Unwritten Rules (Rules 1)

“I know that’s what everyone said, but it seemed like a lot more than that. Some people said they heard a gunshot.”

“Cops these days.” I pray that she won’t ask any more questions.

“Yeah.” She shrugs. “I’m just saying to be careful. Haze Adams is not one to do romance and—”

I cut her off. “Wait a minute. You were gone? With who?”

“With… with a friend.”

“Oh, come on. Who’s the boy?”

“There’s no boy. Don’t try to change the subject. What were we talking about?”

“You were lecturing me about Haze.”

“Right. All Haze wants is fun. Like what he does with Bianca. He keeps sleeping with her even though the poor girl’s head over heels in love with him. Just don’t let him fool you, too.”

“Believe it or not, I’m actually not a fan of heartless douchebags. I’m one of the girls who don’t enjoy when a man doesn’t give a crap about them. Yes, we do exist.”

“Says the girl who literally just let him take her home.”

I can’t hold it in anymore.

“Okay. You know what? I did not sleep at his place willingly. Something happened to me, and I was in trouble. Haze helped and offered me a place to stay.”

She seems a bit taken aback by my sudden change of tone and doesn’t reply for a while, mentally debating on something.

“Some street gang trouble?”

My face drops.

“You know?”

She nods faintly. “I’ve known for a while now. I’m not blind. Neither is my mom. She knows Kendrick is involved in something she can’t control. I hear your fights at night. Kendrick needs to stop taking the world for idiots. Not to mention Blake’s behavior was so weird back when we were dating. Eventually, I put the pieces together.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because it’s better to pretend not to know certain things, Winter. I don’t want to get involved in his mess, and I’ve managed to do that successfully until…”

I finish her sentence. “Until me.”

“Well, don’t get me wrong, but you literally threw yourself into the fire. What were you thinking following my brother when he goes out?”

“Seriously? You heard that, too?”

“You guys are pretty loud when you argue

at night.” She puts her hands up in surrender.

We don’t speak for a couple of minutes. We haven’t moved one bit, still stuck in traffic. I look out the window and spot a woman dancing like no one’s watching in her car. Singing along to the radio, she doesn’t have a care in the world. I can’t suppress a smile.

“Look at her.” I rest my chin in the palm of my hand.

“Can’t. I’m driving.” She keeps her eyes fixed to the road.

“You’re sitting in an unmoving car, actually.”

She exhales. “What?”