Rival Hearts (Rival Love #2)
Page 22
I snatch up a Post-it and scribble out that I need to come back next week. Then I slap the Post-it on her desk calendar. Janice’s blue eyes lock with mine and she shakes her head while still talking to the person on the phone. She looks over at her computer screen, clicks the mouse a couple times, and then writes on a card. She hands it over to me and waves me off.
She didn’t even bother asking me if this time was okay. I glance down at the card in my hand and shrug. Well, if I miss class, oh well. It’s not like I’m going to be here that much longer anyway.
Now, I just have to tell the great news to Skylar, my uncle, and Erin.
***
I visit Sky’s dorm room. On the whiteboard hanging on her door is the last note I wrote her. Caleb+Skylar always and forever. Yeah, I know it’s cheesy, but Skylar loved it and that’s all that matters. Of course, now that I stare at the note, I can’t help but wonder if this news I’m about to tell her will ruin us.
A few years ago, when Sky and I were seniors in high school, she left to go live with her dad in New York. And that distance almost broke me, so I went after her. How the hell will I survive being apart from her if I’m drafted to a team on the West Coast? Or really any team that isn’t the Carolina Panthers? I mean, Sky’s going to be in school for two more years, then another four years of medical school.
And she won’t leave her dream school to be with me. She worked so hard to get into Duke. To ask her to follow me would be selfish and wrong. I’m not going to be that asshole.
So, instead of knocking on her door or writing her another sappy note, I leave.
***
My cell rings with a picture of Uncle Bri across the screen. I groan and answer it. “Hey.”
“How’s school going?”
“Good. How’s the pup?”
Uncle Bri and Erin decided to get a puppy because they missed me and Skylar too much. Of course, according to my uncle, this was all Erin’s idea. And according to Erin, this was all my uncle’s idea. So far, the puppy, whose name is Maxwell, has chewed on every chair in the dining room and peed in my closet. And, for some reason, he loves to sleep under Skylar’s bed.
My uncle grumbles. “He’s in time out for hopping up on the counter and eating our bacon.”
“He ate your bacon?” I sit on my bed and kick off my shoes.
“It was cooked. And yes. He somehow jumped onto the bar stool and sat there like a human, eating the bacon right off our plates.”
I can’t help but burst into a fit of laughter.
“It’s not really funny, Caleb.”
“Actually, I beg to differ. It’s pretty funny. I can’t wait to see him.”
“That’s why I was calling. Erin and I are planning on coming down there to visit in a couple of weeks. You kids don’t have any exams or anything going on, do you?”
“Nah. No exams for me. I’ll have to ask Sky what her schedule’s like. I think it should be fine, though.” I lay back on my bed, resting my head against my pillow.
“Good. I’ll probably have Erin call Sky later. So, how are you doing money-wise? Do you have enough for groceries and the down payment for an apartment?”
I sit up too quickly and smack my head on the bar running under my roommate’s bunk. “Son of a bitch.”
“What?”
“Not you. I smacked my head on this stupid metal bar. Anyway, how did you know about the apartment thing?”
“Skylar. Well, actually, it was Erin but, still, I think it’s a good idea.”
“You think it’s a good idea?”
I hear him laugh. “Yeah. I think it’ll teach you a few things.”
I should tell him about the draft. I don’t. In fact, I can’t even tell him about the draft yet. I get the feeling he might be a little pissed at me for leaving school. Any time we watch draft day, and there’s a kid like me getting drafted, uncle Bri throws a fit. Not like a tantrum, but he grumbles and complains that the kid should have stayed in school, finished his last two years, graduated, and then gone into the NFL draft.
Then he lists off all the reasons why. From injuries, to being benched the entire time—not really benched, but not starting because he’s actually third or fourth string—to getting cut early. If it turns out the team he’s on can’t afford him, they’ll get rid of the new player, and then he’s back to nothing. With no education to back him up. It happens.
And I get all those reasons. But you know what? That shit is fear talking, and I can’t let fear put me in a corner. I can’t let that shit get to me. The only thing that’s getting to me is leaving behind the one thing I fought so hard to keep, and that’s Skylar. But if I truly love her like I say I do then I’ll let her go.
Uncle Bri and I talk a little longer before he has to get off the phone because Maxwell figured out how to break free from his cage.
I lay back on my bed and sigh, right as there is a knock on my door.
END OF SAMPLE
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RIVAL LOVE
LOUDER THAN WORDS
UNBREAKABLE
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Sneak Peek at Rival Dreams
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