Forgotten Rules (Rules 4)

Alex’s eyes light up.

“Does Kendrick know?”

Here it is.

The defining moment.

“Not exactly.” Will cringes. “We were kind of wondering if you could—”

That’s Alex’s detonator.

“You finish that sentence and I’m out of here.”

His reaction was to be expected. Alex had to cover for Blake and me with Kendrick once before, and he hated lying.

“Dude, it’s not like that. We just didn’t get a chance to tell him ye—”

“Yep. I’m out. Got to give Kendrick a call.”

Alex stomps off, slamming the door.

“Shit,” Will mutters. He doesn’t miss a beat, leaping to his feet and chasing after Alex with nothing but the bedsheet covering his ding-dong—his fault for sleeping undressed. I don’t know how I wanted Alex to find out. But I know this… It didn’t include Will chasing after him naked.

I can hear everything as Will catches up to him.

“Look, I’m not asking you to cover for us for three fucking years here. I’ll tell him as soon as he’s back. I just couldn’t do it over the phone.”

“Do you realize what you’re asking from me?” Alex scolds. “You want me to lie to our friend again so you can keep tapping his sister behind his back. Out of all the girls, man. All the girls in the goddamn world. You had to choose her!”

“You think I wanted this? That I meant to fall in love with my best friend’s sister?” Will snaps.

A beat of silence.

“The hell did you just say?” Alex says in disbelief.

More silence.

“It’s true, I… I love her, man.”

Butterflies wreak havoc in my stomach. Hearing him say that will never get old.

“And I don’t want to fuck this up, so please, I’m begging you, don’t say anything. Let me talk to him.”

Alex hesitates, keeping quiet for long seconds.

“Fine.”

Thank God.

“Thanks.” Will exhales.

“Don’t thank me yet. There’s a reason I came into the pool house at the buttcrack of dawn. Had to tell you something.”

I know what Alex’s going to say before he says it.

“Kendrick and Winter are coming back today.”

“Thank the Lord,” I hear my mother say downstairs a few hours later. The front door closes, distant voices emerging in the kitchen as I hop off my bed in a frenzy.