Unbroken Rules (Rules 3)

“Who invited him to visit venues anyway?” I whine.

Kendrick scoffs. “You did, dumbass.”

Crap, he’s right.

“Stop your bickering,” Judy says. After they’ve finished up with the wedding organizer, she and my father march down to us. “Honey, do you want to tell them, or should I?”

My dad smiles. “You can have the honor.”

“This is the one,” she squeals.

“What? I’m so happy for you guys.” I pull her into a tight hug. Judy is an angel sent from above. She showed up at the worst possible time in my father’s life and completely turned it around. Who would’ve thought the nurse my father’s insurance sent would turn out to be his soul mate?

I was certain things like that only happened in movies, but spending so much time together led them to a very real relationship. And, well, here we are, less than a year later, visiting venues for their wedding. He explained that almost dying put his priorities in perspective, and he didn’t want to waste any more precious time. Yes, their relationship evolved quickly, but these two are the couple that could actually defeat the odds and stay together in the long run.

I vividly remember the relief I felt when my father told us his insurance company had called to rectify their mistake; they said he would have access to at-home care after all. I couldn’t believe that they’d just made a mistake on something so important, but when asked about it, my father said, “Good things do happen in life, and there isn’t always a catch.”

“Winter, is your boyfriend still coming?” Judy asks.

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Is that why you were giggling on the phone with him all night?” my dad teases. Oh, yeah, Judy taught my father sarcasm. I’m not sure I’m a fan. Still working on it.

“Seal the deal yet?” Kendrick wiggles his eyebrows.

“Learn to use your brain yet?” I retort.

“Answers, please,” Judy insists.

“Yes. Matt will be there,” I give in, ignoring Kendrick’s smooching sounds and his pretending to make out with air.

“Great.” She smiles.

Kendrick snaps out of it. “You know what? Good idea, let the guy come. I bet you twenty bucks he bores everyone to death with his trip to Africa story and the guests leave early, so we can go get drunk.”

Dismissing him, I pull my phone out of my pocket. I have a shift at the hotel in two hours.

“Hi, my name is Matthew. I have rich parents who donate to charities and travel to Africa to build schools. Want to hear about the time I saved a burning village from a hurricane?” he says in a ridiculous high-pitched voice, and my dad fails to repress a laugh.

My family isn’t exactly a big fan of Matt. They think he’s a brag and an annoying spoilt kid, but I see something in him that a part of me has been desperately looking for: stability. He was very understanding when I told him I wanted to take things slow. Immediately said he would wait and didn’t want me to feel pressured. We aren’t officially dating, but we’ve been talking and getting to know each other for about three months now. We’ve kissed, of course, but we’ve never… crossed the line. I don’t know when I’ll be able to let him—anyone—touch me in that way again.

In the way he used to touch me.

So, what if Matt is a bit of a brag? He does amazing things around the world, treats me with respect, and wants a serious relationship. But most importantly… he isn’t a liar.

I met him at the hotel during a painfully boring shift. He was in town with his family for a business event and came to the front desk to ask for my number. I came this close to blowing him off. It’d been such a long time since, well, him.

I wasn’t sure I even knew how to do this anymore. Not to mention I had no idea if I was ready to get back into the dating game. But I eventually gave in, told myself that it’d almost been a year and it was time to move on. He did.

“You want to talk about boring people to death? How about you and Allie stop telling us how happy and in love you are every second of every day?” I fire back.

Kendrick doesn’t argue, because he knows I’m right. I love them together, but these two are the insufferable couple. The couple that make out in public, call each other disgustingly cute nicknames, and talk about having kids and a home after barely a year of dating.

They’re the couple we used to be.

I hate it, but their perfect relationship put some distance between Allie and me. We’re not as close as we once were. I could barely stand to be around them at the beginning.

After he left.