Page 75 of Against The Rules

“In love with you,” he interrupts.

I roll my eyes, and he laughs. “Right. I’m not… I’m not ready to say that.”

“But you could be,” he says, rubbing my shoulder.

I snuggle into him, feeling warm and cozy in the aftermath of sex with him.

“Yeah,” I finally answer. “I think I could be.”

Neither one of us is perfect, but maybe we could be perfect for each other.

CHAPTER 31

TYLER

The alarm on my half-charged phone goes off at four AM, and I turn it off, staring blearily at my surroundings. The naked woman at my side gives a soft sigh, and pure contentment washes over me.

Savannah.

“I love you,” I whisper in her ear, and she smiles in her sleep.

I detach myself from her side as gently as possible, careful not to pull her hair as I move my arm from under her head.

A chuckle tries to break free of my mouth as I glance around the room. Pieces of chair litter the ground, along with random beauty supplies and our clothes.

It looks like a bomb went off.

I glance over my shoulder at Savannah, who rolls to her stomach, her lovely face disappearing from view.

Worth it.

My pants are slung on the ground, next to her underwear and bra, and I pull them back on, then manage to locate my shirt. A vibration sounds, and I grab my phone off the nightstand before it can wake Savannah up.

Are you okay

We have to be at the airport in thirty minutes. Do I need to come pick you up?

I text Jacob back as quick as I can, my shirt halfway on.

I’m good. I was at Savannah’s. I’ll be on time, bro

I almost sent something snarky back, because does he really think he needs to be my fucking babysitter?

I didn’t, though. Dr. Kim’s advice for when I feel irritated with my family is to take some deep breaths, try to think about the intention behind the annoying thing they said, and then let it go.

So that’s what I did.

Funny how simple it seems, and how much work it still takes all at the same time.

It helps immediately, and I glance back down at Savannah in wonder, amazed at how one woman’s advice, which, under nearly any other circumstance, I probably would have brushed off, has already made such a powerful impact on me.

I’m playing better than I ever have, my brother’s nannying tendencies aren’t bothering me, and I’m out of my own head and in the moment.

I meant every word I told her last night, and I’ll wait as long as she needs.

My phone slides into my pocket and I grin as I close the door as quietly as possible.

“Shit,” I say, scratching my beard. It looks awful out here. The food’s still all over the table, queso congealed in more than one spot. The blender’s half-full of melted margarita, and I wrinkle my nose.