Page 46 of Rule Breakers Fall Hardest

I let her go, but not before planting a big, smacking kiss on her cheek.

“Ew.” She wipes it away with the back of her hand. “You’re gross.”

“I’m going to check on the boys,” my mom says, giving my hand a squeeze in passing.

She strides straight over to Daire and grasps his face, like she did mine, and then giveshis cheek a pat. While she speaks to him, Daire locks eyes with me, like he could sense me watching.

“He’s staring at you,” Grace points out from my side.

I turn away first and sling my arm around my baby sister’s shoulders. “I’ve missed you, you know.”

She rolls her eyes. “Duh. I’m amazing. I’d miss me too.”

I laugh, feeling lighter than I have in weeks. Only Grace.

When I look back toward the waiting room, my mom’s moved on to Cash, and Daire is standing with his arms crossed, surveying the space.

“I need to talk to him,” I tell Grace.

She throws out an arm toward him. “Be my guest. I’m not holding you hostage.”

Now’s not the time to be laughing, but Grace has the most innate ability to lift my spirits. I can’t help but giggle. She’s so sarcastic, just like our dad.

As I approach Daire, I nod toward the hallway, silently asking him to follow me. I expect him to refuse, but he dips his chin in return. And with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, he shuffles out behind me.

I wait until we’re a good distance away and tucked safely behind a vending machine before I speak. “We’re going to have to tell my parents. Likenow. Better for them to find out from us than your dad when he wakes up. Or your brothers.”

Daire blinks at me, crossing those massive arms over his chest. The guy really is like a brick wall. Completely impenetrable.

“If he wakes up.”

“Huh?” I voice, not catching up.

“Ifhe wakes up,” he grits out, wearing a glower that almost masks the fear in his eyes. “He had a heart attack, Rosie. That’s not some minor thing?—”

“They said it was a mild heart attack,” I point out, but the assurance does nothing to ease the expression.

“I’ve already lost one parent,” he reminds me, toeing his shoe against the stark white linoleum floor. “Excuse me for being realistic. Not everything is about you.”

I lower my head and breathe through the ache in my chest. “I’m not trying to make this about me.” It’s like a knife to the heart that he’d even think that.

“Are you sure about that?” he retorts. “This is what your mother has always wanted for you, right? Marrying a Hendricks? I bet you can’t wait to tell her that you succeeded.”

His words hit me like bullets, one right after the other. I stagger back, shocked by the vitriol he’s spewing.

Instantly, he grimaces, the look one of regret. But it’s too late for that. The words, the accusation, it’s all out there now.

“I know you’re upset right now, but that doesn’t give you the right to be an asshole.”

He looks away, jaw pulsing. I’m not expecting an apology. Hell would surely have to freeze over for that.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I look up and down the hall and sigh. “I’ll tell them myself.”

I shimmy out of the corner, doing my best not to brush up against him as he stands as still as a statue. I’m halfway down the hall when he wraps a hand around my elbow and spins me around.

“What?” I ask softly. I don’t have any fight left in me. Not with how today has gone.

“I…” He swallows, his throat working, and his eyes dart away for a moment before he forces them back to meet mine. “I’ll tell them with you. You’re not the one who got us into this.”

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