Page 46 of Rivals
I grab my clutch and head through our house. I’m shocked when I see Rathe standing on the doorstep, looking better than I even remember. His black and charcoal gray suit has my heart rate speeding up. “What?”
“I figured you ladies could use a ride.” I open my mouth to protest but Rathe holds up his hand to stop me. “Before you start to protest, Evanna already agreed to it so just go with it.” My mouth closes and I scan the room for Evanna. I hadn’t even realized she was missing until now. That happens when Rathe is around, the rest of the world just falls away. “She’s already in the car. I’m just waiting on you.” I nod and cross the room and step out of the door. As I turn to shut the front door behind me, Rathe turns as well reaching for the door handle. His lips are a breath away and I have to fight every urge in me to pull him to me and claim his mouth like he’s done to mine so many times before. I can smell his cologne and aftershave as it clings to his skin. “You look stunning,” he whispers between us.
I allow myself to bask in his compliment for a moment before I yank the door shut and move away from him and towards the limo. I hear his footsteps behind me. When I reach the car, he’s already on my heels, reaching around and pulling the door open. I slide in beside Evanna who avoids my eye contact. The limo ride is quiet and tense but at least we aren’t delayed by traffic.
As soon as we make it inside Rathe disappears. I hate to admit it, but I’ve been scanning the room for him ever since. I’ve mingled with just about everyone possible. I’m exhausted by the time we are seated and served drinks while the speeches begin. Rylee comes to the podium and I notice Colton and Rathe along with a couple of other guys standing behind her, off to the side. My curiosity rises.
“Thank you all for being here tonight. I know it’s uncommon for us to have multiple events like this in the same year, but this year has been outstanding for Corporate Cares. As most of you know we started a program for orphaned boys years ago and it has been growing bit by bit. This year someone very special asked, what about orphaned girls? Her question was one we had once asked ourselves but had been pushed to the back burner due to lack of funding. However, that changed this year. Thanks to Rathe McCall. He heard her question and made it a priority to see we got the funding we needed. Rathe McCall and my husband, Colton Donavan, spent every last second pulling in extra sponsors to help raise money for this very cause. For every race they placed the top three in, thousands of dollars were donated to Corporate Cares to fund the orphaned girls' project. I’m so happy to be able to stand here tonight and tell you that we can finally make this plan a reality. Tonight, we get to celebrate the new ways we will get to help children who need it. Now, Rathe McCall would like to say a few words.” Rylee steps away from the podium. As she passes Rathe, she gives him a quick hug, her smile large. If I thought my heart was racing on the porch about an hour ago...that was nothing. My heart has to be missing from my chest altogether now. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
Rathe gives the crowd his panty dropper smile. “Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us. So, I hate to admit this but up until a few months ago I really didn’t pay attention to what Corporate Cares was doing. I didn’t think about orphaned children or their living situations. Then I met someone this year. Someone who knew all too well about the obstacles that children in the system face. She knew because she had been one herself. After discovering this, I made it my mission this race season to help raise enough money to get this project up and running. I’m so happy that I could help. I’m so happy that I could learn and see how this amazing woman’s life had been before I met her. I’m sure the things I’ve learned about how the system works doesn’t come close to what she’s experienced but it’s a start. This woman has become a force to be reckoned with. She came into my life and saved me from the pits of hell that consumed my soul. She taught me how to find myself in the fire. I admire her determination, sass, strength and courage. The fact that she never gives up and yet is always there for others. Somewhere along the way I didn’t just fall for her. I fell in love with her. Right now, she’s probably dismissing that idea but once she has time to think about it, she’ll know it’s true.” Rathe’s eyes find mine in the crowd and his chocolate brown pools lock onto mine. “I did this for and because of you. Thank you for making me a better person without even realizing you were doing it. Please, forgive me for the mistakes I made and give us a real chance, the way that Colton, the handful of sponsors, Corporate Cares and myself were able to give to some orphaned girls, stuck in the system feeling as if they don’t belong anywhere.”
Rathe steps away from the podium and I rise to my feet. I’m not thinking I’m just moving. Evanna had taken my hand at some point during his speech. I watch as it falls to her side. Tears sting my eyes as I turn and make my way out of the room. I reach the lobby and the room begins to spin. I gasp for air, but my chest feels so tight and heavy. “Sutton.” I hear my name, but it’s so muffled. I feel his hands on my shoulders and once he’s standing in front of me, I can make out his face through my blurry vision. “Shit, I think you’re having a panic attack.” He guides me to a nearby chair. “I’ll be right back.” He disappears and returns a few minutes later with water. I take a small sip. My world slowly comes back into focus. “Are you doing okay?”
I nod my head. “What was that in there?”
Rathe shrugs and looks away. “It’s what I’ve been working on all season to try and get you to see how I feel.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.
He laughs. “When was I supposed to tell you Sutton? Neither of us have the best communication skills.”
I sigh. “Did you mean it?”
Rathe gets down to my level, gently he takes my face between his hands and I feel like I’m coming home once again. Why does it always feel like that with him? “Every single word. You turned my world upside down the day you came racing into it. I was certain you were meant to be my rival, but I think it’s so much more than that. You’re meant to be the love of my life. I see that now. I know I hurt you. I know you’re scared but I promise to protect you at all costs. You belong with me. You’re mine Sutton.”
Tears slip from my eyes as my heart stitches itself together. I’ve never belonged with anyone. I was always just passed from one person to another. When I met Evanna we had kindred spirits and we were able to rely on each other but somehow, she was still able to see the beauty in the world. I had lost that ability until Rathe was thrown into my life and gave me hope and made me see color in my black and white world. I think all this time I was looking for a place to call home. I never considered that it might be a person. A single person who finds your broken and fixes it without knowing. Rathe and I haven’t had that much time together but somehow, he’s pieced me together in ways I didn’t know were possible. He scares the hell out of me, but I want him in every possible way. I lean forward and lightly place my lips to his. My heart calms some more because it knows it’s exactly where it’s meant to be...finally. “I’m yours Rathe.” Those three words are the hardest ones I’ve ever said but also the most honest. He smiles before leaning in to claim my mouth once more.
Epilogue
Rathe
6 months later
I stand at the kitchen counter waiting for the coffee to brew with the newspaper in my hand. The picture on the front page is an image I want to memorize into my mind forever. I can’t take my eyes off her smile. As I lay the newspaper down, I look out into the backyard through the glass doors at the back of my house. The sunlight dances off the pool. Yesterday the first house for orphaned girls officially opened. Six girls have been placed in a stable environment where they get to have a family aspect with the counselors and workers from Corporate Cares. They don't have to worry about being moved around from one foster home to the next. The picture on the front page of that paper captures some of the girls along with Rylee and Sutton. Sutton looks so happy, that it makes me feel on top of the world that I was able to help make that possible.
Over the past six months, Sutton and I have grown so much both as individuals as well as a couple. We still have our days where she slips into her head and finds it hard to trust me, even though she has no reason not to. It’s her past that makes her feel that way and I understand. We make it through those days together. In the off season from racing we worked a lot with Corporate Cares and other various charity programs to help the community. I have to say this is the best I’ve felt in years.
Somehow, both Sutton and I, were able to keep our positions on Revv-It Racing. I had been prepared to step down and move to another team or retire, if necessary. I just knew that I couldn’t not have Sutton in my life anymore. Luckily, it didn’t come down to that. As long as we can keep our personal life off the track, they will allow us to be a couple. I tried to act like I wasn’t shocked, but I really was.
I don’t know where we’ll be in a year from now, but I do know that as long as I have Sutton by my side, I’ll be happy. She calms the storm of anxiety in my soul and I hope I bring her light to the darkness in hers. We’ve been a lot of things to one another since meeting, but I know one thing for sure...she’ll always be my rival when we meet on the track and the love of my life everywhere.