Ground Rules

I forced out a smile as Sutton and her two messy braids disappeared through the door before taking several deep breaths with my back pressed against the lecture hall wall. The professor left through the back door with his briefcase and coffee glued to his hand, and I allowed the sweat to pour down my back.

What was I doing here? I shouldn’t have come here. I should have just stuck with my therapist, continued on with my self-defense training, and stayed where I had friends who knew nothing about my past.

“Mazey.” I gasped as I pushed off the back wall of the lecture hall and locked onto Cole’s conflicted face. “What are you doing?”

My mouth went dry. I was in shock. Even if Cole had been tucked away in the back of my mind every single second of every day since Friday, I still wasn’t prepared to see him again. Our last encounter made me feel uneasy but also left me hungry. It was kind of like going on a binge with your friends for homecoming week. You knew the extra shot of tequila was going to make you feel sick, yet you did it anyway. Although, I never let myself get too drunk. I wouldn’t make that mistake again. Hence, why I was labeled as The Lightweight last year.

“Maze...?” Cole’s bright eyes slanted as he took a step toward me. Could he see my panic? I internally shook myself.

“What?” I asked, straightening my back. God, he looked good. He was so tall and handsome. His warm chestnut hair was styled with the mere intention of making me want to run my hands through the thick ends. The green color of his eyes set me a degree warmer, and the white t-shirt he was wearing hugged his ripped biceps.

Wait.I took a hefty step forward out of shock, and my hands somehow landed on his strong forearm. “When did you get a tattoo?” Cole swallowed roughly as other students began filling in the lecture hall. He allowed me to angle his arm so I could take a peek of the ink displayed on the inside of his bicep, hanging out just below the hem of his shirt. The words were in cursive, and they spelled: paenitet.

“Paenitet?” I whispered, running my finger over the word. Something hot raced down to my fingertips when our skin touched, and the second I saw goosebumps raise on Cole’s arms, I let my arm fall quickly.

“Yes.” His answer was husky, and when he cleared his throat, he reached up and grabbed the strap of his backpack. “It means regret, or I’m sorry, in Latin.”

My breaths were shaky, and I was blaming it on the fact that I had slipped into a panic from talking about Ryan with Sutton, instead of the fact that I was getting all worked up over Cole.

“I gotta go,” I said quickly, trying to dash out of the lecture hall. I didn’t have anywhere to be. I was through with classes for the day, and unless I wanted to go stalk Ryan to make sure he wasn’t randomly date-raping girls in the middle of a Tuesday, I was going right back to my dorm room.

“Mazey, wait.” Cole was at my back within a flash, and my heart jumped to my throat. His hand was around my arm, and he pulled me back so fast my hat blew off my head. We both bent down to grab it, our hands brushing along one another. He was quicker than me, though, and he snatched my ball cap up in a single whoosh. When I stood up, I peered around to see if anyone I knew was looking.

“Give it back,” I snapped, dashing forward to grab it.

Cole held it up high, just enough that I would have to jump up if I wanted to grab it. There was a glint of the old Cole lurking within the twinkle of his eye, and part of me liked it. “Not so fast, Amaze.”

Amaze.My mouth parted at the sound of my nickname floating off his lips. He was the only person who called me that, and I was the only one who knew it.

“Cole,” I said, crossing my arms over my t-shirt. “What are you? Five? Give me back my freaking hat.”

My cheeks heated when Cole’s lips curved into that delicious bad-boy grin that used to make my knees weak. “Are you ever going to answer my question?”

I huffed in annoyance, feigning confusion. “What question?”

His eyebrow raised, and his grin turned into a scowl. “Why are you here? At my school…?”

The way he trailed off at the end and looked away for a split second told me he wanted to say something else. It was as if he didn’t finish his sentence.

“None of your business,” I answered, glancing around us to see if anyone was watching. Cole did the same, and that was when I jumped up and snatched my hat out of his large grasp.

“Ha!” I yelled, forgetting that there was a huge pile of shit between us that still wasn’t sorted and probably would never be. I slipped into my old self for a second, flirting with the devil and playing his wicked little games. The number of times he would steal my books, or my backpack, only to make me chase after him and end up behind the pool house or the large oak tree in his yard so he could kiss me senseless…

Cole’s grin reappeared as he glanced down at me, and there he was. Cole. The boy who only ever showed his heart to me. The boy who only smiled with a light in his eye when we were alone. The boy who warmed me up on the inside with one single touch.

“Hmm,” he hummed. “You’re quicker nowadays. You used to chase me.”

My tongue darted out to wet my lips as I adjusted the hat on my head. “I’ve always been quick, Cole. I just liked the chase.”

And with that, I turned around and walked in the opposite direction of Cole, gripping my backpack straps tightly so I wouldn’t buckle at the knees.