Unbroken Rules (Rules 3)

Kass, Alex, and Will.

All standing in my living room.

“Missed us?”

17

Unexpected

“Guys? W-What are you doing here?” I ask, overwhelmed with emotions. I haven’t seen them in so long. Especially Kass and Alex, whom I haven’t seen in person since I left Maria’s house at the beginning of the summer. Kass and I have been texting here and there, but she’s been busy with law school. As for Alex, I only kept in touch with him through Kendrick.

“I heard from a little birdie that my girl’s going through a rough

time.” Kass opens her arms for me, and I walk right into her embrace, already a mess.

“I can’t believe you’re all here. How did you…” I’m at a loss for words.

“It was her idea.” Kendrick nudges Allie.

“No way? You set this all up?”

“Well, you kept on saying how much you missed your family, and I thought it was about time I met my boyfriend’s friends. I reached out a few weeks ago, and they were all free around the same time, so I convinced them to come and, well, here we are.”

“Al, you’re insane.” I hug her, and she laughs.

Will’s eyes widen. “Wait. Did she just say boyfriend?” His gaze sways between Allie and Kendrick. “As in you two?”

Kendrick nods. “You missed a lot, man.”

Words fail to describe how happy I feel when Kendrick and Will bro hug the way they used to.

I’m so glad they made peace.

Last I heard, they hadn’t talked all summer. I have no idea what happened for them to reunite but…

Wait, Kass is here.

Isn’t that weird for them? Unless they’re together again and Kendrick finally got over himself? They sure as hell don’t seem together standing as far away from each other as humanly possible.

“So… You just happened to invite them exactly when I’m having a mental breakdown?” I ask.

“Oh Lord, what’s the idiot done this time?” Will pulls me into a hug. Alex is next in line.

“Are you familiar with this?” Allie chuckles. “I can barely keep up with those two.”

“Familiar?” Alex scoffs.

“Please, we’ve seen this a million times,” Will laughs. “Here’s how it goes: Haze does something stupid, Winter leaves his ass, he realizes what he’s done, tries to win her back, and she makes it hard on him until she eventually gives in and comes crawling back into his arms.”

“Gee, thanks, guys.” I roll my eyes, and they laugh.

“Let’s just say we know better than to bet against Haze and Winter by now.” Kass loops our arms together and rests her head on my shoulder. I missed her. I missed all of them.

Will spots my untouched Chinese food. “Hey, whose food is that?”

“Winter’s,” Allie says.

“Are you going to eat that?” he asks, but before I can reply, the box is in his hands and his mouth is full.