“Hey are we going downtown or to my place?”

“I figured mine since I need to get Rome to help me with your Beamer in the morning. Is that okay?”

“Uh is it going to be weird walking in together with him there? I’ve had about enough drama for one day.”

I felt him shake his head. “Naw we talked about it today. He knows we got something going on and its cool. He did say that he would break both of my legs if I kept acting like a jackass though, so there is that.”

“Hmm…why did you do it?” I knew he would know what I was asking about without explaining.

“Because it’s what I do.” He swore under his breath. “Girls have always been easy and they usually smell good and taste good so for just a second things are simple and nice and all the crap doing battle inside my head goes quiet. I knew I didn’t want someone that wasn’t you but I was pissed off and confused so I just did what I always do and thought maybe it would make me feel better. It didn’t, it made me feel like absolute 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 sooth me while he drove, he even picked Straylight Run to listen to instead of his normal blaring punk rock or heavy metal so 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, I assumed the Broncos were losing and they both looked up at me with twin faces full of relief.

“Thank God. Now maybe he’ll stop acting like a cranky toddler that 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 you so 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 that used to be a police officer 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 that 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 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 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.”

He set it on the toilet and gave me a hard kiss before searching my face for signs of something. I laughed and physically shoved him out the door before closing it firmly in his face. “Go, be a guy. I’ll be here when it’s over.” I waited until I heard the outside door shut and then stripped down and climbed in his shower. If I never had to suffer through one of my mother’s functions again it would be too soon. I scrubbed every inch of my body until it was pink and shiny, laughing hysterically because I had to use Rule’s dude soap and I ended up smelling like a seventeen year old boy that just discovered Axe body spray. Even his shampoo and conditioner was designed for male only use so instead of my normal coconut and lime I ended up with hair that smelled like sandalwood and spice. I finger combed my wet hair and put on a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt and fell into his rumbled bed. For the first time in a week I felt like I could take a real breath. I burrowed into his side of the bed and fell asleep within seconds even with the hooting and hollering coming from the living room.

***

Hot hands were traveling under my clothes in a lazy caress. I woke up already turned on and squirming under Rule’s seductive touch. I blinked to get my eyes used to the darkness but squeezed them shut again when his mouth landed high on my inner thigh. It was like the best dream ever, only now I was awake and wiggling in anticipation as his breath blew across the most sensitive parts of me. I reached for his head and giggled a little as my fingers skimmed over the buzzed surface. The stubble tickled across my sensitive fingertips.

“I really do miss the mohawk.”

“It’ll grow back.” I felt the slide of his lip ring over damp skin and sucked in a gasp so hard that it made my lungs hurt. He laughed against my skin and his hands moved to hold me where he wanted me. “I missed this. Nobody has ever been as sweet as you Shaw.”

I felt the press of the barbell in his tongue as he moved in and around the part of me that had woken ready to take what he had to give. “I think the fact you’re comparing me to the legions of girls that came before me should probably make me furious, but I think I’ll choose to take it as a compliment.” The last faded away on a tight moan as he pulled my hips up and settled his mouth at burning point of my desire. I had heard tales from my coworkers and even from Ayden about how having a guy do this for you was often the best part of sexy, naked time but I had always had my doubts because it seemed invasive and too intimate, and I wasn’t wrong. As he kissed and licked and maneuvered around all my damp folds and aching flesh I went a little crazy. There was nowhere to hide how he was affecting me while he was doing that and man did he know what he was doing. At one point I wanted to scream his name but at the last second remembered his brother was just across the wall and shoved my fist in my mouth to stifle my reaction as the world kaleidoscope into brilliant color in every direction. I didn’t know how it was with other guys, but as with everything else I experienced with Rule, he just made it all so good.