Unspoken Rules (Rules 2)

“You’re mine, okay?” he breathes out, his voice dropping. “I don’t want you to move on. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I know I deserve for you to never want to talk to me again, but please… let me take you home. I’ll tell you everything you want to know if you just give me a chance to explain why I freaked out last night.” He gives me the puppy eyes. “Let me prove to you that I can be the boyfriend you deserve.”

My mind sticks to the word boyfriend.

Haze Adams wants a serious relationship, Winter. And he wants it with you. Just let that sink in.

We’re not okay, and I’m nowhere near close to figuring out all of his secrets, but he’s trying. And he just said he wants a serious relationship. Could it be?

“Fine,” I say, pressing my forehead to the tinted window. Without a word, he gets us back on the highway. I mentally curse myself for giving in so easily. This better be the best goddamn explanation I’ve ever heard in my life.

The front door opens in a shrill creak, and Haze leads the way to the living room. Apparently, he knew the power would be back an hour after he left but didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell me. I guess it is slightly better that he didn’t leave me alone to freeze.

A thick tension surrounds us. We know what’s coming. For the first time, Haze is going to tell me the truth, and I hope for his sake that he’s finally ready to spill the beans.

I don’t say a word and sit on the couch. He tries to buy himself some time by asking me if I want something to drink. I decline all the offers he’s got lined up for me until he has no choice but to come sit down, too.

“How did you even find me?” I ask before we get into the more serious topics.

“Find My Friends,” he says, and I assume he set it all up when he bought my phone. I didn’t even notice that I was sharing my location with him. “I didn’t want to look until I checked to see if you were home. I was afraid of what I’d find.”

“You thought that I left town, didn’t you?”

He nods.

“I won’t. Not if you tell me everything right now.”

He sighs. “I just… I don’t know where to begin. Ask me whatever you want to know, and we’ll just go from there.”

At first, I struggle to choose which unexplained mystery I want him to dive into as there are too many, but then, I make up my mind and decide I’ll start with something easy.

“What’s up with everybody in town calling you Mr. Adams?”

He laughs. I bet he could see that one coming from miles away.

“My family pretty much owns this town,” he starts. “There used to be nothing here. When my father got his inheritance, he saw potential and started investing in the area. At first, he wanted to buy the lots around the lake to build houses that he could rent out. But when a lot more people started showing interest, he decided to build his own snobby town. There almost isn’t a building that my dad doesn’t own here. If it’s not all of it, it’s parts of it. The companies and businesses around town pay him a fortune in rent. One of the only places that has nothing to do with him is Beck’s, the restaurant I took you to. That’s partly why I like it so much.”

I nod as the missing pieces complete the puzzle in my head. This explains the taxi company’s name. The Adamses are like kings in this town.

“Hell, even Vic’s place belongs to my family. He pays rent to my dad every month, can you believe it?” He scoffs in disgust and shakes his head. He clearly doesn’t get along with his father. But why? That’s another question I need to ask.

“Did you grow up in this house?”

“No, this was just a summer house. We came here every year from May to September. My childhood home was like thirty minutes away.”

So, I was right. Colton Gate is his hometown.

“Was thirty minutes away? What happened to it?”

As soon as I ask, I feel his walls go back up. He doesn’t want to talk about it. I reach for his hand and squeeze gently to remind him that I’m only trying to make this work.

He sighs. “My father got it torn down and rebuilt a new house on top of it. Barely a day after we moved out, it was gone.” He clenches his fists. He’s really mad about that. “It’s much nicer here anyway. This was always my favorite place.”

I smile at his remark and push the guilt crawling up my throat back down. He seems to think that this isn’t that bad. What he doesn’t know is this was the easy part.

He hasn’t seen anything yet.

“I want to know about Riley.”

A hush immediately descends over us.