When Rivals Fall (Bayshore Rivals 1)

“No, no,” Shelby raises her finger towards Banks, “she is here with me, not you, so carry on and find someone else to harass.”

“We’ll see who I feel like harassing later on, for now, you are free to go,” he says dismissively as if he has actual control over me. It takes everything inside me not to lash out, and make a scene. There’s never been a time in my life where I’ve been in control. I thought college would be my chance, but it seems I lucked out, once again.

“Get lost, loverboy,” she narrows her eyes, and snaps back pulling me towards the party. I don’t even look back at him as we walk away, instead I let Shelby drag me through the crowd and straight to the bar. She pours two glasses of champagne and hands me one.

“Just forget about him,” she says, as we clink our glasses together.

“Cheers,” is all I say before downing the entire glass. I’m not much of a drinker but right now getting a little tipsy doesn’t sound so bad. Maybe it’ll help me stop thinking about men I have no business thinking about.

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” she smirks, filling my glass up once again. I don’t chug this one but even just sipping on it, it’s not going to last five minutes.

Shelby snatches a bottle from the bar, and we find a spot in the corner of the room. I’ve been on a yacht a time or two with my parents, but it was never like this. With so many people, and copious amounts of alcohol.

Looking into the crowd, I feel like every one of these people are having the time of their lives, all except me. I stop at one of those smiling faces, recognizing it. She sees me a moment after I spot her. Caroline’s smile widens even more as she waves at me. I give her a half-hearted wave back, before I return my attention back to my drink.

Like a good friend, Shelby keeps refilling my glass every time it gets empty.

“I wonder how far out we are? We’ve been on the water for a while,” Shelby questions. I just shrug. I don’t care how far out we are, or what’s going on around me. All I want is to enjoy the night and continue drinking my champagne in peace. The bubbly liquid makes the ache in my chest go away and replaces it with a fuzzy feeling.

“Speaking of water, I gotta go pee. Wanna come?”

“Nah, I’m good. I’d rather keep drinking.”

“Okay, don’t move, I’ll be right back.” I nod and watch her walk away, disappearing deeper into the yacht.

“Hey,” a male voice calls out, followed by a light touch to my bare shoulder. I turn around a little too fast, losing my balance in the process, and end up landing in the guy’s arms, well more like face planting into his chest, but it’s the same thing I suppose.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I apologize holding onto his forearms to steady myself. “I’m such a clutz.” I blink up at the blond haired, blue eyed hunk holding onto me.

“It’s okay,” he laughs, and I notice the twinkle of amusement in his eyes, “I was going to ask you if you wanted to dance, but this is nice too.”

The mystery boy smells like expensive cologne, and while he isn’t one of the Bishop Brothers, he’s handsome, nonetheless.

A nervous giggle escapes me and for a moment I forget why I didn’t want to come here. This is fun, the drinking, mingling, and the quietness of the ocean around us.

“Dancing would be nice too,” I try to say in a flirty voice, an actual smile pulling at my lips. The words come out slurred and I decide maybe it’s time to lay off the champagne for a while.

“Thanks man, I got her from here,” a familiar voice cuts in, accompanied by an arm being draped around my shoulders. I look sideways and glance up at Sullivan who is pulling me close to his side, away from the nice guy I’m talking to. His touch seems protective, but even I know better than to assume that’s his motive.

He’s up to something and it isn’t good.

Still, I can’t help but notice how delicious looking he is, like a piece of cheesecake just waiting to be devoured. He’s wearing something similar to Banks, his shirt a striking red, which seems fitting since I want to make him bleed out right now.

Mystery boy pulls back, eyes wide, while lifting his hands. “Sorry, I didn’t know she was here with someone.”

“That’s because I’m not,” I grit out, shoving at Sullivan’s side which causes him to drop his arm. His lips turn up into a cruel smile, and to anyone else it would look as if he’s on the verge of laughing but not to me. No, I can see the evil monster lurking underneath, waiting to come out and play.