Veils of Rivalry Chapter 52

Cole's POV

Blaise is at the party.

There are photos already on social media. He’s in the background in a few, drinking a beer, and one of them has him talking to Mia. She’s close, sitting beside him on the sofa, her thigh pressed to his.

At least he’s keeping his hands off her.

I swipe to the next photo, and my blood runs cold when I see Jackson leaning over the back of the sofa, saying something to Blaise. He’s not looking at him, though, his eyes on the beer bottle in his hand as he peels the label.

The next swipe, Samson and Keith are taking a selfie with Allie, and Blaise is no longer on the sofa, and there’s no sign of Jackson.

He’s with my fucking friends, our ex-girlfriends, and Jackson, and I’ve not had a single message from him. My nerves have been acting up all night. A bad batch of butterflies in my gut when I think of all the ways he might be fucking around. He’s probably drunk and forgetting I exist.

I should trust him, but why? He fucked Mia only a few days ago, went to Jackson’s place, and then got chased by me without knowing it was me. And then earlier, we…

Every insecurity I have is valid.

I grind my teeth together as I cut off my phone screen and toss it aside, anxiety bubbling in my chest, heart pounding. Maybe I should go. Maybe I should get dressed and go lay claim on him, once and for all.

The shrill of my phone has me grabbing it and bringing it to my ear without looking. “Hello?”

“Son,” my dad says, hiccupping. “Don’t hang up on me again.”

With a sigh, I pinch the bridge of my nose, dropping my head back on the couch. “What do you want? Calling to threaten me again? Seeing if no one is home so you can wreck the place again? Oh, wait, you want to scare my mom into leaving town and kidnap me?”

He sniggers, tsking. “You know me so well.”

I roll my eyes and shake my head. There’s silence, and my heart races at the possibility of him crashing into my life and making it hell.

“She’s mine,” he says, snarling the two possessive words.

“Who?”

“Rachel,” he replies, hiccupping again. “He has no claim on her, she belongs to me. I married her first. I loved her first. She’s been mine since we were fifteen years old.”

“You beat her and abused your title as a parent,” I say, laughing bitterly. “The only reason you’re not in prison is because of your badge. I hope loneliness feels good and worth all the shit you put us through.”

“You little asshole⁠—”

Hanging up, I let out the heaviest, most audible breath ever. I lean forward, head dropped between my knees, needing this anxiety to fuck off already. Between my dad and Blaise, and Jackson being an asshole, I feel like the world is closing in on me and I don’t know how to stop it.

My phone rings again, but I ignore it, rocking back and forth on the seat. I’m dizzy, and my eyes burn. I stay like this through five missed calls and message pings. The sound of the vibrations nearly drowns out my deep, rushed breaths.

I eventually sit up, just as the next call ends, and I catch the number I still haven’t saved, but I recognize it. Grabbing my phone, I see I have ten missed calls from Mia and multiple messages begging me to call her back.

I swipe away from each notification with a groan. She’s probably drunk and thinking we’re in love – or maybe she wants round two without the third person involved. How the fuck do I get her to leave me the hell alone? Tell her I’m into her ex and that I’d rather fuck him?

Then another message pops up.

It’s about Blaise, it reads. I think Jackson and your friends are up to something.

Quickly getting to my feet, I throw on my hoodie and shove my feet in my sneakers, grabbing my keys on the way out of the front door. I call her back, but of course, the idiot doesn’t pick up.

It starts ringing ten minutes into me driving to the house. “What’s going on?” I skip the introductions and manners. “Where’s Blaise?”

Music blares in the background, then it grows faint. She must be trying to get somewhere to hear me. A door closes. “Cole?”

“What’s wrong?”

“They’re about to play that chasing game again, but something doesn’t feel right. Allie was making out with Jackson in the bathroom, and I walked in. I overheard them ask if the plan was set and if Blaise was taking part. They’re putting him in the runners and they’re the chasers.”

I frown. “I don’t understand.” It doesn’t help that she’s drunk and falling over her words. “Where is Blaise now?”

“I don’t know,” she replies. “Are you coming here? Can you pick me up?”

“I’m coming for Blaise,” I tell her. “I’ll drop you off at the dorm.”

“Can I come to your place? Allie will go there with her professor again.”

I blink a few times, trying to think of a response.

It’s the least I can do. She obviously isn’t comfortable where she is, and I’m not a complete and total asshole. But then again, she’ll be expecting something, especially after what happened between the three of us.

“Go grab Blaise. Tell him I’m coming for you both.”

“Okay,” she says quietly. “I know, by the way. I won’t say anything.”

I pause my breathing, staring at the road as I turn a corner, five minutes from the house. “What do you mean?”

“I love him too.”

She hangs up on me, and my Bluetooth reconnects and music starts playing, filling the silence.

Fuck.

How the hell does she know?

The rest of the drive is a blur, until I reach the house. Parking, I narrow my eyes on all the people standing outside.

Keith walks out the house and closes the front door, locking it, and I go straight to him. “What’s going on?”

He grins and shows me the iPad screen, red and green lights dotted around what looks like the digital blueprints of his house. “I have trackers in all the masks now. Was part of a project I was doing for school, but thought it would be a great idea to use them for this game. Neat, right?”

My eyes flicker around the screen. “The initials are their names?”

“Yeah. Here, there’s your little bro.” He points at a red dot on the screen. It’s moving quickly through the kitchen area and into the dining room. Four green dots are gaining on him.

I spot the initials on one of them. “Allie is playing?”

“Yeah, man. Is that alright? She’s been all over J all night. He said you were good with them.”

I don’t give a fuck about them. I’m not surprised either.

But then I see another two green dots join them, and they follow Blaise.

“J said he wants payback for Blaise taking his spot on the team. You ready to see your baby bro get fucked up?”

I’m shouldering past him before he can finish his shitty question. “Unlock the door.”

“What?”

“Unlock the fucking door!”

Keith laughs. “You’re kidding? You hate the prick as much as we all do. He deserves this.”

I grab his collar and yank him to me, so my forehead slams into his. “Unlock. The fucking. Door.”

“Blaise Rowle stole our friend’s spot on the team because he spiraled. You’re going to stand there and watch him get beaten to a pulp, because you hate him too.”

I grit my teeth and shove him. Backing away, I shake my head at my supposed friend, and turn, looking at the windows and how thick they are. Music pounds from inside the house. Blaise probably can’t hear himself think, never mind the fact the entire opposite team is hunting for him.

Mia grabs my arm. “I found a way in. Follow me.”

She runs in her heels and short dress around the side of the house, and I stay on her tail. No one comes with us. Keith is too busy drinking his beer and cheering when another red dot gets eliminated.

She slides on a flowerbed, and I grab her hips to keep her up. Snatching my wrist, she pulls me along. “Right over here. One of the windows on the first floor is open.”

We reach a drainpipe, and she looks up. I follow her gaze and see the partially cracked open window. “Can you climb up there?”