Page 1 of The Rule of 3

Chapter 1

Tanner Lassiter and Zoë Deliban had history.

Tanner was a year ahead of his sister Madison and her best friend Zoë in school, and they all grew up together in a tiny town in southeastern Kentucky named Honeybee Hollow. Zoë had harbored a crush on Tanner from about the age of six when he told her she looked cute with no front teeth. After that, the boy could do no wrong in her eyes.

When she was thirteen, it was Tanner who saw to it that she had her first kiss.

When she was fifteen, he demonstrated how to French kiss. She thanked him by letting him feel up her pretty new breasts.

When she was sixteen, and Tanner had just turned eighteen, they decided to lose their virginity together. It was actually a fairly exciting experience for both of them, so they decided to keep practicing. And they got pretty good at it.

Tanner’s mother worked all day at the town library, and his father was a country vet who was busy long, long hours, so that left the house free for teenage shenanigans.

When Zoë was seventeen, Tanner left for Princeton, and she was left to finish high school at Honeybee Hollow High. Tanner announced to Zoë before he left, “We need to make a clean break of it so we can both enjoy college to its fullest.”

Zoë assumed that meant Tanner wanted to screw around with lots of pretty Princeton girls, and the thought made her ill. She smiled and kept her tears at bay, though, saying, “I guess you know best, Tanner.” Inside, she felt her heart crumble to bits.

She was lonely and heartbroken, and she kept it to herself. Madison was busy with cheerleading and studying when she wasn’t with her boyfriend Crunch—the high school football star—so the girls didn’t see as much of each other as they had when they were younger.

She skipped her senior prom because, even though three boys had asked her to go, she couldn’t stand the idea of some other guy trying to kiss her or feel her up.

Crunch and Madison were Prom King and Queen.

Zoë spent prom night eating ice cream and studying—pretending it was just any night—nothing special. She wanted so badly to call Tanner and see how and what he was doing up at Princeton, but she’d only seen him briefly over the Christmas holiday when he tried to ignore her presence—wounding her to the core. He hadn’t come home for spring break.

She needed to get over the stupid feelings she still had for the guy. He wasn’t coming back.

But he did come back, and that was even worse. After graduating from Princeton, Tanner returned looking like a better version of himself. Taller, now six-foot-one, more chiseled, and way more confident. His hair had grown darker, but he and his beautiful sister shared the same startling blue eyes flecked with green and gold. They both had dazzling smiles and both were intelligent and driven. Madison had plans to start up a business, and Tanner became the youngest-ever mayor of Honeybee Hollow. His personality was infectious, and his confidence made everyone around him feel secure.

Honeybee Hollow was a stepping stone for Tanner’s loftier political goals. He just had to wait until he was old enough.

Chapter 2

Tanner loved his years at Princeton. They were exciting and liberating in a way that surprised him. He enjoyed the lively conversations he had with fellow students in a way he’d never been able to achieve in high school.

There were lots and lots of pretty girls to date, and the first few weeks of his freshman year, he’d tried to sample as many as possible. But each time he felt like he might want to become intimate with one of them after their date was winding down, he found himself longing sadly for Zoë’s gorgeous brown eyes that used to look at him adoringly. She had shiny, dark hair that tumbled down her back in a fall of silk, and he dreamed about it running through his fingers. Because of her job at the town pool as a lifeguard and swim coach for the younger set, daily exercise and swimming kept her lithe body trim and fit. The kids at the pool adored her.

Tanner chastised himself over and over that she was just a small town, high school girlfriend—not someone he could have a serious adult relationship with. It was ridiculous to consider such a thing. He missed her horribly though. A couple of weeks after school started, he caved in and sent her a text.

Tanner: Hey, I think I might have made a mistake

Zoë: So sorry for you.

Tanner: Well- how are you doing?

Zoë: Fine

Tanner: Can I call you?

Zoë: No

He didn’t know what else to say to that and was too young and naïve to realize that when a woman used the word “fine,” it meant exactly the opposite. So, he never wrote again or called. On the few occasions they ran into each other when he went home for Christmas and she gave him the cold shoulder, he didn’t bother her. He tried to ignore the sadness in her sweet eyes. It was for the best, he told himself.

Sometimes it’s tough being a stupid young genius.

The first few years he was back in Honeybee Hollow weren’t too bad—he was tremendously busy, and Zoë was still away at college getting her teaching credentials. But then she finally returned and took the job of kindergarten teacher at the town elementary school. She was apparently home to stay.

Tanner saw Zoë going about her business in town with the same grace and elegance she’d always had. Children adored her, men of all ages lusted after her, and parents thought she worked magic with their kids. Zoë seemed completely oblivious of her popularity, however. She had always been beautiful, but she had matured into a truly elegant woman.

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