Rival Hearts (Rival Love #2) by Natalie Decker

lips on his. His body stiffens as if I shocked him. When I pull back slightly, he looks completely confused, mouth hanging open like he’s about to say something. I almost laugh. “Don’t ruin it. I need to make this call, okay?”
    He shrugs. “Okay.”

Chapter 11
     
    Caleb
     
    As soon as I enter her room, her eyes are wide like she’s seen a ghost. I ask her what’s wrong, but she just tells me she needs to make a phone call. I’m not entirely convinced that’s what it is so I look over her shoulder. There it is, my message to her. Shit!
    I thought she already read it. But if she hasn’t, and she’s just seeing it now? Awkward doesn’t even begin to cover what would happen between us.
    She lifts her cell to her ear and says, “Kayla! Hi! Sorry, I just got your message.”
    She pauses for a second then says, “What? You sent me text messages, too? My phone is such a piece of crap, I didn’t get any of them. So what’s up? … No way! They did? Oh, but … well … what’s that all mean?” There’s a long pause and then she goes on, “Kayla, I can’t come back. Unless they really catch the person responsible, it’s not safe for me to be there. … Yeah, he is. Uh-huh. Well, he’s staring at me right now, probably wondering what’s going on.” Then Sky giggles and hands me the phone. “Someone wants to talk to you.”
    I take the phone from her and she presses her lips to mine. I want to deepen the kiss but someone yells, “Hey, jackass!”
    I almost tell Lance to call me later because he’s interrupting something, but Skylar is already making her way back to her bed. I’m about to stop her, but Lance is distracting me saying, “Dude, your uncle is flipping out. You need to call him and tell him where the hell you are.”
    “I can’t tell him. Besides, I’m eighteen, who cares. He can’t do anything to me legally.”
    “Yeah, but my parents can. I’m not eighteen and I don’t need to get into trouble. Just call him. Please. I actually like being able to see my girlfriend.”
    “All right, all right. Calm down.”
    “Good. And hey, they found some evidence leading to someone on the Bulldogs’ side. Sky might be able to come home after all. We’ll keep you posted. Good luck.”
    The phone clicks and I stare at Skylar. She’s braiding her hair. I make my way to the bed and take a seat beside her. Placing her phone on her nightstand, I notice a few picture frames. One is photo of just her and me. I pick it up and laugh. “I remember this.”
    “Me too.” She’s finished with her hair and leans in close to me. “Caleb, can I ask you something?”
    “Of course. You can ask me anything.”
    She nods. “Why are you here?”
    I sigh and rub my hand through my hair. I’m not sure she wants the real reason, but I’m going to give it to her anyway. “Because I miss you. I want this … us … to work. If it doesn’t, then okay, at least I tried. And I wanted to see New Year’s in New York City so I can say I’ve seen it in person. I also needed to be face to face with you to tell you that—” There’s a loud knock on her door interrupting my monologue.
    “ Sky -lar … Dad says we need to be ready in twenty minutes because he’s taking us out to lunch. You’ve got five minutes to sneak out with lover boy, but you’ll owe me.”
    “I’d rather eat dirt than owe her a damn thing,” Sky mumbles. “I’ll go greet my dad before the snake does. We can talk some more later, hopefully.” She smiles and pecks me on the cheek then darts out the door.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    We’re all at a diner. Lidia is smirking at Sky and me. Sky is avoiding her father’s stares, and her stepmother glares over at me like I’m a criminal. “This is the kind of stunt I was warning you about when we agreed to take her in,” she huffs.
    “Skylar, you should have told us beforehand that your … ” Her father pauses, flipping the page on his menu and then setting it down in front of him with a