Free Rival Dreams (Rival Love #3) by Natalie Decker Page A

the kegger.” He hangs up and I’m alone with my thoughts in a parking garage.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    Breakfast was awkward. Skylar didn’t look at me the entire time. She drank juice only because Erin made her. Uncle Bri was a whole other story. He glared at me. A hardcore, glint-in-his-eyes kind of glare. As soon as Sky excused herself from the table and Erin followed her to the bathroom, that’s when things really took a turn for the worse.
    “What did you do?” my uncle asks.
    “I broke up with her.” There. No beating around bushes, let it all out there on the table.
    I barely touch my eggs. In fact, looking at them makes me sick. And I thought losing your appetite after a nasty breakup was just a chick thing.
    “Oh. When? You told me yesterday things between you two were fine. Were you lying to me? I get it if you don’t want me in your business, but I sort of need to know what I’m walking in on, Caleb. This situation isn’t exactly normal.”
    I roll my eyes. “Last night. I broke up with her last night. And I know, of all the damn days in the world I picked the worst, but it had to be done. I can’t do this to her.”
    “Did you tell her about the draft?”
    “No. And why do you think that is?” I ask in the most sarcastic tone I can possibly muster.
    Uncle Brian shakes his head. There are traces of silver streaked through his brown hair; I guess I never really noticed him aging until now. “So, you’ll suffer and let her suffer because you think it’ll somehow spare you both in the long run? Am I understanding you correctly?”
    I can’t stand it when he acts like such a wiseass. Something tells me this is exactly how he’s going to be the whole day though. “It doesn’t matter, does it? It’s done. She can continue on with her dream and I’ll go down the path toward mine.”
    “Oh, so you did this for her. I see now. Excuse me for still finding this to be one of the most idiotic solutions you’ve ever come up with to fix a problem.”
    Why? I’d seen him do it countless times before he met Erin.
    As if reading my thoughts, he sighs. “I never loved those women. None of them. They wanted more and I wasn’t ready for it. But Erin is different. She … gets me, like no other person ever could. Much like Skylar gets you. I’m not saying you had to put a ring on it to keep her.”
    I look down at my lap. Erin and Sky both return to the table. Skylar drinks a little more of her juice and then blurts out, “Sorry. I have to go. Work needs me to help set up some last minute touches for a signing tomorrow.”
    Erin frowns but hugs Sky. My uncle hugs her next and kisses her forehead. “We’ll see you later, then.”
    Sky walks right past me and I drop my gaze so I don’t have to look at anyone at this table.

Chapter 13
     
    Skylar
     
    I haven’t been home since Caleb tore my heart out of my chest and stomped all over it. I haven’t eaten either. Food just seems so unappealing. My mom yells at me to at least drink juice. But how can I possibly ingest anything at all when the person who stole my soul is sitting across from me? I can’t tell my mom what’s wrong. Not right now.
    I hardly believe it myself. How can he sit there? Does he have any clue how difficult it was for me to get off Kayla’s couch and come here? She offered to come for support, but I told her it would look bad, that my mom would sense something was wrong. I’m just not in the mood to hash out the details all over again.
    So I sit. I stare at the white plate in front of me. I lie, a lot. My eyes are puffy because I worked late and was up finishing a paper. Pale because I’ve been indoors a lot. Not eating because I’m not hungry. Okay, that one’s not a lie. But I wanted her to quit worrying about me. Eventually I’ll be fine. Until then, I can fake it, fake being happy. Can’t I?
    I don’t show up for lunch. Work is my excuse. It’s a small lie; I’m not on the schedule, but I go in as soon as someone calls