When Rivals Fall (Bayshore Rivals 1)

I finish showering, shaving my legs, and washing my hair, before stepping out of the shower. I freeze when I look down on the bench where I deposited all of my stuff. Gone. My clothes are gone. My towel is gone. That asshole took everything.

I’m standing completely naked and alone in the center of the room, staring at the bench waiting for my stuff to reappear. Moments pass, water droplets still dripping down my body. When I am completely certain that this is reality and I’m not just stuck in a bad dream, I start going through the lockers, hoping, and praying that there is something to cover myself with. At least so I can get to my room.

When I get to the twentieth locker I finally find a towel. It’s small, old, and smells horrendous, but it’s better than nothing. I don’t dry my hair. I just wrap the nasty towel around my body and head back to my room. The scratchy thing is so small it barely covers all my lady parts.

By some kind of freaking miracle no one is in the hallway and I make it to my room without incident. I get to my door and halt for a split second. I don’t have my key either, it was in my bag that Banks took, and I don’t remember if I locked the door or not. I turn the knob, saying a silent prayer and thanking the universe when the door opens.

Quickly I rush inside, closing my eyes I lean against the door and sigh loudly.

Thank goodness.

“Lose something?” A deep gravelly voice calls. oh, no, he didn’t! He couldn’t, right?

Wide-eyed I spin around clutching the barely there towel to my chest. I’m pretty sure my ass cheeks are showing but it’s better than my tits or vagina. I can’t believe Banks has the nerve to be here after what he just did. Asshole.

“You.” My bottom lip curls with anger when I see him lounging on my bed, a shit eating grin spread across his face.

“Me?” He huffs out a laugh, “What about me? I’ve been sitting here the whole time waiting for you. It seems you forgot to take your things with you? How is that my fault?” The smile, the fact that he’s sitting there looking handsome, and put together while I’m barely hanging on by a thread enrages me.

“Listen, I can deal with you following me around like lost puppies and even the rumors that I know you and your brothers are spreading about me, but this shit, this little stunt goes too far! You need to stay out of my room and out of the showers.” I’m so angry, my hands are shaking. How dare he? I should have known they would step up their game. That they would do more than just spread rumors and follow me around. This is the last place I have left, my oasis. The only place I can go to get away from them. I can handle a lot of things but this… this invasion of privacy. It’s the last straw.

“You crossed the line, Banks!” I yell, feeling my skin heat at the outburst.

“I…I crossed the line?” Banks is suddenly on his feet, and across the room before I can even blink, stopping only inches away from me. The air between us grows thick, making it hard to breath. With his thick finger pointed right at my chest he continues, “You would know all about crossing the line, wouldn’t you? About making up lies, and ruining someone’s future, their life?” I hadn’t ruined Sullivan’s life, had I?

“Looks like you’re all living a great life, so it couldn’t have been that bad…”

“Wasn’t that bad, huh?” he mutters to himself in disbelief, “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to our family? How devastated Sullivan was that he was kicked from the team. People…” He doesn’t finish what he says and I’m not sure I want him to. I don’t need to hear anything else. I know what I did was wrong, hell, I knew it was wrong before I did it.

When he looks up at me his features are menacing, and I know I should probably be scared right now, but I’m not. Him being this close to me and me being so exposed has my body vibrating with foreign excitement. His heady scent invades my nostrils and all I can think of is him. I forget his anger, forget my guilt, and shame. Everything falls away, leaving just us.

Releasing my hold on the towel I let my arms fall to the sides of my body. Cool air washes over my bare skin, and my nipples harden to tight peaks.

I don’t know who is more shocked by what I just did, me or him? I watch his eyes soften and darken at the same time. His pupils dilate as his gaze drops between us, his gaze wanders over my naked form. I watch his chest rise and fall at a faster pace than normal, matching my own erratic breathing.