Page 59 of Rules

“Or ignoring the obvious.”

“Max…”

Brook tries to pull away, but I don’t let her slip through my fingers. Literally.

“Okay. Okay.”

She looks over her shoulder, green eyes pleading with me. “Friends, remember?”

I swallow hard. Looking at her, close like she is, makes it hard to concentrate.

Hard to breathe.

“I remember everything,” I rasp softly.

Every word. Every touch. Every kiss. And she knows it; I don’t have to say it out loud for her to understand me. No matter how hard I try to forget, the memories keep pushing back to the surface, back to my mind.

Brook wants me to be a good little boy and follow her rules, and any other time I’d listen, but something about her wakes up a rebel in me, and he wants to break them all.

Her eyes fall shut, a frown marring her forehead.

“W-we…” Her voice is wobbly as she tries to say the words, but she doesn’t have to finish for me to know what she wants to say. She’s said it enough times already.

“Don’t.” I press my finger against her lips. Green eyes grow impossibly wide as she stares at me. Her mouth parts slightly under my touch, her hot breath tickling my skin, her lips soft and plump.

Brook nods, her lips pressing in a tight line.

I do the same, reluctantly pulling my hand away, but not far. Not breaking our eye contact, I extend my hand between us. “Let me walk you home?”

She nibbles at her lip, sucking the flesh between her teeth only to let it slowly pop out, rosy and glistening.

Slowly, she lifts her free hand and puts it in mine. My gaze falls down, looking at her much smaller and delicate hand in my palm, and for the first time, I notice she isn’t wearing any gloves. Her fingers are tense, knuckles red and raw.

Cursing under my breath, I take off my gloves and put them on her hands. The reproach is on the tip of my tongue, but somehow I manage to swallow it down. Clasping my hand over hers, I put them both inside my pocket as we slowly start to walk toward her house.

The walk is short, too short, but at least we spend it in comfortable silence. The snow keeps falling slowly, sticking to the ground. Brook almost slips a couple of times, but my hold on her keeps her from falling.

Once we’re there I can’t seem to let her go. I stop in my tracks, but she doesn’t notice until my hand tugs on hers, still clasped in mine.

She turns around, looking at me with confusion written all over her face. “What’s wrong?”

“I…” I swallow, but no words come to mind.

What the fuck are you doing, Sanders? Get a grip!

“Max?”

Finally, I shake my head. “It’s nothing. I just got lost in my thoughts.”

We keep moving toward her building, but then I see the door open. A big figure walks out, stopping outside the door. Without thinking too much, I pull her behind me.

“Ouch.” Brook pulls her hand out of mine, and this time I let her. I’m too concentrated at looking at the guy leaving her building. “If you don’t stop doing this, you’ll dislocate my shoulder.”

“Shh…”

Brook peeks around me. “Don’t you try to shh me, Maximillian Sanders, or…” I cover her mouth with my hand, muffling the rest of her sentence.

“There’s some guy exiting your building,” I whisper, looking at him through narrow eyes.

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