Page 275 of Breaking the Rules
Kaylee waves goodbye to her boyfriend.
He takes her hand, pulls her into a hug.
Then she's rising to her tiptoes and he's leaning in and they're kissing like they'll never get enough.
Emma shoots me acan you believe this shit?look.
Brendon releases Kaylee.
Emma grabs her. "Leaving now." She takes a step toward the door. "Love you."
It's meant for her brother, but fuck, it still feels good hearing those words on her lips.
"Love you too." He nods a goodbye then turns back to me. The softness in his expression fades to an intense concern.
"Is Emma okay?" he asks.
My pulse races.
It's one thing convincing myself I deserve Emma when it's the two of us.
When she's staring at me like I'm the sun in her sky—
When she's unfurling for me—
Then, I can see all the evidence.
It makes sense.
With Brendon staring at me like I'm supposed to be her knowing babysitter—
Fuck, I don't know what to say.
I don't even know what to think.
"She's a good kid." That's true. Sure, there's something wrong. Something she won't tell me. But it's not like I can sayshe's cagey about sex sometimes. I think something happened. There was this asshole at her old apartment. I have a bad feeling about him.
Even if I could share that without the part about her sucking me off—
It's not mine to tell.
"She give you a hard time?"
"A little," I say. "But it was good. Nice to hang with a normal person."
He nods with understanding. "And you?"Are you staying sober?
"Yeah." It's been hard. But less so the more time I spend with her. It's not that she's my new drug. More that she makes it easier to see why I need to stay sober. She makes me see all the good in the world. "It's hard sometimes, but yeah." I run my fingers through my hair. Fuck, I need a shower. And a confession box.
"Did you tell anyone?"
"Yeah. Emma figured it out."
"Oh." Surprise drips into his voice. "Did I make it obvious?"
"No. It just came up."
"Is that okay?"
