Page 11 of Breaking Rules

“She’s not my girl, as you already know, and she left.” He takes a gulp of his coffee and stands up. “I thought she might make you uncomfortable, since you saw her naked and all.”

“Asshole,” I grit out under my breath as he saunters closer.

“You better get used to me.” He sets his mug in the sink, hovering close, his proximity sending tingles all over my skin. “I’m going to be around…a lot.”

I swallow my nerves. “Games are the only team events I participate in. Last night was an exception. I don’t know most of his teammates, and that will now include you.”

“You’re forgetting something. I’m not just his teammate—I’m his friend.”

“And? That means nothing.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” With that, he spins on his heel and heads to the doorway. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know you better, Isabella,” he says, his tone low and husky. “In every way possible.”

Unbidden, heat swirls in my lower abdomen. I’m a fucking mess. This guy seriously has the audacity to hit on his friend’s girlfriend? Jake let him stay the night, and this jerk repays him by flirting with me?

With friends like Alexander Walker, who needs enemies?

“Stop it, Alexander. Stop being so inappropriate.”

“It’s just the way I am.” He pauses at the threshold to the kitchen, turning back to wink at me. “And my friends call me Xander.”

“I’m not your friend.”

“You will be.”

Then he’s gone, leaving me in peace. As I wash both mugs, my mind drifts back to the guest room, visions of the way he slammed into the blonde plaguing me. How he wrapped his thick arms around her waist and turned them both around. How his deep blue eyes peered at me, devouring me…

My whole body is flushed by the time I tamp down the thoughts.

After turning off the faucet, I dry my hands and take a few deep breaths. Then, cursing myself inwardly, I head upstairs. I need a shower. This wet puddle in my panties is aggravating me, and considering how much Xander riled me up, I’m more than frustrated.

As the bathroom fills with steam, I gradually relax. Without a tight rein on myself, though, my mind once again returns to my run-in with Xander. Why the hell is my body reacting to him like this? What’s with the weakness in my knees? The heat spreading over my skin? The rapid beating of my heart? My body is betraying my mind again, and I don’t like it.

Plus, I have a boyfriend. I have an active sex life, and all my needs are satisfied.

Pressing my back to the glass shower wall, I breathe in and out. I have to banish these thoughts.Permanently. I’m not entirely sure about my future with Jake, but I’m not the type of girl who cheats.

“Get yourself together,” I whisper, my emotions in total disarray.

I thought the water would release the tension in my muscles, but I was wrong. After I dry off and dress for the day, I feel more on edge than I did before.

Since I haven’t seen any sign that Jake is up, I take my Kindle from the nightstand, settle on the bed, and dive into the book I started yesterday, about a girl and a famous Formula 1 driver. It’s wild, really, the parallels between the story and my own life. It’s easy to relate to the way the heroine struggles with being in the spotlight.

Maybe it wouldn’t be such a challenge if Jake’s groupies hadn’t dragged my name through the mud. They hate that I’m his high school sweetheart, and they want me to die a slow and painful death—their words, not mine. All I see on social media is how I’m not good enough for him, how I’m just a basic bitch. I can’t win, and I’m beginning to think I don’t have the strength to handle the criticism much longer.

Despite how hard I fight to stay immersed in the story, my thoughts keep wandering back to Jake, to Xander, though thankfully not in the way they were before. No matter how good-looking Xander is, he’s off-limits.

CHAPTER5

SAY NO

BELLA

July

“Wake up, baby.”

When I crack my eyes open, I find Jake peering down at me warmly. Apparently, I fell asleep reading.

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