Page 89 of Rewrite the Rules

I smile to myself. I get the feeling her grandma’s approval means everything to her. It’s nice to know I would’ve made the mark. Although, I inwardly cringe wondering if she’d hate me for the ‘fun bunny’ situation I’m currently putting her granddaughter through.

“Hey, Adler?” I call her from the kitchen and she whips her head around. Her loose chocolate waves fly across her face. Her big blue sapphires shine as she meets my gaze.

“Yes?” Her sweet smile lights everything up.

I feel it. A pulse. An urge. It’s a whisper telling me to jump. I’m at the very edge of the cliff and this feeling is telling me to leap blindly into the ocean. Like the waves of a real relationship will catch and carry me. It’d be so easy to give in to. But I know too damn well that it’s merely a trick. There are only rocks below.

I clear my throat. “I’m really glad we’re friends.”

She tilts her head to the side in confusion. “Yeah, me too, Joel.” She spins back around. “Don’t skimp on the nacho cheese powder, please.”

This is fine. This will be all right. I’ll ignore how Adler snuggled up to me on the couch in my arms feels just as good as me spilling into her moments before. This is still friendly.

Somehow, I can still make this work.

thirty

Adler

“You staying or coming?” I hiss in a whisper at the spotted lump on the bed. “Last chance. I’m closing this door.” Felices springs off the bed leaving a sleeping Joel behind, making his choice. His thunderous purr vibrates the floor as he pads beside me.

“You want some breakfast?” It’s a needless ask. Felices always wants breakfast, and second breakfast, and if there’s time before lunch he’ll squeeze in thirds. I open the fridge looking for the raw food that Joel special orders. It’s not hard to find. The neatly lined packages of perfectly portioned meat chunks take up the majority of his fancy see-through refrigerator.

“Let him loose on the streets. He can feast on unsuspecting pedestrians for breakfast.” A sleepy-eyed Cody joins us in the kitchen. He flinches as Felices hops on the kitchen island, plants his furry ass right on the cool granite, and blinks at me expectantly.

I tickle Felices’s furry little chin and he melts under the attention. “Because this prince only eats organic and free-range.” I speak to Felices the same way I would to a baby bunny, kissy face included. “Who knows what the Coloradans on the street are filled with.”Weed.They are filled with highs and good vibes.

“I knew Joel would end up with a cat person.”

“Joel and I have not ended up anywhere. We’re friends. What’s your deal with the cat, Cody-cakes? Are you a dog person?”

“I’m a pet person.” He points at Felices, perched proudly on the counter. “That’sa wild animal.”

I roll my eyes at the big bad football player who is afraid of a little pussy.Ha, ha!I laugh to myself at the joke I didn’t say out loud. When Cody looks at me like I’m insane, I clarify.

“Sorry, the voices in my head just made a joke.”

He smiles and taps his temple. “How many are in there? Just so I’m tracking.”

“I’ll let you know when I’ve met them all. Anyways—French press this morning?”

Cody nods eagerly. I’ve recently introduced him to the beauty of French press coffee and it has become our morning ritual. On this rare occasion Joel sleeps in. Normally he’s here in the kitchen, posted on a stool, lecturing us both about our caffeine dependency.

I place a full kettle on Joel’s gas range. The ignition clicks in protest until the blue flames spring to life. I open a bag of the fancy cat food and pull a metal bowl from the cabinet. Much to his furry chagrin, I place Felices’s food on the floor, indicating he should get his big ol’ paws off the counter on which we eat. I grab the electronic coffee grinder and fetch the coffee beans from Joel’s fridge. The pieces to the French press apparatus are in the cabinet just below where I can actually reach. The mugs on the other side of the kitchen require me stretching to my tippy toes. It’s somewhere around the time I’m pulling the cream from the fridge and the sugar from the pantry that I feel Cody’s stare on me.

“What?” I touch my face defensively.

“Um…are we roommates now?”

Oh god.I have been operating in this kitchen for the past few weeks like I own the place. I’m feeding Joel’s cat. I make Cody coffee most mornings.

“Definitely not. I’d sayyoushould make the coffee but I can’t trust you around hot things.”

A mischievous grin curls at Cody’s lips. His dimples deepen behind his shaggy blond scruff. “Speaking of hot things—”

“No! I amnotgiving you Quinn’s number.”

“Whyyyyyyy?” Cody’s whine is shrill for a man of his size. It’s impressive he can reach that octave. “I promise I’ll be a gentleman.”

---