Forgotten Rules (Rules 4)

Embarrassed by my own train of thoughts, I tear my eyes away. If he saw me gawking at his dick, he doesn’t show it, clearing his throat and running a hand through his ruffled blond hair. My phone rings again, and I frown.

Why is Luke calling m—

Oh my God!

The date!

I had a date with Luke!

I check the time on my phone. 9:05. We were supposed to meet at eight. This is all my fault. I’m the one who asked him out. Even if it was for all the wrong reasons. He doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. I zip up my jeans—which is so awkward I could die—and press Answer.

“Hello?” My voice falters.

“Hey, Kass. It’s Luke. I’m so sorry I didn’t call earlier. You must’ve been waiting for me. I know we were supposed to meet at eight.”

A wave of relief rolls over me.

Then comes the guilt.

No, I wasn’t waiting for you. I was actually doing “things” with another guy, but thanks for calling.

Leave a message

after the beep of shame.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not going to be able to make it. I’m sorry. Believe me, I’d much rather be with you, but my aunt needs me.”

“It’s fine. Tonight’s not really good for me either,” I say, overly aware of Will hanging on to my every word. “Can I ask what’s going on? Is Isabella okay?”

“Let’s just say you and I are going to be seeing a whole lot more of each other.”

I peek at Will from the corner of my eye. He’s tense. His jaw, his fists, his shoulders—all tense as a rock. He looks like he could easily tear the tree house to the ground with his bare hands.

“How come?” I ask.

“My aunt’s training me to fill in as store manager. I’ll be helping out for a while.”

“Why? What happened?”

He gives me the missing piece of the equation.

“Jenny just quit.”

I’d like to say that I’m surprised. But all I can think about after hearing the news is “Of course she did.” There is no world in which this could’ve ended well for her. If she hadn’t quit, I would’ve, and she had no way of knowing if I planned on telling someone. She probably didn’t want to risk it and ran away so she could keep fucking her dean without issue.

“Did she say why?”

“Nope. Just said it was time for her to move on.”

Again, of course she did.

“Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you at work.”

“Yeah, see you, Kass. Sorry again.”

He hangs up.