Page 69 of I Blame the Rival

Nico’s phone rings and he snatches it from the table, “Sorry team, but I’ve got to split. I’ve got a charcuterie board stamped with the name Maurice O’Brien waiting for me.”

Pushing back his chair, Nico walks over to give Lacey a hug, “You better head out before Wes and Trip get any nastier.”

She huffs out a laugh, “Say hi to Mo for me.”

“I will.” Nico plants a kiss on her head before turning to me, “I said I was going to be cool and do a bro hug, but I can’t bring myself to do it.”

Without missing a beat, Nico saunters over and wraps his arms around me.

“It was nice meeting you, Expressionless Wonder. Ten bucks says I’ll break a smile out of you next time.”

I freeze as the warmth of his body envelopes me in a cloud of cologne and confidence. Lacey catches my eye over his shoulder and gives me a reassuring smile.

Blinking back the sudden surge of tears, I can’t bring myself to speak as Silverwood’s rival goalie gives me a glimpse of what it feels like to have a normal family.

Nico gives me one last squeeze before pulling away, “Alright. It’s time for me to get my freak on. Go make terrible decisions for papa.”

Blowing one last kiss to the couple making out across from us, Nico turns and makes his leave. Lacey lets out a light laugh before glancing over at me.

“Are you ready to get out of here?”

I stare at her, tracing the face that has become my safe haven these last few weeks. I thought she was exquisite the first night I saw her, but nothing could have prepared me for the compassionate soul sitting next to me.

“Absolutely.”

Lacey’s dorm is exactly what I was expecting.

Tiny but efficiently furnished, a large desk takes up most of the floor space between her single bed and the far wall. Hercloset is tucked in behind the door and the remaining space is allocated to succulents of every shape and size imaginable.

“You weren’t kidding about having a greenhouse.”

I shuffle along the few feet of carpet, peering at the row of plants and romance books stacked precariously between her textbooks. As small as the room is, Lacey managed to make it completely her own with an explosion of colour on every surface available.

“I probably shouldn’t have brought all my plant babies here, but I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving them at home.” She bends down and carefully extracts a dead leaf from one of her plants.

Trying not to stare at her bent over form, I turn my attention to the romance books lining the desk’s top shelf. Each spine is cheerful and bright, identical to the ones we saw in the bookstore the other day. Reaching up, I grab the pastel pink one and study the polaroid pictures decorating the front cover.

“Is this your entire book collection as well?”

“Oh no. This isn’t even a tenth of what I have back home.”

My lips tug upward at the confession. Opening the book, I flip through the pages and catch a glimpse of sharp black smudges. I frown, flipping back through the pages until I find the intrusive mark.

Thick, black lines cut through the words, and my first thought is there must be some sort of a printing error. I lean in closer, trying to pinpoint the starting point when I notice the shaky and uneven curvature.

As if someone purposefully crossed them out.

Slowly setting the book down, I grab the next one on the shelf. The same markings reside in this one too, repeating continuously throughout the book. My heart starts to pound as I stare at the destroyed pages in front of me, the harsh slash of the permanent marker holding only one thing in common.

Each one was used to cross out a sex scene.

“Can I get you a drink or something? Sorry, I should have asked earlier…” Lacey’s voice dies off when she sees the books lying open on the desk. Letting out a nervous laugh, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Oh, you found my annotations. It’s a silly habit I got into, but it’s very popular with the romance community right now.”

I turn and stare at her, “These aren’t annotations, Flower.”

She bites her lip, avoiding my gaze, “Some of them are.”

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