Rivals 2 /Rafe Cameron

14

Rafe

I beamed in the direction of the peaceful girl laying in our bed. Her mouth hung open slightly and dribble spilt down her chin, but nevertheless i admired her and her beauty. It was refreshing that we'd shared the bed for the first time in over a year, and i planned on keeping it that way for as far as my head could see into the future. Last night, I was the most relaxed I'd been in such a long time. We lay next to each other talking for hours before we both fell asleep. I'd missed her warmth under the blanket and her little snort when she laughed, and I knew I was so lucky the minute she fell asleep in my arms.

I placed a kiss on her head, my heart clenching at the small mutters and hums sounding from her. I looked once more in the mirror, doing up the bottom button of my Ralph Lauren polo, and spraying cologne onto my neck. I'd already texted Blair about where i was going, it was a short text mentioning i was at the club with Kelce and Topper and that I'd be back around midday, considering the time was 9am. I didn't forget to add a 'love you' at the end, since i couldn't think of the girl without being filled with devotion, so it was hard to forget to type it.

After a 15 minute car journey, us 3 boys were one beer down and hitting the ball with as much force and technique as we could. Throughout the past year, i'd spent a lot of time at the club. I would drink almost every day, no matter if it was morning or night, and i would play golf with my friends as one of my many forms of distraction. Of course, there were the other aberrations, whether it the drugs or the girls, i always found a way to get the past out of my head. Even if i was just recreating it.

"Good shot brother." Topper praised as Kelce whacked the ball from the sand. We stood in the sun, all of us with a cap on our heads. I wore the black one i was gifted by Blair's father for my 17th, it was my favourite hat, even if it was a bit ruined by the amount of times it had ended up on the floor from each scrap I'd initiate.

I'd been checking my watch every now and again, careful to be back home when i promised Blair i would be. I was trying to work on the list of things i did wrong the last time round, and although i was doing it for a good cause, I couldn't help but feel strained at how much it took to be and act like a completely different person. And after all of that, it had only been a month of change and it was safe to say i was already struggling. My head never turned, and I knew it would stay like that, but it was just the temptations that I battled with.

"What are we doing tonight then?" Kelce asked as we both watched Topper take his shot, "I'm up for a quiet one at Barry's." He added.

"Cant tonight, me and Blair will probably be doing something." I said, stepping up to my ball which a few seconds ago i'd strategically placed on the sand.
We were on a hill, water beneath us and land on the other side of the stream, where we were aiming the balls to land.

"Oh, he'll be doing something alright." Kelce laughed, making thrusts in the air and grabbing onto Toppers shoulder for support, and the 2 boys found it amusing until my face said otherwise. Last year I might have laughed, but if I couldn't be different around other people then I couldn't expect myself to be different around her.

"You two gotta start respecting the fact we're back together, y'know. I don't like the way you've been talking about her" i coughed, moving my back foot slightly and smacking the ball with the club, the hardest i'd done since I got here, as the boys behind me made that sun feel 10 times hotter as it beamed down on us. I started sweating at the mention of her name, but not just the mention, the disrespect as they spoke about her.

Topper awkwardly coughed, "we're just joking man. you know we treat Blair like one of us."

"Like one of us?" I scoffed, turning around and glaring Topper in the eye, "she is one of us."