Page 98 of Rewrite the Rules

It’s the only real family tradition I have to look forward to each year. After the awful turn in my situationshipwith Joel took last week, I desperately needed to get away. To think clearly.

The patio door slides open, but it’s not Noa. “Well good morning, Chase Ford. I did not peg you for a morning person.”

Chase points to the empty chair beside me. I nod, inviting him to join me. I’ll admit he is as gorgeous in person as in that poster we had hanging in our college apartment. In fact, he might be better looking in person. Even still, I think Noa settled. Chase is a lucky bastard.

“How long are you all going to address me by my firstandlast name?”

I scrunch my nose in consideration. “Until it gets old.” We’re all still getting used to the fact that sweet little divorcée Noa ended up falling in love with a Hollywood hunk we all used to crush on. Stranger than fiction.

“Is Noa still sleeping?”

“Yeah, she’s exhausted,” Chase says nonchalantly and then clarifies when he sees my teasing smirk. “From her insomnia.”

“Mhm, suuure. But figures, it’s been going on a while.”

“How long?” Chase’s face pinches in concern.

“A while. Quinn had to spike her tea with well…I won’t say it out loud to avoid incriminating anybody, but there was no other way to help.” A few weeks ago, Quinn suggested some sleeping aids but Noa was adamantly against it. By the third time we caught her in a zombie-like state in her studio, face plastered against her blank canvas, Quinn took matters into her own hands.

Chase rocks in his chair pensively, his face pained. “I’m glad she has you guys. I’m close with my friends, but you all are on a whole different level.”

“Ah, good. So, she told you about the cult initiation and how we all wear a vial of each other’s blood?”

“What?!” His eyes bulge as if he’s genuinely concerned.

Sigh.He doesn’t catch on to these quips as quickly as Joel. “Okay, Chase Ford, you’re going to have to get used to the fact that ninety percent of what comes out of all our mouths is extreme sarcasm.”

“And here I thought it was just Noa.”

“Nope! Sarcasm is our preferred dialect. It’s so much easier if you just join in.”

“Join in? Does that mean I’m in the club?”

“Noa loves you.” I pause for dramatic effect so he knows how serious I am. “She really loves you. So according to the cult rules, we have to keep you. There will be some intake paperwork and then the lab will draw your blood.”

Chase laughs a little skeptically as if he’s not entirely convinced I’m kidding. “Noa mentioned you guys have all been friends since college, except Amani.”

“Right. Noa and Mani grew up together. She was a year older than Noa and met Quinn her freshman year. Their sophomore year they moved out of the dorms and rented an apartment together. Noa moved in with them after high school graduation, the same year that Reese transferred from Atlanta.”

“And you?”

“I met everyone last. Quinn introduced me to the girls after she gave me a campus tour and they adopted me into their little group and their apartment on the spot.” Best day of my life.

“Geez. How big was this apartment?”

I grin at the memories. Our college apartment was a tiny little mouse cage. “Small. I had to share a room with Reese for the longest time.”

“Ah, Reese’s dad is the tech billionaire, right?”

“No, Quinn’s dad. And he’s not a billionaire. His company’s net worth is somewhere in that ballpark.”

“I thought Quinn’s dad was serving a prison sentence for a DUI?”

“No, Reese’s dad. If it helps, I’ll ask the girls to throw on name tags and I’ll fill out some index cards for you.”

My phone buzzes against the glass side table. The vibration causes an ear-splitting grinding sound. I quickly snatch it up before it can go off again.

Joel:Adler, come on. Please talk to me.

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