Page 52 of Rules

She’s the one who ran away,againif I may add, not me. I tried calling her. I tried looking for her, but I didn’t find her and when I got back home, I was greeted by her smell. It still lingered in the space—honey, wildflowers, and rain—driving me crazy. Not only is she messing with my head when I need it the least, but her presence is everywhere I turn.

How can somebody spend barely any time in my room, but make it feel like she’s been there forever?

My lips press in a tight line, hands clenching the metal bar harder. My chest is burning, trembling arms feeling like jelly as sweat drips down my face.

Three.

Up and down.

Two.

Another loud groan as I push the bar up.

One.

My eyes fall shut. I concentrate on steadying my shaking arms and try to give one last push to put the bar back into the holder.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

The weight is lifted out of my hands, and I can hear the familiar clink of metal against metal. Still lying flat on my back, I try my best to even my labored breathing. With the back of my hand, I wipe the sweat out of my eyes before I finally open them to face my unwanted companion.

Out of all the people…

“I felt like putting in some extra work.”

“Yeah, right…” Andrew throws a towel at me, and I grab it just before it falls on my face. Without another word, he turns around and walks to the treadmill.

I rub the sweat off and only then do I slowly straighten into a sitting position on the bench. I watch him set up, slow jog turning into a full-on run.

Any other day I’d ask Drew to come and spot me. We’d joke and shoot the shit, but not today. Not after this weekend.

We haven’t talked since I punched him in the face on Saturday. Although my fight with Jeanette left me drained, I just couldn’t let it go. He went after my sister behind my back. You don’t do shit like that with your friend's sister.

I know Jeanette tried to play it cool, but I wasn’t buying it for a second. She just wasn’t that kind of girl. She could pretend she’s a badass all she wants, but I knew the truth. Her heart was sensitive, and it had already been broken one too many times.

And Andrew… He wasn’t the guy for her. He was too cold and jaded, and Jeanette needed more than that.

Running my fingers through my damp strands of hair, I sigh loudly. The muscles in his back stiffen, and I can see his jaw work, but he doesn’t say a word.

They both said it was nothing, just a slip, but for some reason, I didn’t believe them. Yes, they’re constantly at each other’s throats, but I’m not so sure all there is between them is hate, not after seeing that photo. And that simply couldn’t happen. They’re both so damaged, and if Andrew fucked with her and broke her heart… I’m not sure Jeanette would be able to recover from it, not with everything else.

“Andrew…”

“Spare me,” he grunts. “You said everything you had to say yesterday.”

“It’s nothing personal,” I try, but who am I kidding? Of course it’s personal. He’s messing with mysister. My no-nonsense, pretends-nothing-affects-her sister with the most sensitive heart who’s been through enough. If he were a different guy or if she hadn’t been through what she’d been… but those are all just wishful thoughts because the reality is what it is, and we can’t change it.

“Of course not.”

I open my mouth to say something; I’m not even sure what, but the door to the gym bursts open, our teammates filling the space with Coach at their heels.

“C’mon, boys. Time to sweat it out.”

* * *

When Coach is done with us, I can barely stand. With hockey season in full swing, he was working us hard on and off the ice. So far, this season looked really promising. We’d won all the games so far, but all that could change in the blink of an eye if we didn’t stay focused.

That’s why, as soon as practice was wrapped up, I took a quick shower, grabbed my shit and went looking for my distraction. Brook could hide only so long, and we both knew it.

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