Page 85 of Rules to Love By

Now Jake picked up one of the mugs and brought it to Marcus. He set it on the counter in front of him, not meeting his gaze.

“Thanks, Jake.”

“You didn’t follow the rules.” Jake kept his gaze fixed on the floor.

“What rules?”

“If you’re out after dark, you have to call. That’s the rule. So someone knows where you are. You broke the rules.”

Well, shit. “Yeah. I did. I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t break the rules.” Still, Jake didn’t lift his face.

“No, you’re right. That wasn’t good of me.”

“You’re a good guy, so follow the rules. Then no one gets mad or sad.”

If only it was that easy. “I’ll do better,” Marcus promised him.

With a curt nod, Jake took a few steps but paused, hands clasped in front of himself. Furrows appeared between his eyebrows. He glanced over at Lucy, who had abandoned all pretense of doing anything but watching her boyfriend with concern.

“You’re a good guy,” Jake said again. But the furrows remained.

Lucy glanced at Kreed, who offered her a small nod, and she sprang into motion. “Hey.” Gently, she took Jake’s hand. “Come with me.”

“We’re working,” Jake said, planting his feet.

“It’s fine, Jake,” Kreed said. “Everything’s done for now. Why don’t you and Lucy go have breakfast at the bakery. Just make sure you get back for opening.”

“Okay.” He let Lucy twine their fingers together, then followed her out the door.

Marcus let out a heavy breath.

“It just upset him,” Lucky said. “He’ll be okay.”

“No doubt. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t even think.”

“Didn’t think what? That your family would be worried about you if you disappeared for an entire night without a word?” Lucky sounded gentle, but also not.

“Aunt Iris…” Well. For most of his life, Aunt Iris hadn’t given him enough freedom for a disappearing act like that. Then he’d met Tris and seen what life could have been like, if not for her. And then Johnathan had barged into their lives and ruined everything.

He wrapped his hands around his mug and stared into it. “She had expectations. She never hugged me or told me she loved me. I know she did, but…” He sipped his coffee, taking a moment to appreciate its warmth, because he’d been chilled for so long, he’d almost stopped noticing. “It’s a lot harder to follow the rules when I don’t know what they are.” He met Lucky’s gaze. “Hey, stick around because we care what happens to you? It sort of seems more like a suggestion than a rule, you know?”

Lucky chuckled as he picked up Lucy’s abandoned knife. “I really do know, believe me. I might be less of a rule follower than you, but I understand the weirdness of the transition from having no one—or in your case, only one person—who cares about you to suddenly having an entire town breathing down your neck with all the best intentions.”

“Weird is right.”

“Doesn’t make it less real,” Lucky said. “So maybe try and keep it in mind in the future, okay?”

“I’ll try.”

“All we can ask.”

Kreed grunted.

“So why did you go to the city?” Tris asked. The sound ofboinging came from his back pocket before Marcus could answer, though, and he pulled out his phone to look at it. “The hell?” He looked back at Marcus. “What the hell did you do?”

“I don’t—what?” He glanced around at them. “What? Nothing. I literally did nothing. I sat in an alley. Why?”

---