Page 47 of I Blame the Rival

“Oh, I know. The first time I saw it, I nearly had a heart attack.”

I’m expecting her to laugh, but instead, Amber sits up and grabs my arm. I jump in surprise, her small hands gripping me with a surprising amount of strength.

“When did you see him smile?”

“Uh…” I trail off, trying to remember, “He smiled when we were talking in his car earlier today. Maybe in the bookstore as well.”

Amber’s eyes well up with tears, “You made my boy smile.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that-

“Thank you.” She grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly, “Thank you, Lacey.”

Unsure of what to do, I glance over the back of the couch and peek into the kitchen. Skylar’s back is to us, his flannel shirt rolled up to his elbows as he silently washes the dishes from dinner.

The Vin household’s main floor is split into a kitchen and a living room that overflows into the staircase leading upstairs. Like the rest of Silverwood, the house is small but quaint, its open concept leaving room for natural light to filter through the paned windows. The walls are a soft yellow and the kitchencupboards are a pristine white that look as though they’ve been replaced within the last few years.

Clearing her throat, Amber releases my hand with a sad laugh, “Don’t mind me, I have a tendency of being overly emotional. Let’s try and find some older pictures of our boy.”

Our boy.

My heart swells at the simple distinction. Dropping my gaze back down to the photo album, I watch Amber flip through the pages until she reaches middle school.

“Oh, this is such a good one! Here he is at a cross country meet.” She slides the picture out of its slot and passes it to me.

“Has he always been a runner?”

Bringing the picture closer, I study the two boys in the shot. Their arms are thrown around each other, the grey jerseys screaming out the school logo.

“Skylar? Oh, no. He used to hate running. His older brother made him join the team just to get him out of the house.” Amber smiles wistfully, “They used to be so close.”

I squint at the photo, trying to pick out Skylar. Both of the boys in the photograph are short and lean, their white-blond hair identical except for length.

“They look like twins.”

Amber laughs, “They sure did. Until Vector hit his growth spurt, we didn’t think either of them would ever grow taller than 6’0. The Vin brothers were known for being small and quick until puberty hit.”

“Thank God it did.”

The raspy voice hits my ear and I startle, turning around to see a massive man towering over us. My eyes widen as I take in the grey t-shirt stretched tight across his muscular frame, his biceps bulging from beneath sweat-stained sleeves.

Amber shifts on the couch to face him, “Hi, honey. I thought you were staying over at a friend’s house tonight.”

The guy grins, “I was until I heard Skylar brought a girl home. Thought I’d pop over and introduce myself.”

Those pale blue eyes do a quick sweep of my body and I feel myself stiffen. Amber reaches over and pats my hand, offering some unexpected reassurance.

“Lacey, right?” He tilts his head, a sly smile spreading across his face, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“No? Skylar has been holding out on you.” He clicks his tongue, “I’m Vector, the older and better looking Vin brother.”

“Youare Skylar’s brother?”

I look back down at the photograph in disbelief. Assuming Vector kept his hair the same length, that would make him the guy standing on the right. Besides the unusual hair colour, the scrawny figure smiling at the camera looks nothing like the guy standing above me.

Vector sighs, “I know. I stole all the good genes in the family. My poor brother took after our mother’s side of the family.”

---