The Rivals - Dylan Allen Page 0,200

gets to fuck him. She gets to hold his hand and see him naked. All of that should have been mine.

It was a lifetime ago. He’s hers now. And, I’m with Paul. But to know that’s who he ended up with, seeing how right they look together, it hurts.

I turn those crazy thoughts off real quick. He’s nothing to me. A summer fling in the burgeoning youth of my womanhood.

I smile up at them as they join us at the table. I can’t believe these seating arrangements. I put it down to my overactive imagination that I feel sure that it was deliberate.

Joni’s eyes are darting all over the room like she’s taking note of who is watching her and who dares not to.

Remi’s face is tense as he looks everywhere but at me.

He still looks like the quintessential college basketball player. Tall, well-muscled, and lean.

God, his light gray suit fits him like he was sewn into it and I hate that I missed the chance to watch him grow from the very fine eighteen-year-old to the drop-dead gorgeous man who looks like the tall, dark and handsome prince in every single fairy tale I’ve ever read. Right down to the small cleft in his chin.

And yet, inside all of that, wrapped in all of that perfection is the Remi I knew. The one who picked me flowers. The one who drove me out to the country so I could see the stars. The one who kept my journal and read the first stories I ever wrote.

The one who fucking lied to you, Kal.

“Remington, where’s your drink?” Paul shouts

Remi taps his temple and smiles with all of that swagger he drips and says, “I don’t need a single thing to stimulate this mind. I’m high on life, man.”

“Rubbish! Come let’s leave the ladies to it, walk with me,” Paul declares and then lurches out of his chair. He’s a terrible drunk.

Remi eyes him and then seems to decide it’s not worth the trouble to argue with him. He gets up. “Excuse us, ladies.”

I can’t bring myself to look at him.

“Kal, so tell us about your new windfall,” Joni shouts at me across the table, her smile curved vindictively.

I don’t understand how in the world Remi is dating her.

“Windfall?” I ask, attempting to sound bored, but really my stomach is roiling. I don’t want to be here alone with these women. I’ve purged my life of people like them, and I can’t stomach the petty one-upmanship they seem to thrive on.

“I meant, Paul, Kalilah,” she says caustically. “That windfall.”

Her friends at the table gasp. One of them lets out a nervous giggle. Joni waves a hand at them in annoyance. “Oh, settle down. I’m not saying anything you all aren’t thinking. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it? I mean, you learned from the best when it comes to snaring rich men. Just congratulating you on getting a good one.”

She winks. And I wish I could wipe that smug smile off her face with my hand.

She saw the way Remi looked at me. I wish I could tell her not to worry. That need in his eyes, doesn’t mean anything. Because when it mattered, he still chose her over me.

I’ve made peace with it. I know men like him only dally with girls who aren’t just like them.

Even Paul, to an extent has made it clear that I should feel lucky that he chose me.

I’d already earned my spot at the magazine before I met him. That hasn’t stopped people from insinuating that I slept my way into that position. I hear it from his family’s friends in the snide comments and sometimes even from Paul.

But, I’ll be damned if I sit here with people who have had every single thing handed to them, who have no clue what it means to struggle and dignify their shit with a response. I don’t even acknowledge that I heard her question. I finish my drink and stand.

“It was nice to see you all. Tell Paul I went to our room.” Then I look directly at Joni.

Sure, she’s beautiful, in an obvious kind of way. But, I don’t understand how Remi could be with her.

“Yes. Are you going to say something or just stare?”

I shake my head in disgust.

“You are living proof, there’s absolutely no cure for cunts.”

She touches her cheek like I slapped it. God, how I wish I had.

I turn my back on her and walk away.

Chapter 18

CHANGES

REMI

“You were