Page 6 of Rule Breakers Fall Hardest

I check the timer on my phone. Twenty minutes until the brownies are done.

Bertie will be occupied for a while, doing her skin care routine, so I grab my computer and settle on the couch. Even if I only get a paragraph or two done before I’m interrupted, it’s better than nothing.

As my shitty luck would have it, though, I’ve barely parked my ass on the couch when there’s a knock on the door.

I groan. It’s probably Tommy, tail tucked between his legs, coming to apologize.

The universe clearly doesn’t want me to write this essay.

With an aggravated huff, I swing the door open. Only it’s not Tommy on the other side.

Daire is so close that I could count each individual eyelash if I wanted, and he’s got a lot of them. He towers over me, making me feel small, which, at five-ten, is rare for me. He’s got to be six-four, maybe taller. I have to crane my neck back to peer up at him. It’s been a long time since the two of us have been this close. Even earlier, as heproposed marriage, he kept his distance. Like he thought if he got too close, he’d catch cooties.

It takes everything in me to keep from stomping my foot. “What are you doing here?”

This is unfair on so many levels. Despite my best efforts, I’ve harbored a crush on this guy since I was eight and he was teaching me how to dive into his family’s pool. Even after he broke my heart when we were sixteen, it lingered. And the damn thing persisted even when he accusedmeof following him here, even though we both know I’d always wanted to attend Aldridge University.

“I need you.”

Without my permission, my heart does a somersault. Isn’t that what I always wanted? For him to need me the way I needed him?

Remain strong.

“No.”

“Rosie.” My name rolls off his tongue in a growl. “I am begging you.”

I turn to walk away, wishing I could slam the door in his face. But there’s no point in trying to get rid of him. He won’t walk away until he gets tired or hungry. Whichever comes first. I was lucky to escape him at lunchtime.

“Is that what you want?” he asks from behind me. “Do you want me to get down on my knees and beg? Because I will.”

I turn around in time to see him do just that.

“Marry me, Rosie?”

A gasp sounds in the room. Notmygasp. Not even a ghost’s gasp. Nope, it’s Bertie, who’s chosen this inopportune moment to finally come out of her room.

With a hand over her mouth, she squeals. “Yes,” she shouts, now clutching both hands to her chest. “You have to say yes!” She gives a giddy shimmy. “Oh my God, I can’t believe this. It’s so exciting.”

My heart stops and my jaw falls open.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

The room remains in focus.

What the fuck is happening? I have to be dreaming.

“Come on, Rosie, say yes.” Daire smirks up at me, far too smug for a guy who’s literally on his knees begging me to marry him. He knows that I’m cornered.

I glower down at him. It’s on the tip of my tongue to say noagain, but in my periphery, Bertie is swooning at what she thinks is a romantic scene—apparently without a single concern for why I’ve never mentioned Daire to her before.

Panic crawls up my throat, and my heart starts again and instantly takes off at a breakneck speed.

“I… isn’t it too soon… honey?”

He cocks his head to the side. “Darling, it’s never too soon when true love is involved. Come on, say yes. Make me the happiest man alive.”

Sweating through my clothes, I wring my hands, searching for a way to end this ridiculous moment. “I… I… are you sure? We should wait.”

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