Page 79 of Rivals
She nods and gives me a sad but dreamy smile as she swivels her hips. I grab her sides and bend my legs behind her to steady us on the narrow bed. She makes a sputtering sound, begging me to keep going until we’re both overcome in the pool of our pleasure, holding onto each other while we drown.
Revna cries out, throwing her head back as I grab onto her throat and ram up into her. “Lach, I’m —“
“Take it, baby. Take what you want.” She moans again and loses her balance, catching herself on my sweaty chest. She pants while she circles her hips. “Ok,” she says.
“Ok, what?” I huff.
“I’ll move in with you just for a bit, until after Italy,” she says breathlessly. My heart feels like it’s about to fly out of my chest because she’s riding me like a cowgirl, and the extra shot of adrenaline makes me feel like I could carry the world for her.
“Really?”
“Yes,” she moans, drawing the word out long and low. I flip us again with a new urgency and ravish her body and soul.
She curses, moaning my name, and I can’t hold on for much longer. I rub my thumb over her, and she goes off, pulling me with her. As Revna comes down, she throws herself onto my chest, and I lay there in awe. “Whoa,” she says, her breath cooling my skin.
I palm her back and draw my hand up and down her spine. “Yeah,” I whisper.
For all the things that drag us down, her choice lightens the load a bit. I want to have her all around me all the time, and I love that I’ll have the chance.
But there is something else that I know I should ask now. I can’t continue with any of this, depending on her answer. This whole day has been more than two people can handle. I want her to come because she wants to. “This isn’t because…of everything, right? I won’t force you, but you and I know there is no other way to close the gap. We need to buy plane tickets soon. I just need to know.”
“No, it’s not. You’re right, I know. I have this feeling when I leave, I’ll never come back.”
I look around her room. It isn’t much, but I get it. It’s hers. “That’s not true. Like you said, it’s temporary.”
She sighs and draws what I think is an invisible flower on my chest. I mimic the shapes in my head, and then she stops and lifts her chin. “Are we temporary?” she asks. My first response is absolutely not. I have that indisputable gut feeling that we are every bit of forever. Even so, I know she is not ready for those words, and I’m not prepared to say them.
But I can tell her we aren’t temporary. “We are not,” I reply. Her finger stills for a second, and then it resumes its drawing. Only, I think she’s spelling something out now. “Is that ok with you?”
“I think so,” she says. My chest lifts, and I feel like I have already won. Nothing is guaranteed in this competition, but with Revna, I think we could make it. I’ve thought about the future, past the MoMA. I believe Revna and I could work together long-term. We aren’t great at communicating ideas, but once one of us gets going, we snap together like magnets. It’s apparent that we have something special, and it’s even harder to believe that only a few months ago, I simultaneously hated and admired her from afar. I considered her my competition. My enemy. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be here like this with her. Sometimes, we don’t recognize what we need because we are only looking for what we want.
Chapter 48
Revna
Yesterdaywasintense.I’mrelatively numbed out, and it’s surprisingly not from the drugs. I’m nothidingthose from Lachlan, but if I’m being honest… I’m hiding them from him.
We decided to take two trips with my stuff. I don’t have much, it’s just clothes. I talked to Joshua, who said he was fine subletting my room. He even said he had someone in mind from his program. Part of me wanted him to be mad so I could back out. The other part of me felt like I made the right decision. For once in my life, things could work out.
Lachlan carries my bags down the street. I have a full backpack and a few other things I kept for myself. I washed the sheets and cleaned my room. There’s little to nothing left. I’ll grab the last things later.
I decided on our walk here I need to expect him to leave. It’s only a matter of time, an inevitability. Why wouldn’t he? He said he’s here now, that this isn’t temporary. But isn’t all of life temporary? Pain is temporary. Happiness is temporary. Love is temporary. Life is temporary. There is nothing keeping him from making us temporary. This competition is temporary. It literally has an end date, so I have to believe we do, too.
Once we got to his place, he dropped my bags in front of his large dresser and set the others on the bed. He doesn’t ask. He just starts unpacking everything and throwing it on the bed. Neither of us are particularly neat, but I would at least like to know where my clothes are going according to the Lachlan method.
I watch him open one of his drawers, grab some hoodies and a pair of sweatpants, and shove them into another drawer. Then he takes my pile of clothes and puts them in the empty drawer. He grabs a few of my jackets and goes to the closet to hang them up. His loft doesn’t have a ton of storage, but for one person, it’s never been an issue. He pushes his hanging stuff to the side and puts my jacket next to his.
I still have a couple of bags so I take his cue and unpack. There’s another nightstand closer to the window that I make my own, stacking the few books I have and putting the few pieces of jewelry I own in the drawer. I put my things away in the bathroom, and I’m completely moved into Lachlan’s in about twenty minutes. I don’t know if that’s something worth being proud of.
I’ve never been one for material things. Not because I don’t like a nice pair of jeans or a shirt, but because everything I was given as a kid was eventually taken away. Another kid would steal it, or the foster family said I had to leave it for the next kid after me. I had a small bag of clothes until someone realized I needed something that fit me. Then, I did it all over again. When I was a young teen, I had enough, and I stole myself a bra, shirt, and skirt I liked. I regret stealing it, but I knew no one would buy it for me, and I didn’t have any money. So, I took it.
“So, I did a lot of sessions and got some pretty decent tips. And with what you made, I think we should probably jump on our plane tickets.”
I nod, and he gets his computer to pull up our flights. “I don’t have a passport.”
“We can fix that. It will cost a little more, but it’s not a big deal. We should probably apply for it now because it can take a while.”
“Ok,” I say and I finally feel a twinge of excitement to go to a new place.
