puts a bright smile on his face and the familiar sting of guilt hits me. Both Nico and my brother try to hide the fact they still worry about me, but the obvious attempts at keeping me light-hearted are a dead giveaway.

Not that I can blame them. If I had a little sister who tried to commit suicide I’d do everything I could to make her laugh as well.

“As much as I love taking off my clothes, that’s not why I’m here.” Nico conspicuously looks over each shoulder before dropping his voice to a whisper, “It’s time to put our plan in motion.”

“OTB?”

“OTB.”

I smile, leading him into the dorm. Nico follows close on my heels, his anxiousness to get to the safety of my room making me laugh.

“Cecelia is occupied with an overnight visitor. There’s no need to fear.”

“Until that woman stops dying her hair green and piercing her septum for fun, there will always be something to fear.” Nico leans against my closed door and blows out a breath, “I will never forgive Housing Services for making Lucifer’s offspring your wallmate.”

I bite back a laugh, “That’s a little on the dramatic side.”

“Is it though?”

He sweeps his eyes around my room, and I do the same, noting the unmade duvet and the desk cluttered with every succulent imaginable. My heart skips a beat when I see the white edge of the envelope peeking out of its hiding spot, but Nico doesn’t seem to notice.

“Green hair and piercings don’t qualify as demon qualities, Nico.”

“Maybe not, but the woman they're attached to does.”

I shake my head and walk over to grab my plant mister. The glass spray bottle catches a ray of sunlight and the adorable flower design etched along the side sparkles back at me.

Nico makes himself comfortable on my bed while I tend to my plant babies, carefully looking them over for any dead stems or dry spots. Just like the bookshelf, my indoor garden is limitedby Taber University’s tight residence quarters, but I make the most of the little space I have.

“Don’t be mean.”

He heaves a sigh, adjusting my pillow beneath him, “You need to be less kind, Lace. Did she wake you up with another sex fest?”

My eyes flick to our adjoining wall, waiting to hear Cecelia shout some sort of response. Her side of the dorm stays silent, so I cross my heart and hope she fell back asleep.

I nod with a sigh, “I needed to get up anyways. We’ve got lots to do today.”

“Have you figured out if she’s a dominatrix yet?”

“Nico!”

He grins, “What? It’s an innocent question. If you’re gonna hear what’s going on, you may as well learn something from it.”

The smile slips from his lips and he jerks upright on the bed, “Shit. I didn’t mean to-

“It’s fine.” I cut him off, not wanting to go down the same rabbit hole we’ve been down countless times before, “What’s the next step for Operation Trip’s Birthday?”

Nico falls silent, his dark eyes scanning my face for the broken girl I became two years ago.

“We’ve got to grab the cupcakes and set up shop. I’m thinking we go hard on the decorations and hope they make up for the lack of people in attendance.” He hesitates, “I really am sorry, mi amor. I didn’t mean to call you out like that.”

I point the spray bottle in his direction, “If I was really upset, I would have misted you. Now, get out of here so I can change and we can hit the road.”

Nico rolls off my bed and saunters over to give me a hug. Tucking my head beneath his chin, I close my eyes and fight to keep the tears at bay.

He squeezes me tightly, the familiar scent of his cologne reminding me of all the memories we wouldn’t have had together if the pills had worked.

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