Unwritten Rules (Rules 1)

“You have your reasons. I’m supposed to believe that my enemy wants to help because he has his ‘reasons’?” He used his fingers to create air quotes. “You’re going to have to do better than that, Adams.”

The West Side leader didn’t answer.

“Oh for fuck’s sake. Isn’t it obvious?” Blake hissed.

Heads turned in his direction.

“They have a thing, you idiots.” He rolled his eyes. “They’ve been doing…” He pauses. “…whatever the hell it is they’ve been doing for a while now.”

Kendrick’s lips parted as his hand turned back into a position it knew so well: a fist.

“You slept with my cousin?” he raged, stepping dangerously close to Haze.

“No, of course not. We’re… friends.”

Blake scoffed. “Friends, my ass.”

Haze sighed. “That’s not what I came here to talk to you about. Do you want to bring her back home or not?”

“Don’t you dare pretend like you care about anyone but yourself,” Kendrick said, bitter. “How do I know you’re not the one who took her in the first place?”

“I’m not. Would I be here right now offering to help if I was behind her kidnapping?”

Kendrick growled. “Your reputation says yes.”

“You don’t have to believe me. But trust me, you’re going to want to hear what I have to say.”

Kendrick didn’t answer. Nor did he try and break Haze’s nose, which was a start.

“I found this at the Downside.”

Haze slid his hand into his pocket and dropped something on the kitchen table. It only took a second for the boys to recognize the crappy cell phone Winter constantly complained about. The screen was cracked and shattered in multiple spots, but, thanks to some unknown miracle, it still worked.

“Someone’s been texting her with an unknown number.”

The boys frowned and shook their heads in disbelief. He was lying. He had to be. Winter was an open book. She would’ve told them about it, right?

Right?

“It started days ago.” Haze pointed to the phone.

Kendrick, Alexander, Blake, and William stared at it with uncertainty. A hush descended over them.

“Go ahead, take a look.”

Kendrick was the first one to give in to the curiosity. Quickly, text messages flew past his eyes. When he read the word “scars,” he knew instantly. He looked up at Haze. His nemesis had just saved him an considerable amount of time. Not to mention, he was the only one with a connection to the North Side. The corner of Haze’s mouth lifted into a faint smile. They needed him, whether they liked it or not.

He arched an eyebrow. “Do you want my help now?”

EMPTINESS HAD NEVER SAT WELL WITH Haze Adams. He always thought that having someone tell you they hate you was better than having that someone not talk to you at all. That’s what his parents had raised him to think anyway.

As a kid, he would’ve chosen hearing his mother tell him that he did something wrong over being ignored by her for weeks any day. It’d started when he was fourteen years old. And

it’d stuck with him ever since.

He’d known a lot of emptiness in his life.

But the emptiness that Winter had left was probably the worst.