Page 118 of The Rivals' Touch

The door squeaks open, but I don’t roll over to see who it is. It’s past midnight, meaning it can only be one person.

“Remi?” Zayd asks, closing the door behind him.

“Please go away!” My trembling voice is barely audible. Perhaps that’s why he ignores my request and walks further into the room.

The bed dips when he sits down. “I know you’re awake.”

The tree bangs against the window – if I were a young child, I would be terrified by its shadow on my wall. “Please, Zayd. Go away!”

“You disappeared!”

Every bone in my body aches as I roll over in bed and scan my eyes over his rugged face. He’s swaying. “You’re drunk!”

He hiccups, bringing his finger and his thumb together. “Only a smidgen.”

I attempt a smile, but it’s weak. I’ve never felt more alone than I do at this moment. “Did you have a good time?”

He frowns as if he’s trying to remember something. “Where were you? I tried to call you! You never showed at school.”

“I…” I fall silent, brushing my fingers over the bedsheet. “You can’t be in here, Zayd.”

“Babe,” he leans down, trying to nuzzle my neck, but I push him away. He’s so drunk that he falls to the floor, laughing.

I have no energy for this or him. I sit up in bed and point at the door. “Leave!”

He tries to get to his feet. It takes him a couple of attempts. “I was fucking worried about you! Your phone is off!”

“You don’t need to worry about me. Now leave!”

His brows pull low as he sways on the spot. “What the fuck, babe?!”

“You’re drunk! Leave!”

He looks over at the door, and then his eyes return to me. “You can’t disappear like that!”

“You’re drunk!” I repeat, and my voice breaks at the end. I don’t know why it bothers me so much, but it does. We can’t be together, but it hurts to come home to an empty house because he’s out partying.

“I’m drunk because I was fucking worried about you!”

I start to retort but fall silent. “What? You were worried about me, so your solution was to go to a party?”

“Babe!” He goes to sit down next to me but miscalculates and falls to the floor. His head pops back up, and it would be cute if I wasn’t such a mess. “What was I supposed to do? Sit at home and wait? I was going crazy pacing my room! I had to distract myself!”

I fight against the urge to lean forward and brush his dark hair out of his eyes. “You need to leave.”

He props his chin on the edge of the bed and smiles. “I’m in love with you!”

If only he knew how much his words hurt me. I want to tell him I love him back, but the afternoon’s events still linger on my skin, and my father’s threats echo inside my head. “We can’t be together, Zayd.”

He looks adorably confused. “What are you talking about?”

“Bennett, my fathe—”

He throws his hand out. “Screw them! Fuck them all! It’s us, babe. You and me!”

Something occurs to him, and his lips curve in a smile. “And Legacy and Jacob.” His chin slides off the edge of the bed, and he falls. “Shit!” He pops back up. “I’m not used to sharing.”

I wipe away a tear, my heart squeezing. “Zayd, you don’t get it. There’s no us!”

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