The Rivals - Dylan Allen Page 0,356

him or anyone to see them.

“Why are you reading my texts?”

“Because you keep secrets and you’re not allowed to have secrets from me. Remember?” He spears me with an annoyed glare.

“No, I don’t remember.” I grumble and open my phone’s security settings. I change my password; the same one I’ve had for the last ten years.

“Are you changing your passcode?” he asks in surprise.

“How’d you guess?”

He laughs. “Stone, come on. You read my texts all the time.”

“I used to. You were a minor and I paid for your phone.”

“You were two years older than me and being young doesn’t mean I didn’t want my fucking privacy, man."

I roll my eyes.

“People in hell want ice water. I stopped checking your messages when you started paying the bill. And yes, I dumped her because she got a cat,” I answer his original question. It’s not the whole truth but it’s a pretext for it.

“Jesus, Stone. She got a cat to keep her company while you were gone. God, you’re an evil fucker, man. No heart at all.” He shakes his head, his face pinched in mock disappointment.

I quirk my lips in a smirk and roll my eyes, dismissing his teasing.

“We didn’t want the same things. And I’m allergic to cats. She knew that. Felt like a natural end to me. How was I to know she’d be upset?”

Beau drags his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose to reveal his red -rimmed, glassy-eyed glare of disbelief.

“You know, I promised Cadence I would get through this week without lecturing you about your lifestyle choices. She said you’d be feeling enough pressure as it was with Hayes getting married and you being next in line.”

I roll my eyes upward in annoyance. “I feel zero pressure to do anything. Any choice I make is one I want to. But tell Cadence thanks for trying to use her dark powers for good. That’s a first.”

Normally, I’m a lot less civil about the vise grip his girlfriend has on his balls. She’s overbearing and in general, bad for him.

Last Christmas she announced that she’d had a dream about starting a stingless bee apiary in Mexico. She and Beau bought some land in a town called Playa Encanto and went search of a simpler way of life,

As far as I can tell, the year he’s spent in Mexico with Cadence has involved developing an intimate knowledge of hallucinogenic plants and herbs having sex on public beaches and playing his guitar while she dances in circles around a small fire.

At least that’s what all the videos he posts on IG make it seem like.

He says they’re happy, fulfilled and relaxed.

I think she’s just spending his money, pulling his chain, and using him to live a life of leisure.

But there’s never been any getting through to Beau when it comes to her. And if I know anything it’s that my objections only make him more determined to prove me wrong.

“Don’t you worry that you’re going to end up alone?” Beau’s voice is contemplative.

“It’s not the worst thing I can imagine, I think it would be worse to be with someone who made me miserable,” I answer and give him a pointed look.

He’s been with Cadence since he was seventeen and I’ve never been convinced that it’s love that binds him to her. He doesn’t want to be alone. Being raised by Eliza scarred us all equally, but differently. He’s afraid of being alone. I’ve always been afraid of committing to the wrong person.

“What if you’ve already met Ms. Right, but sabotaged the relationship before you had a chance to find out?” he presses me.

I shake my head. “I’ve never been indecisive. I know what I want. It’s not fair to keep dragging something out because you hope the person will change. Like you’ve been doing for the last 8 years of your life?”

He groans and drops his head into his hands. “But Stone…what if the pussy is so good, so deep, that you know you’ll never have anything that good again and you’re kind of addicted to it.” Beau asks in a rush of pained words.

I gawk at him.

“Beau, you can get good pussy anywhere.”

He shakes his head in emphatic disagreement. “No, not like hers.”

I groan and run a hand over my face. “Dude, how do you know? Wasn’t she your first?”

“Yeah…but it’s so good. I know nothing could feel like her. But, fuck, I don’t think I even like her anymore.”

“And you can still get it up?” I look