Unspoken Rules (Rules 2)

Then, I spot her on the sidewalk and I know…

This is Riley.

With my luck, the tanned dark-haired beauty that looks like she escaped from a Victoria’s Secret show just has to be Haze’s ex.

Her perfectly straight black hair falls down her back, and she’s wearing heels that I could never even dream of walking in without breaking both my legs. She doesn’t need the heels. She must be around five foot eight.

For a second, I dare hold on to the hope that the real regular-looking Riley is simply hidden by the giant model, but I’m quickly proved wrong when she pulls on the door and walks into the coffee shop.

I see her stop in front of Haze’s table, and my suspicions confirm themselves. She seems to expect him to get up and give her a hug of some sort, but he doesn’t move a muscle.

When she realizes that he’s not going to stand up, she awkwardly slides into the seat in front of him. They start talking and that’s when I realize that Haze’s plan has one big flaw: I can’t hear them. He should’ve given me a microphone.

I’m kidding.

No, I’m not.

After five minutes of what seems to be an incredibly serious conversation, Haze looks down and covers his face with his hands. He’s upset.

What did she tell him? It can’t be that he has a kid. Haze was prepared for the news. In some ways, he expected it. No, he’s way too upset. This is something else.

He just realized that he still loves her and now he’s wondering how he’s going to dump me.

Stop it, Winter.

She stops talking, apparently as sad as him, and places her hand on top of his. I really wish that he’d move away, but he doesn’t. All I can do is sit there and stalk—I mean, watch—while wondering what just happened.

The conversation seems to drift to lighter topics, and eventually, she gets a small smile out of him. He even laughs at some point. I can’t stand that I feel bothered by such stupid things.

They finish their coffees and both pay for themselves. Riley gets up and initiates a hug.

He hugs her back.

When he gets his phone out of his pocket and starts typing, I know what he’s about to do. Seconds later, I receive a text.

Haze: Come on over.

He’s going to introduce us.

I get up and walk out of the shop with a sharp fear in my chest. I cross the street and push the door leading to my own personal nightmare open. Haze’s face lights up when he sees me. He greets me by pulling me into his arms.

I don’t dare look up at her to see her reaction.

Does she hate me? I would hate me.

“Winter, thi

s is Riley,” he says and takes my hand.

“Hi,” I say and glance at her.

She smiles. But she looks uncomfortable, disappointed. She even looks a bit sad. I almost feel bad for the girl. At least she doesn’t look like she hates me. That’s a start.

“Riley, this is Winter, my girlfriend,” Haze says just in case the giant hug he gave me wasn’t clear enough.

“Hi,” she almost whispers. It gets awkward a lot faster than I expected, and I’m thankful to hear her phone ring.

She peeks at the screen.