Page 51 of Rule Breakers Fall Hardest

“Sorry.” She sniffles. “I can’t help it. That was scary.”

Her ghost-white face flashes through my mind. All the color drained from her the instant he collapsed. I’m sure I didn’t look much better.

“It was,” I agree.

She’s quiet again for a long moment, the whirl of the fan suddenly the only sound between us. “Do you want to talk about it?”

I drop a hand over my face and shake my head. “No.”

She huffs a sigh. “You never do.”

Frowning, I roll over to face her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Despite my glower and my tone, she doesn’t cower. She shrugs, the sheets wrinkling beneath her. The bed is a king size, leaving plenty of space between us. “You’ve never been good at talking about your feelings.”

My chest tightens, but I breathe through it, forcing the ache to dissipate. “Why would I want to talk about them?”

“I don’t know,” she snaps. “Maybe so you’re not holding on to every little thing that upsets you? You can share your burdens with people, you know. They’d be happy to listen. Especially about Junior.”

“His name is Sammy,” I grind out. I might not like the name, but it’shisname.

Her teeth flash in the dark. “I prefer Junior.” She tucks a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear. “Anyway, all I’m saying is you should talk to someone.”

“I’m not going to a therapist, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

I went a few times after my mother died and hated every second of it. I have no interest in being psychoanalyzed by a stranger.

“I didn’t say anything about a therapist. Talk to your friends. Your dad. Your brothers. Talk to me. Just talk to someone.”

“Is that not what we’re doing?”

She closes her eyes and heaves out an exasperated breath. “That’s not what I was getting at, and you know it. You’re ridiculous.”

She rolls away from me, taking the blankets with her.

Biting back a curse, I yank them back over to my side.

“Hey!” she snaps.

I pull them up to my chin and settle on my back again. “Don’t hog the blankets.”

“You’re a child.”

The glower she sends over her shoulder is enough to have most people shaking. Good thing I’m not most people.

I paste on a sarcastic smile in response.

“Fuck you,” she snaps, climbing out of the bed.

I sit up so fast stars dance in my vision. “Where are you going?”

“To get a snack,” she huffs as she walks out the door without looking back.

I flop back down, annoyed.

With her.

With myself.

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