LITMIR.BIZ

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shit and made me see pretty clearly there is no substitute for you. I made a mistake but it could have been so much worse and I hope you can sincerely forgive me.”

      It made my heart hurt, but I understood it because I understood him. “I don’t like it, but I get it. It just can’t be your excuse for stepping out on me every time we fight. I don’t have it in me to just look the other way every time you use another girl to work out your hurt feelings.”

      “I told you no more. I’ll figure this out, Shaw, I swear.”

      “I hope so, because we’re going to disagree, Rule. We argued before we started sleeping together so you know we’re going to probably argue more now.”

      His hand stroked up and down my arm. “That’s cool because I bet make-up sex with you is going to be out of this world.”

      I didn’t deny it so I just stayed quiet and let him soothe me while he drove; he even picked Straylight Run to listen to instead of his normal blaring punk rock or heavy metal. By the time we parked in front of the Victorian I was back in control. He took my bag from me and led me into the apartment. Rome and Nash were on the couch yelling at the TV, and I assumed the Broncos were losing. They both looked up at me with twin faces full of relief.

      “Thank God. Now maybe he’ll stop acting like a cranky toddler who skipped nap time.” Rule smacked Nash on the back of the head as Rome got up and wrapped me in a bear hug.

      “Glad you gave him another chance, little girl.”

      When I was back on my feet I grinned sheepishly at both of them and turned back to Rule. “I need to call Ayden and my phone is trashed, can I use yours?” I expected him to spend a minute erasing texts or clearing his search history but he just handed it over. I tried to hide how happy that made me, so I bit my lip and motioned down the hall. “I’ll just go in your room so I can hear her over the game.”

      “Go ahead. I want to talk to the guys for a second anyway.” The grimness of his tone let me know he wanted to fill them in on my situation with Gabe. “I’ll be there in just a minute.”

      I resisted the temptation to scroll through his contacts and look at his text conversations and dialed Ayden. I didn’t know if she would answer since she wouldn’t recognize Rule’s number, but she ended up picking up on the third ring.

      “Hello?”

      “Hey, it’s me.”

      “What number is this?”

      “I’m using Rule’s phone because I’m a genius and threw mine against the wall.”

      She snickered at me. “It was because I told you about the girl at the club, wasn’t it?”

      “Yep.”

      “But now you have his phone so you must have worked things out somewhere along the way.”

      “He came to Brookside to apologize and then he crashed my mother’s brunch and ended up being the star attraction. It was impossible not to forgive him.”

      “Good for you. Something tells me that one comes with a whole truckload of drama, so you might as well get used to it.”

      “Yeah, well, I’m not short on drama of my own.” I went into the bathroom and leaned against the sink. The image looking back at me in the mirror was startling. I looked agitated and even paler than usual. “Gabe grabbed me and shoved me around. He cornered me in my room and threatened all kinds of crazy stuff. I just don’t know what I’m going to do about it. Rule’s all set to get together an old-fashioned lynching squad and I don’t want him to get in trouble because of me. It’s a mess.”

      “That asshole put his hands on you?”

      I sighed. “Yeah, I have bruises.”

      “Then I say let Rule have at him. You better be looking into a restraining order.”

      “I am. Rule has a client who used to be a police officer and he’s going to call him. He also said he wants to stay with me or have me stay here until the whole thing is resolved.”

      “Sounds like your boy is getting serious.”

      “He’s trying.”

      “Well, I guess that’s better than nothing for now. When are you going to get a new phone?”

      “Probably tomorrow. Rule said he would buy me a new one.”

      “Man, I like a fella who knows how to apologize right. I’ll see you tomorrow?” The last was asked as a question.

      “I think so, I’ll let you know for sure.”

      “Love ya, girl. Be safe, let Rule take care of you for a minute, you’ve earned it. You took pretty great care of him all this time, now it can be his turn.”

      “Isn’t a relationship supposed to be about taking care of each other equally?”

      She laughed but it sounded bitter. “You’re asking the wrong person that, honey. My track record isn’t anything to brag about.”

      “Ayden, do you want to talk about something? You seem, I dunno, sharper than usual.”

      “No, I’m good. Just worry about you right now, honey. I missed you this weekend.”

      “Missed you, too.”

      I hung up the phone and set it on the edge of the sink. I pushed the sleeves of my sweater up and splashed cold water on my face. I took the tie out of my hair and unwound the tight braid so that my hair fell down around my shoulders. I took off the pearls and kicked off my heels and started to feel a little bit more like myself. I heard the bedroom door open and close and Rule softly called my name.

      “I’m in here.”

      I heard some shuffling and some swearing as he maneuvered through the stuff scattered on his floor. The bathroom door swung open and his eyes met mine in the mirror. The chilly depths of his were shadowed with concern as he crowded in behind me. “You okay?”

      “Freaked out, but other than that, okay.”

      “Are you worried about your mom ratting you out to your dad?” He put a hand on either side of me, trapping me between him and the basin.

      “I can’t stop her, so if she does I’ll deal with it then.”

      “What about school? She said he would stop paying if you didn’t do what she wanted.”

      I leaned back so that I was pressed against his chest. “They both like to use that threat against me; it’s their favorite extortion tool. I figure they’re both actually more worried about trying to explain to people why their daughter is working at Subway instead of in medical school to actually stop paying tuition. And if they do”—I raised a shoulder and let it drop—“then I figure out a Plan B.”

      “Just like that?”

      “Pretty much.”

      “I never knew you were so adaptable.” I made a face that made him laugh and he moved his hands around so that they rested on my stomach. “The guys are going to order pizza and watch the rest of the game. I told them I would check and see what you were thinking for the rest of the night.”

      I pushed my hair back and let my head fall onto his shoulder. “I want to take a hot shower and then I think I want to take a nap. This week has sucked. I’ve been stressed out and burned out from school. I can’t remember the last time I got to just relax.”

      His dark eyebrows went up. “You won’t mind if I kick it with them for a bit?”

      I shook my head no. “Seriously, go bro-out. I’m good.”

      He watched me for a solid minute, waiting to see if I was just messing with him. To prove that I was fine with him spending time with his boys I pressed a kiss to his jaw. He pressed a kiss to my hair and backed out of the bathroom. “I’ll grab your bag for you.”

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