Page 23 of Breaking the Rules of Love

“Shit, man, what’s the problem?” Ryan cackles.

“Sounds like the perfect woman to me!” Logan roars.

“The problem,” I snap, “is that I’m trying to actually have a family! Especially after what happened. I’d like to actually rebuild my life at some point, and I am pretty sure I’ve found a woman I could do that with.”

The laughter quiets down, and the guys look at me. They both look a bit ashamed, Ryan in particular.

“Well, have you tried telling her all this?” he asks.

I can’t help but think of Sadie and how she looked back in her bedroom when she was telling me about herrule. How she was already standing there looking at the floor because she wasn’t comfortable looking at me directly. The last thing I need to do is go at her too aggressively.

I shake my head. “No, not yet. I don’t want to scare her off.”

“So where are you guys now?” Logan asks.

“Well, she asked me if I wanted to do something casual, and I told her I’d think about it,” I reply.

“Jesus…” Logan sighs, shaking his head.

“But you know what I think I’ll do?” I say slowly, formulating my plan in my head.

“What’s that?” Ryan asks.

“I think I’ll take her up on her little offer. But instead of just being some kind of typical dude-bro about it, I’ll use our time together to prove to her just how much she needs me in her life. I’ll show her just how good we are together, and before she knows it, she’ll be throwing this littleruleof hers out the window.”

I’m grinning from ear to ear. Yeah, this is going to work. Sadie is going to be mine, and she won’t even know what hit her.

“And if it doesn’t work?” Logan asks. “If she finds out what you’re up to?”

“Well, then I guess the whole thing will blow up in my face,” I chuckle. “But it won’t.”

“Who is this chick anyway, boss?” Ryan asks.

“Who is she?” I reply. “Well, here comes the worst part.”

“It gets worse?” Logan asks.

I nod. “She’s my next-door neighbor.”

The boys look at each other. “Oh, man, you arescrewed,” Ryan chuckles.

I sigh. “Yeah, tell me something Idon’tknow.”

16

Sadie

It’s suchan interesting feeling going to work with sexy lingerie on under your terrible work clothes. I don’t actuallyfeeldifferent physically, but just knowing I’ve got on a lace pair of panties, a gorgeous bra, a garter belt and stockings under my worn jeans, faded T-shirt, and stained waitress apron has just been doing something special mentally to me all night since I came in for my shift. And I absolutely love it.

Of course my shift has been a nightmare since the moment I arrived. Emily, one of the other girls I work with, warned me that there were some real assholes already seated as I was coming in, and she was right.

There were two tables of guys who seemed like they were high school seniors or recent graduates, acting like they came from the British Royal Family or something, snapping their fingers and shouting for service whenever they wanted something. Then they’d take forever staring at the menu, asking obvious questions, and wasting the time of everyone else who needed to be served.

“I can come back when you’re ready,” I told them once, and all they did was snap back at me that they were ready, and then order at a snail’s pace. I swear, some of the kids who live in this area are the most entitled little brats you’d ever want to meet.

Then there was a table of eight who showed up. They were super polite, and I was really excited because they ended up raking in bill of almost four hundred dollars. But when they left, I saw that they had ended up tipping me a whopping ten bucks, and my heart sank.

That’s when I went into the back room and had a good cry. Julia, one of the nicer girls I work with, found me there and has been comforting me before she goes back to her table.

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