Unspoken Rules (Rules 2)

We have to distance ourselves from the shop to get somewhat decent privacy. We don’t need them gawking at us during such a painful moment. I walk by his side, the wind blessing me with a draft of his cologne and causing me to get weak in the knees.

This freaking guy part two.

We come to a stop in an empty parking lot. Now that we’re finally alone, without everybody’s eyes on us, without the whole world’s disapproving comments stinging in my head, I know it’ll take all the willpower I have not to fall back into his arms.

He speaks after a few seconds of us staring at each other. “You blocked my number.”

“Five minutes. Is that really what you want to talk about?”

He slides his hands into his jeans pockets and sighs.

“I’m an idiot,” he says.

“Don’t say that.”

“No, I am. I’m more than an idiot, actually. I’m a blind idiot.”

He gets a faint laugh out of me.

“I’m an idiot because I di

dn’t believe the only person on earth who believes in me.”

Why do I feel like he’s about to drop a bomb on me?

“You were right.”

My pulse quickens. “What?”

“Jake’s not mine.”

I can’t believe the words coming out of his mouth.

“I confronted Riley. I asked her for a paternity test. She freaked out, confessed to everything. She cheated on me when we were dating. I don’t have a kid. I never did.”

I was right.

I was right.

I tried to tell him, and he dismissed me like I was crazy.

This could technically change everything. Not wanting to be the stepmother is the main and most important reason why Haze and I couldn’t work. But I’ve had nothing but time to think during the past sleepless nights. The father thing was a problem, yes, but there’s also everything else.

There’s the fact that I feel betrayed. I feel like I gave him my trust in a heartbeat, and he couldn’t give me his when it mattered the most. The fact that even when he promised to tell me everything, he couldn’t. He still didn’t want to open up about the mysterious kid’s room in his house.

“That’s great. I’m happy you got the truth.” I ignore the tightening of my heart. I can literally see the hope draining out of his blue eyes.

“It doesn’t change anything, does it?” he asks, but it comes out as a statement.

“What did you expect, Haze? That I’d just fall back into your arms and pick up where things left off? You hurt me. I’m glad you got the truth, but it doesn’t change the fact that it took you this long to believe me.”

“Winter, please…” He tries to grab my hand, but I don’t let him.

“Sometimes, I think about how much I love you and it scares me. Because then I realize that you’re never really all in. You say you feel the same, but somehow you’re always two steps away from backing out. One step forward can mean five steps back any day with you, and I don’t know if I can take it.

“Then there’s also the fact that I barely know anything about you. I’ve never seen or heard anything about your parents until the lake house. It’s like they don’t exist. What’s the deal with them? You promised to tell me about the room I found back at your place but never did. You’re still so afraid of opening up to me while I’m over here telling you everything you want to know without blinking. That’s not fair, Haze. It’s okay to have issues. We all do, but I guess… when you didn’t give me your trust, you lost mine.”

He doesn’t reply right away, probably wondering what part of my outburst to focus on first. That’s a lot to take in.