The Rulebreaker

“You good?” Leyla asks beside me.

“I’m good.” I glance over at her. “Are you staying?”

“I’m tired.” She yawns. “We have practice in the afternoon tomorrow.”

“You can crash in my room.”

“Nah. I think I’m going to grab a water bottle and head out.”

“I’ll walk with you.” I walk beside her to the kitchen, dodging dancing guys and swaying girls.

As we walk into the kitchen, I spot Mitchell. There’s a group of girls swarming around him, but he’s hard to miss, with his height and wide smile. He’s wearing a backward baseball cap, his wavy hair brushing against his neck. I always thought he was the hottest Cruz brother of the three, with his piercing green eyes and caramel complexion. The three of them are hot, I mean, the oldest, Jagger, is super-hot, but there’s something about Mitch that always stood out to me. Even before the three of them had that crazy growth spurt in high school that shaped them into what they are today, I always thought he was the cutest one. That is, until this stupid crush on Maverick started. I beeline over to Mitch, shouldering through the girls. He lowers the beer bottle in his hand and quirks an eyebrow at me. Seriously. Hot. And another Cruz family member who only sees me as a little sister.

“Damn, Little One.” Mitch eyes me up and down. “You’re looking . . . not like yourself tonight. What’s the occasion? Hot date?”

“No.” I roll my eyes. “Where is your idiot brother?”

“Out back.” Mitch chuckles, then turns serious. “Did he not run this by you?”

“He did not.”

“Oh shit. I’ll take you to him.” Mitch walks away from the girls, not even bothering to say anything as he leads the way to his little brother. “I would tell you to go easy on him, but he needs to be held accountable for something.” He chuckles.

The Cruz brothers are super close. When Jagger was still going to school here last year, before he signed an NFL contract, the three of them were inseparable. Always at dinner together, at bars, at parties. On the rare occasion they weren’t together, they were still keeping up with the others’ whereabouts. I’m an only child, so hanging around them is the closest I’ve ever gotten to having siblings, which is another reason I shouldn’t be thinking about how hot either of them are. At six foot six, Maverick towers over most of the crowd. Colson is the only one who stands at his height, and he’s a few feet away, his tongue down some girl’s throat. Mav has a finger hooked into the belt loop of the jeans of the girl gazing up at him dreamily and he looks like he’s about to meet the same fate as Colson. She’s pretty, too, dark blonde hair, great body, easygoing smile. I watch as he leans down and kisses her gently. It makes my blood boil, but I try not to show it.

“Can I talk to you?” I step beside them, crossing my arms. He pulls away from the girl’s mouth and looks at me, bewildered. She wipes her lower lip and takes a step back nervously.

“What’s up?” Mav frowns at me, then looks at Mitchell, who’s standing beside me with his arms also crossed. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is that we agreed, from the very beginning of this living arrangement, that we’d discuss things like this.” I wave a hand around the backyard, filled with people around the keg and the white foldable table set up for beer pong.

“Yeah, which is why I texted you.” He’s still frowning as he turns to fully face me, the girl beside him forgotten like all the others his lips have touched. “You said you were in the mood to party, so I brought a party to you.”

“You are so full of shit.” I cock my head. “If you’d been thinking of me, which you weren’t, you wouldn’t have texted me after you probably spoke to Mitchell about bringing the keg.”

“You told her I called you for a keg?” Maverick looks at his brother in disbelief.

“No.” Mitch chuckles. “I didn’t say anything.”

“I’ve known you for ten years, Maverick.” I grind my teeth. “I know all of your moves before you make them.”

“What do you want me to do, Rocky? Everyone’s here, people are having fun. I’m having fun, maybe you’d have a little fun if you’d get out of your own head once in a while. Didn’t you say you wanted to meet a guy or whatever? Here. Guys.” He waves an arm around.

“You know what? You’re right. Is Brian here? I’d love to continue our conversation.” I look around, even though I’m really not looking for Brian and just want Mav to think I am. “Didn’t you say you wanted to meet someone worth settling down for?”