Unspoken Rules (Rules 2)

I’m crying. I don’t know how or when it happened, but I am. If my enormous speech hit him half as hard as it just hit me, we might stand a chance.

I guess, imagining us together in a whole new life without the constant danger made me emotional. He stays silent for a “math class” eternity. He’s conflicted.

Please don’t say no.

Don’t destroy us.

“I’ll… I’ll think about it,” he barely says.

His voice lacks everything: excitement, determination, hope. But the wave of joy that washes my pain away when the words leave his mouth is unexplainable. I jump into his arms, and I cry. His muscular body hovers over mine, making me feel like the safest and most vulnerable girl on the planet all at once. A tear comes rolling down my cheek and crashes on his shirt.

“Why are you crying?” he asks, worried.

“I’m not. My eyes are sweating,” I joke.

“Winter…” He dabs at my tears with his thumb.

“Fine. I’m happy that you’re even considering it,” I admit.

He smiles faintly and pulls me back to him to kiss my forehead. I welcome his touch the way I always do and dare believe that we still have a shot at forever.

It’s not a yes…

But it’s a start.

I wake up to the sound of the birds singing and the sunrays filtering through my bedroom window. Nah, I’m just kidding. I wake up to the sound of Will and Kendrick chasing each other around the house and screaming about Will losing a bet and refusing to shave his head. I gave up trying to understand these two a long time ago.

Stretching, I look to my right and see Haze sleeping soundly next to me. I gently push a piece of his brown hair off his face and hear Maria and Kass chitchatting downstairs. Haze will have to leave the same way he came in: through my window. I hate that I have to wake him up, but Kass and I have a long day ahead of us. My lovely cousin has scheduled a million appointments for tonight. We need to get our hair done, our nails, our makeup. She has a list—an actual list that’s been on the fridge

since last week—of all the steps we have to go through to achieve our princess status.

“Wake up.” I sprinkle Haze’s face with kisses. He groans like something that came out of Planet of the Apes and hides under the pillow. “I have to get breakfast before we leave. Plus, you probably shouldn’t be lying in my bed naked when Kass rushes inside my room in thirty minutes.”

I glance at our clothes scattered all across the floor. I can’t help but grin. Way to be predictable. The couple fight, the guy comes and says sorry, the girl forgives, and they have sex. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: Every single love story summed up in one sentence.

Haze groans again as an answer and keeps ignoring me.

“How about this? If you get up right now, you won’t have to wear a tie at prom.”

“Not good enough.” He shrugs. “If I get up, I get to do whatever I want with you after prom.” He gets his head out from under my pillow and lets our eyes mix. His stupid sexy smirk gets me every time.

“You wish.”

“All right. Good night, then.” He pulls the covers on top of his head. If he falls asleep again, there’s no way I’ll get him out of my room in time.

“Fine, fine, you win,” I laugh.

“Wise choice.” He grins and transports himself out of bed. He wanders around the room naked and, because he notices my eyes on him, makes sure to take his sweet time picking up his clothes off the ground. Nothing new, here. Just Haze being Haze.

“Meet me at school at four. Don’t forget.” I wrap the covers around my bare body, get up, and kiss him.

“I would never. Especially after the deal we just made.” He wiggles his eyebrows, and our lips collide for a brief moment. He opens the window and turns around. He’s stalling on purpose. He wants to stress me out.

“Go, you jerk!” I hit his arm playfully.

“I love you, Kingston.” He looks at me one last time.

“I love you, Adams.” I use his last-name habit against him.