Ground Rules

Chapter Two

Mazey

The lightsaround us should have flickered.

The ground beneath my shoes should have moved.

The oxygen floating inside my lungs should have disappeared.

Something catastrophic should have occurred somewhere in the world because that was what it felt like when he touched me. Catastrophic.

I knew it was inevitable. I couldn’t avoid him forever, especially with his position at this school. Was he the most popular guy on campus? No. But he did have a reputation, one that had several sides to it, and they were all appealing, depending on the type of girl you were. Dangerous, bad boy, damaged, untouchable. Let’s face it, there were girls that found those things enticing. Who didn’t want to be the girl to make Cole Johnson smile? I hadn’t seen his carefree smile since that night so long ago, and even then, it was fake.

“Mazey?” His fingers dug a little harder into my arms, and I hated that it made my stomach flutter. His kissable lips that I had pictured every night before I went to sleep during my senior year—until that night—parted as shock painted itself along his chiseled features.

It was like the Sahara Desert inside my mouth as I stood a mere twelve inches away from him. Beautiful. His hair was the same warm, chestnut brown that it had always been. There was scruff along his face that made him look more like a man and less like the teenage boy I secretly gave my heart to. He was taller, too. I had to tip my head back to meet his green eyes that warmed my flesh.

There was a commotion behind us that broke the tension. I jerked my head over his right shoulder and was reminded of the reason I was even at this party in the first place. My roommate had no idea why I had dragged her here, but given the fact that I saw her with one of the football players a few minutes ago, I knew she wouldn’t know the real reason. Cole, though.

“I have to go,” I said before internally cringing at the way my voice cracked.

Cole’s hands left my arms, but he didn’t take a step back. I pulled my gaze away again, seeing Ryan half-stumbling with a girl near the landing of the steps. Was she coherent? The pit in my stomach grew a little bigger, and if I could remember that night two years ago clearly, I probably would have doubled over with fear. But I didn’t remember it, only bits and pieces, but it was enough to make rage blossom in my core instead of fear.

“What…what are you doing here?” Cole’s voice was like fanning a fire.

The stumbling, drunk football player behind him was half to blame for the way my heart was currently cracking inside my chest, and standing this close to Cole did nothing but remind me of that.

“Getting my dignity back,” I said, fully turning away from him and rushing toward the stairs. I turned my head away from Ryan as he nibbled on the girl’s neck at the landing of the steps. I peered up the long staircase, only half-hoping Cole didn’t follow me. The half that wanted nothing more than to feel the way I had felt with him two years ago was trying to pull me backward, but the mature part of me won, remembering the entire reason I had transferred to Noany Bay in the first place.

A girl with a shattered spirit who had irrevocably pieced herself back together was not one to mess with. Ryan had no idea what was coming for him, and I wouldn’t let anyone stand in my way. Not my parents, as they disapproved of my going to Noany Bay. Not Kate, as she reminded me that most of our classmates from high school attended here. Not the rumors that would likely start up again when people began to recognize me. And not Cole Johnson, as my heart sparked back to life for the first time in a very long time.

I climbed the steps in twos, stepping over empty red cups damp with beer, and glanced behind me once to see Ryan still coaxing the girl up the stairs. I ignored the thin slice over my heart as I realized Cole wasn’t chasing after me, but why would he? Why would he even have the notion to do so after my parents threatened to publicly humiliate his family? And after his parents paid us off in an attempt to keep things hush-hush? And after all the rumors that I’d later heard he didn’t deny? There was too much between us that would never go away. Our past was written in stone.

Staring down the darkened hallway, I counted the doors on the left until I got to the third one—Ryan’s. Hearing his voice at my back did nothing but cause chills to slap up my spine as I dashed over the wooden floor and turned the knob to his room and slipped inside. It was dark and smelled of cheap cologne. There were blackout curtains blocking out the glittering stars, and panic began to settle over me as I realized my plan wasn’t as good as I thought it was.

“Shit,” I mumbled, standing over his bed, knowing that I was supposed to be underneath it. My phone was tucked away in my back pocket, and I was going to catch him red-handed, doing the same thing to that girl that he did to me.

Maybe.

She looked willing, but did he drug her, too? Was she so confused and disoriented that she wasn’t aware of what she was getting herself into? And was I really going to let it get to that point so I could record him in the act? The second she said no or passed out while he was on her, I was going to have to make myself known.

Shit, this wasn’t a good plan.

Would it even work?

My heart jumped to my throat as I heard his voice outside the door and the girl’s faint giggle. My feet began pulling me backward, until I was seconds from dashing under the bed, when the door to my left opened, and a hand gripped my bicep.

“What the hell?” I squealed as I was pulled into a pitch-black room seconds later.

The door slammed, and a hand was over my mouth. Panic caused me to act quickly. My hands flew up to the warm, strong palm pressed firmly against my mouth. My nails dug into the skin, and a hiss hit my ear.

“What the fuck are you doing in here, Maze?”

Cole.

My stomach bottomed out, and butterflies flew to the top. His heart beat wildly against my back, and everything suddenly got hot. His hand slowly fell from my face, and I stepped away hastily, leaving my heart floating there in hot air between our bodies. “What are you doing here, Cole?” He did follow me. And I hated how that made my heart lurch.

My eyes dropped to the ground, even though I could hardly make anything out in the dark room. Why did it sound so comforting to say his name out loud? I hadn’t said his name in so long.