Page 102 of Breaking the Rules
Chapter Sixteen
Hunter
All through dinner, then a superhero movie at a theater on the Third Street Promenade, I watch Emma and Collin.
He's a good kid. Polite. Friendly. Respectful.
He holds her hand during the movie.
But that's it.
Alice and I get closer. She cuddles up to me like she wants to soak in all the comfort I can offer her.
But I don't know how to offer her comfort.
I wish I did.
I wish I was good at this.
But I'm not.
I absorb most of the movie—the plot isn't all that complicated—but it doesn't hit me the way it usually does.
It's not comic fatigue either.
I still love this stuff.
Still read graphic novels in my spare time.
Hell, watchingDaredevilwith Emma is the most fun I've had in ages.
Though… that's not exactly about the show.
It's watching it withher.
After the movie ends, Emma and Alice head to the bathroom.
They reappear with their makeup fresh and their smiles wide.
Alice's is real.
Emma's isn't.
She joins her date on one of the green iron benches on the promenade. This late, this far into fall, it's quiet. The street isn't teeming with tourists. The shops are all closed.
"Hey, Hunter." Emma's eyes bore into mine.
I stare back, trying to figure out what she's saying. "Yeah?"
"Collin invited me to a party at UCLA." She presses her red lips together. Digs her soft pink nails into her bare thighs. "I'm going to go for a few hours."
She's asking my permission.
Or looking for me to say no.
I try to figure it out, but I don't.
"Is that a good idea?" I check the time on my cell. "It's late."
