Page 76 of Rules for Rule Breaking
Bobby crammed his phone into his pocket. He put his head down in his hands and took a few deep breaths before fixing his hair and walking back into the room where Winter was waiting. She smiled brightly and stood up when she saw him. He couldn’t help but smile back.
Winter Park
35. WE WILL NOT PUSH EACH OTHER TOO FAR
Winter was still buzzing. Her parents were going to be so mad, and she couldn’t wait to see Halmeoni’s expression when she found out.
Bobby walked in with a haunted look on his face, but he smiled as soon as he saw Winter. She stood up and waited for him to cross the room.
“Did youmissme?” she asked, getting on her tiptoes and throwing her arms around his neck.
Bobby let out a short laugh. “Are you mocking me? I knew I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, it was really cute.” Winter blushed. “I missed you too.”
“I want to kiss you again, but we shouldn’t in here,” Bobby said, unwrapping her arms from his neck and looking over his shoulder.
Winter pouted. “So that’s it? We’re back to being good?”
“No, but I—”
Winter kissed him, effectively shutting him up.
Bobby immediately kissed her back, and it bothered her how good he was at it.He’s good at everything, Winter thought. Competitive even in kissing, Winter deepened the kiss, then pulled back to see what Bobby would do. Apparently he couldn’t turnoff that competitive spirit either. He followed her lips and backed her into the wall, which made her let out the slightest gasp. Bobby immediately pulled away, and Winter slapped a hand over her mouth.
“We have to stop. We can’t do this here,” Bobby said in a frenzy.
Winter was mortified. “You’re right. I have to go call my parents,” she said, prepared to rush off.
Bobby grabbed her arm. “It’s already handled, but we can’t do this here because they think we’re siblings. I’m pretty sure what we’re doing is illegal in all states.”
Winter winced. “Why do they think we’re siblings?”
He bit his lip. “I may have called Jacqueline and had her pretend to be our mother.”
She ripped her arm away. “You didwhat?”
“I panicked.”
Winter was unsure how to proceed. A flood of emotions filled her up, and it tasted a lot like bile. It was easy to be with Bobby there, away from home. But the moment Jacqueline’s name was uttered, Winter was brought back to reality. The reality with friends, family, whispering classmates, and ex-girlfriends who would all have opinions about their relationship. She was so caught up in the moment, she hadn’t considered that the bubble they were in would eventually have to burst. Bobby just had to go rampaging through it before they even got home.
She stormed out of the room and out of the building.
“Wait,” Bobby yelled, trying to take hold of her wrist, but she yanked it away. “Why are you upset?”
She whirled around and stuck a finger in his face. “Do you not realize how shady that was? Why did you have to bring Jacqueline into this?”
Bobby’s jaw tightened. “It’s over between Jacqueline and me, I swear.”
“I think we both knew we’d go back to our regular lives when this was all over, and I guess that includes Jacqueline. It’s in the rules after all.”
Bobby grabbed his hair at the root, and for a moment, Winter thought he might yank it out. She pretended not to care.
Finding the car was a chore, but as soon as they did, Winter ran to it and opened her door before Bobby got the chance to do it for her. Internally she was panicking, and she didn’t want him to see. Their relationship and the rules they shared had been a constant in Winter’s life since she was young. Why blow up the last vestige of her childhood by trying to be more than that?
Bobby slid into the driver’s seat, and the two were quiet for a moment before he said, “I only did it because I wasn’t ready to disappoint my parents, and Jacqueline sounds like an adult on the phone.”
“You’re so transparent. Jacqueline broke up with you because she thought you were boring,” Winter said, “so you called her after being caught at a college party so she’d think you were cool. Are you really that desperate?”
