Rival Hearts (Rival Love #2) by Natalie Decker Page A

very loud sigh. “ He’s your mother’s new boyfriend’s nephew, right?”
    I nod.
    “Fiancé, but who’s really looking at corrections here?” Skylar answers. “Caleb isn’t going to be a bother. He wanted to visit some schools. Mom thought since I was here and lonely that it would be a good idea to see a familiar face.” She lies like a professional. It makes me curious if she’s ever lied to me about anything.
    “Well, I don’t appreciate your mother’s lack of notice,” the stepmother snarls. “She can’t just send whoever she wants to come into my home whenever she wants. We have engagements, parties, and social events to attend. We don’t have time to entertain your unwanted guest on top of all that.”
    “He’s wanted. I want him. I asked him to come. And as for your stupid gatherings, they won’t be harmed in any way because, as I told you before, I’m not attending them.”
    “Now, Skylar, that’s no way to speak to your mother.”
    “ Stepmother . And I can speak to her how I wish since I have never and will never forgive her for how she came to be my stepmother in the first place. Excuse us.” Sky grabs my hand and pulls me away from the table with her. Her stepmother’s jaw is completely unhinged. Lidia looks as if she won the lottery, all giddy and loving every single moment.
    We rush out of the diner and Skylar exhales loudly. “I couldn’t breathe in there. I’m sorry.”
    I rub her back. “It’s okay. Has this been happening a lot lately? The fighting and stuff?”
    “Yeah. Since I moved in. She’s made one sour remark after another. She thinks I’m going to ruin Lidia’s social life.” She narrows her stare and looks down at her feet. “Most of the time I want to tell that woman what I really think of her. How she’s a conniving evil witch, and that she better watch her mouth or I’m going to take a baseball bat to all her precious artwork.”
    The image of Skylar swinging away at canvases has me smiling. “Come on.”
    “Where are we going?” she asks.
    “Just trust me.”
    She nods and follows me.
    We return to her father’s brownstone. I go to her room and get her guitar and mine along with her swim bag. I shove my own shorts and towel into the bag. Skylar doesn’t question me when I return with the stuff. She follows me out the door, and we hail a cab.
    About fifteen minutes later, we’re outside a local YMCA. Skylar gives me a look. Her eyebrows are quirked upward and her nose slightly wrinkled. “What are you doing, Caleb?”
    “I think we’re going to release some of your stress. So here is step one.”
    “The pool?”
    “Yes. The pool. Now go get suited up.”
    She laughs and shakes her head. “You’re so weird.”
    I pay for us to swim laps, she hands me my stuff, and then she disappears into the locker room. “Would you like a locker?”
    My attention returns to the girl waiting on me and I nod. “Yeah. That would be great. How big are they?”
    She looks over her desk at the guitars and smiles. “Oh. You can get one of those in there. I’ll give you two lockers.”
    She hands over the keys and I head to the men’s locker room. I place Sky’s guitar into a locker and lock it. Once I change, I place my things inside the other locker, along with the other guitar. Walking out of the room, I spot Skylar across the pool sitting on a long bench. I make my way to her. Her eyes look me up and down and then she asks, “Well?”
    I can’t stop studying her body. I kiss her forehead and whisper, “Pick a lane.” She sighs. “What’s wrong? I thought this was a good way for you to relieve stress?” She told me this when we learned twenty-five things about each other.
    “It is. It’s just … I haven’t been at a pool since the whole vandalizing stunt. And I haven’t swum since the Saturday before that. I don’t know if I want to.”
    “Sky.” I pull her to me and whisper, “It’s like breathing to you. You need this.”
    “I know.”