Don't Fall For Your Rival's Girl

Chapter Four

Olivia’s POV.

The clock on the wall read two in the afternoon, and I had already received nine rejections in a row. Every time a company manager said "no" on the phone, my heart dropped a little lower into my chest. The forty-eight-hour deadline was ticking away fast, and my hands were practically glued to my laptop keyboard. I was so exhausted that my eyes were burning, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't let my dream die like this.

Around noon, Adrian had texted me a short message:

𝙃𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚, 𝙇𝙞𝙫! 𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙥 𝙗𝙮 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪.

Two hours had passed since then. He hadn't called, he hadn't texted, and he certainly hadn't showed up. I sat alone in the quiet office, staring at my phone screen, asking myself why I kept waiting for a guy who always put me last. It was a bitter, painful realization, and it hurt worse than any sponsor rejection.

The heavy office door suddenly clicked open, breaking the silence. Sebastian walked in, carrying a fresh cup of iced coffee in one hand and his laptop bag in the other. He took one look at the pile of rejected paper forms beside my arm and paused.

"How bad is the body count?" he asked softly, setting the iced coffee down right next to my laptop.

I looked up at the cup, then at him, feeling a lump rise in my throat. "Nine nos in three hours," I admitted, my voice cracking slightly. "I've called every local business on our list. Sebastian, we're out of time. The board is going to cancel everything tomorrow morning."

Sebastian didn't panic. He pulled out a chair, sat right next to me, and took a sip of his own drink. "We aren't out of time until the clock hits zero, Bennett. I told you yesterday, my family runs a sports foundation that funds youth programs. They have extra budget saved for community events just like this."

I hesitated, pulling back a little bit. "Sebastian, I can't just take a giant handout from your family. If the committee thinks I only saved the tournament because of your personal connections, nobody will take my work seriously."

"It's not a handout," Sebastian said, his gray eyes looking straight into mine with serious intensity. "I can get you a meeting with the board members tonight, but you have to present the proposal. You have to prove to them that this event is worth their money. I'm just opening a door. You're the one who has to walk through it."

I stared at him, genuinely touched by how much faith he had in me. He wasn't trying to steal the spotlight or show off. He was giving me a real chance to succeed.

"Okay," I whispered, a small spark of hope lighting up inside me. "Let's do it."

We spent the next four hours huddled close together over my laptop screen. Sebastian pushed me to make my budget numbers sharper and more professional, while I corrected his ideas about how to pitch the charity storyline to the board. We argued back and forth, but it was fun.

"If you put that giant picture of a hockey puck on slide three, they're going to think we're running a middle school carnival," I teased, shoving his arm playfully.

Sebastian gasped, holding his hand over his heart in fake hurt. "Excuse me? That picture is art, Bennett! You have zero taste!"

I burst out laughing, throwing a small pink eraser at him, which he caught easily with one hand, flashing that dangerous, crooked smile of his. For a few hours, the crushing weight on my shoulders completely vanished. I forgot about the scary deadline, I forgot about my stress, and I forgot about Adrian. Sebastian treated me like a real partner. He listened to every word I said and respected my mind.

By seven in the evening, the rain outside had turned into a heavy, roaring downpour. The proposal was completely finished and looked absolute perfection. As I packed up my computer, Sebastian looked out the dark window at the stormy sky.

"It's pouring," he said, pulling his car keys out of his pocket. "I'll drive you home."

"Oh, no, it's fine," I said quickly, backing away. "I called a rideshare. It'll be here in five minutes."

I was scared that if Adrian saw me getting out of Sebastian's car, he would lose his mind again. Sebastian looked at me for a long moment, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking, but he didn't argue or push me.

"Alright," he said quietly. "Stay inside until the car gets here."

He walked out toward the exit, but two minutes later, he came back holding his heavy, dark gray Blackthorn hockey team jacket. Without saying a word, he stepped close and wrapped it gently over my shivering shoulders. The fabric was warm and smelled faint like cedar wood and rain.

"You're freezing," he said softly, his hand lingering on the jacket collar near my neck for a second.

I looked up into his dark gray eyes. Our faces were only inches apart. My heart did a sudden, violent flip against my ribs, and the room felt completely silent except for the heavy sound of our breathing. For a terrifying second, I realized that I didn't see him as just a team captain or Adrian's rival anymore.

Before either of us could say anything, a pair of bright car headlights flashed wildly through the glass doors, blinding us. The sharp sound of a car horn blasted through the rain.

It wasn't my rideshare. It was Adrian's red sports car.

The car door slammed shut, and Adrian marched straight up the steps, soaking wet, his face twisted in pure rage. He pushed the double glass doors open and stared directly at Sebastian's jacket wrapped tightly around my body.

"What the hell is this?" Adrian spat, his voice shaking with anger as he pointed a finger at me. "I leave you alone for a few hours, and I find you wearing his clothes?"

"Adrian, calm down!" I said, taking a step forward and holding my hands up. "It's raining freezing ice outside! He was just being nice because I was shivering!"

"Nice?" Adrian laughed wildly, turning his furious glare onto Sebastian. "He isn't being nice, Olivia! He's trying to humiliate me! He's using you to make me look like an i***t!"

Sebastian stepped forward smoothly, placing himself slightly in front of me. His voice was icy cold, but completely calm. "You do a good enough job of making yourself look like an i***t, Cole. She's been working for ten hours straight while you ignored her texts. If you actually took care of your girlfriend, she wouldn't be standing here in the cold."

"Shut your mouth!" Adrian yelled, stepping right into Sebastian's face, his fists clenched tight at his sides.

"Adrian, please, stop it!" I cried out, grabbing Adrian's wet sleeve, tears of total embarrassment springing to my eyes. "Just stop!"

Adrian whipped around to face me, his eyes wide, wild, and hurt. He looked at the heavy Blackthorn jacket on my shoulders, then back at my face. The anger in his expression suddenly turned into something sharp, dark, and terrifyingly cold.

"Tell me the truth right now, Olivia," Adrian whispered, his voice dangerously low as he stared into my eyes. "Because if you have feelings for him... I want to hear it from you right now."