Page 54 of Rules Are Meant To Be Broken

“How’s the family?”

“I haven’t been back yet, but I did call them. They’ve calmed down. For now.”

“That’s good. Are you…is everything going to be okay?”

Hope kept her eyes on the horizon. “Probably. Maybe. We’re getting there. It was time to stand on my own two feet. No more masks.” She smiled, a sad one. “After you left the other night, I called my father straight back. I don’t think he even recognised who was shouting at him. I almost shouted down the whole hotel. I don’t think anyone had ever spoken to him like that before. I doubt they will again. It was terrifying.”

“Maybe a little liberating?”

Hope didn’t immediately respond. She contemplated the view as if rolling the idea around in her mind. Finally, she gave a slight nod, and a tiny grin sprang up on the corner of her mouth.

“So, speaking of liberating,” she said not meeting his gaze, “I’m glad we got the pregnancy scare thing out of the way.”

“That was a terrible segue.”

“Do you really want to be a smartass?”

“I do not.”

“Good. You were a real jerk about that.” Hope held up her hand. “I think you’ve realised the error of your ways.” She squinted. “Haven’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He meant it. He was a world class idiot. Being thrown by not knowing exactlywhatthe two of them were to each other was no excuse. She’d shared so much and he so little. He should have handled everything better. Hope deserved better.

“I’m glad to hear it. While we’re all about opening up and so forth, you’ve still never told me the truth about why this lifesaving shindig in Cali is so important to you. I get that you have, like, the population of Seattle following you, but other than that?”

“Seattle? Really? Wow.”

“Focus, dude.”

“Right. Okay, sure.” Moment of truth time. “Well, this one time, when I was in high school, another kid accused me of cheating on a maths test. Not the end of the world, right? Except, it kind of spiralled out of control from there. Since I couldn’t prove my innocence, it put all my other results in doubt, and long story short, I got kicked out. Prestigious school didn’t want any scandal. My dad never forgave me. Even longer story even shorter, he kicked me out of home, too.”

It was Xavier’s turn to hold up his hand. “Don’t frown like that, the wind will change. In the end, I was lucky. A few other people from the local lifesaving club took a chance on me. They took me in, helped me get where I am today. Winning this event is my way of repaying them for believing in me when no one else would. Before you throw all my pop psychology back in my face, I guess it’s also showing my dad how wrong he was about me. Achieving my dream on an international scale might just be my way of showing him he was wrong about me. I don’t know.”

Xavier shrugged. He’d never said that out loud before. Was it true? Were all the early mornings, intense training, and early nights to prove his dad wrong? Screw therapy, all he needed was Hope for some breakthroughs.

The Ferris wheel shunted as it stopped to pick up new passengers. The world continued on without them for a while. It was the most about himself he’d ever shared with another human, and he held himself still waiting for her response. They were in a cocoon, separate, insulated. If time wanted to stop forever and he was left here with Hope, Xavier wouldn’t have minded at all.

Eventually she turned to him with a beaming smile.

“Thanks, that must have been hard for you.”

He wrapped his arms around her and mumbled an unintelligible reply.

She continued. “It helps me put my problems into perspective. I think I understand a little better. While we’re being all open, I didn’t like who I was, but I was as much to blame as everyone else. I let my brother’s illness be my millstone. I lied to you. I lied to myself. I let myself be caged. Please listen closely. You made no promises to me. You don’t need to prove anything to me. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let anyone else, including you, clean up my mess for me. You understand?”

“I was trying to help. I was trying to…” Xavier stopped. Fire had returned to her eyes.

“That’s part of the problem, part of why I wanted to see you tonight. You still don’t realise. Youthoughtyou were helping, but you really weren’t. I need to fix this, not you. Don’t be like everyone else, manipulating my life as if you know what’s best for me. I’ve had a lifetime of that, and I’m over it.”

Her words annoyed Xavier far more than they should have. It wasn’t about manipulation. It was about trying to help someonehe cared about the way others had helped pick him up when he thought he had no one to turn to. Why couldn’t she let him help? If she didn’t want his help, he couldn’t shove it down her throat. A tidal wave of denial surge in his gut, and he had to fight a lifetime of male pride to keep his stupid mouth shut. He would show some restraint for once if it killed him. He bunched his hands into fists.

Maybe if he stopped charging in like her dad, she’d let him stick around. He wanted that more than anything. He was watching her evolve before his very eyes, and the transformation was mesmerising. Her eyes sparkled as she turned to face him, taking his hands in her warm ones.

“What happens when you leave, Xavier? When you go off to your lifesaving competition and win all the prizes? You’ll disappear back to the land of the tall, blond, and handsome, and I’ll have to deal with the aftermath. You have to accept I’m capable of dealing with it. Can you do that? Let me make myowndecisions, even if they’re contrary to your little book of bullshit male posturing?”

The tone was half-playful, half-serious, and the message was clear. Could Xavier accept Hope as his equal? Could he let her solve her own problems?

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