Page 27 of The Off-Limits Rule: Extended Edition

Her eyes widen, and she spins on her heels, charging into the living room. She flips on the light and takes in the pathetic couch sitting in the middle of the room facing a large empty wall where a TV shouldbe.

“Before you picture me sitting in here in the dark, staring at that wall like a psycho, just know I watch movies on my laptop.”

Now Lucy is making herself at home as she buzzes through the living room and down the hallway. There’s a new energy about her that I like, something determined and comfortable. After flipping on a switch in the guest bathroom, frowning at it, and then doing the same with two more rooms, she goes all the way down the hall to my bedroom.

There, she turns on the light but just hovers at the edge. Her eyes make one quick sweep over my king-sized bed and thenmove up to me, where I am looking over her shoulder. “You own two pieces of furniture, Cooper.Two.What is this house, like, two thousand square feet? And you owntwopieces of furniture?” She says this like maybe I hadn’t already realized it and this should be some great epiphany forme.

“Don’t forget about the bowl.”

“Why?”

“Because bowls are important too.”

She looks like she wants to laugh but holds back. “I mean…why do you not have any furniture?”

I shrug and lean against the doorframe. We’re both lingering outside my bedroom, like maybe if we accidentally stepped in there at the same time, the bed would suck us into its vortex. “I can’t decide on anything. It all feels so permanent. It’s a big decision, and I guess…” Oh, I regret tacking on thatI guessimmediately.

“You guess what?”

I narrow an eye and smile at her sudden eagerness to find out my dirty secret. Well, it’s the least I can do to be honest with her after all she’s told me tonight, right? “You can’t make fun of me. It’s pretty sappy. But…I guess some part of me knows I’ll have a girlfriend or wife in here with me one day because this is mysettling-downhouse. Puts a little more pressure on picking something another person would enjoy too.”

She looks up at me, and her lips part like there are words hovering in her mouth, but she doesn’t want to let them out.

“What?” I ask, being the pushy one now. My eyes sweep over her face, and I can’t believe how striking she is even in soggy wet clothes and no makeup. I’ve never met another woman I thought looked truly beautiful in a state like this.

“I’m just surprised to hear that you have thoughts like that…about marriage and women sharing your house and all.”

“It’ll probably just be one woman.” She nudges my arm with a playful laugh, and I’m thankful she’s not hiding anymore. “But I get why you’re surprised. I do tend to put off seriousshort-term-relationship-onlyvibes, but I haven’t always been like that. I—uh—sort of went through a bad breakup back in Charlotte.”

“The ex-girlfriend you mentioned in the pool?”

I nod slowly, not excited to unpack all these memories. “Janie. She and I were together for a few years, and I was wild about her—like, head over heels. She always said she loved me too, so I thought we were on the same page. Spoiler: we weren’t. I finally set up this whole big proposal with tons of string lights, and flowers, and a musician, and…gosh, it’s so embarrassing, thinking back on it. I looked like an absolute loser when I got down on my knee in front of all our friends and popped the question only for her to say no. We broke up right after that—about a year and a half ago.”

Lucy sucks in a sharp breath, and the pity I see on her face is almost as excruciating to see now as it was back then, painted on the faces of all our friends. “Cooper, I’m so sorry.”

I shake my head and shrug, eager to be done with this conversation. “It’s in the past. Janie’s married now, and they just announced they’re pregnant, so you know, it all worked out and all that.”Worked out for her, at least.

“But that’s why you needed to get away.” Lucy speaks with so much empathy, like she completely understands that need to start over away from the person who caused you so much pain. And that’s because she does know.

“Yeah. I’ve never even told Drew about…Janie. As far as heknows, I’m not capable of a commitment, because when I got here to Nashville, I just sort of threw myself headfirst into wiping her out of my memory and avoiding anything close to a relationship.”Until now.“Anyway, that’s what I meant earlier by feeling envious of you. I did want to be married—have kids, the whole nine yards.” I should feel more embarrassed after admitting all of this to Lucy, but I don’t. I feel lighter.

“Hmm,” she says softly, leaning her shoulder against the doorframe. “And you still do.”

I quirk an eyebrow at her. “I do?”

“Yeah, you can’t fool me. I can read you like a book.” She grins. “And you literally already told me you haven’t furnished it yet because you want to pick out things a wife or girlfriend would like. I might suggest starting with a TV. Most people enjoy those. Or if you want to get really wild, a house plant.”

“A house plant? Damn. Those choices are endless. Do you think a woman would like a Ficus?”

She rolls her eyes dramatically. “If a Ficus is your first choice, it’s clear you’re not ready for this step yet, pal.”

“Pal?” I ask with a laugh.

She laughs too before her smile sobers. We both stand in a kind of awkward, heavy silence for a minute before she surprises me with a turn in conversation I’m not expecting. “Listen, it was a mistake that I tried to kiss you earlier. I was just caught up in the moment, and the stars, and the water…and well, anyway, I didn’t mean to do it. Can we please just forget about it?”

I feel like we should talk about it more, like I should tell her exactly why I turned away and make sure she knows her trying to kiss me did not feel like a mistake to me. But I know I can’t explain it without telling her the whole truth—that I like her and can see myself wantingmorewith her. I have to wait until I’vetalked to Drew. I need to do this the right way, as much for myself as for Lucy.

I inhale a deep breath and narrow my eyes down at the fragile expression painted on her face. Finally, I release my breath and nod. “If you say so. I won’t bring it up anymore.”

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