Page 145 of Unwritten Rules

“Keeping my head low. I’m leaving the college and staying away; I don’t think this will blow over anytime soon. I wanted to give you the heads up because Idocare about you despite what you believe or have heard about me. I will be working on figuring out where I go from here–I have some help.”

My chest tightened. It made me feel guilty for tossing him to the side if what he said was true. If he was truly interested in me for more than my status, I just kicked him to the curb during the worst time in his life. But the rules we had to follow would forbid it unless I wanted to suffer the same fate as him. Because his family wanted to rise above the nastiness, they were being punished in true mafia style—takedown. If you didn’t follow the rules, you couldn’t play the game.

Unspoken.

Unwritten.

And yet, we were still beholden to them.

I couldn’t trust anyone in this world.

So, I settled on watching shit television and eating sour gummy worms on the couch after biddinggoodbye for nowto Garrett.

Kelly waltzed into the door like nothing had ever happened. “How was school this week?”

“How was your impromptu vacation?” Was I a bit sour? Maybe. She ditched me forThanksgiving, and then acted like she didn’t abandon me.

What Garrett said earlier played in my mind with how she went missing over the week. I didn’t believe that it was a vacation, but I was happy to not have her looking over my shoulder while I was learning with James and whoever else Evans sent over to pull me forward in my knowledge. I was not up to speed, but each day I got better.

She sighed. “Wonderful. I really needed to decompress and spend some days at the spa.”

”I’m heading to the baseball game tonight. You coming?”

That caught her attention. “Did you also go and schmooze at the parties while I was gone too? You are becoming a social butterfly. I wouldloveto go to the game with you and watch your boyfriend wipe the floor with their competition.”

While schmoozing wasn’t the term I would have used, she was correct in her guess to going to a couple of parties to play nice and pretend I was playing with the rest of them. Montgomery Group needed to have a presentation of upcoming strength—they all wanted my company and potentially head on a platter. Sloane was playing nice in front of others, but I saw the look in her eyes when she spoke to me in passing.

Alexander was another pile of problems. He wanted to dance and drink and go to the back rooms. Avoiding him was a full time job. I obliged a few dances and drinks to make nice but he was always asking for more and more. There was only so long I could go before something major happened.

And Brent wasn’t there at any of them. My only protection was James or someone else assigned to me. Could they even prevent some things that may happen to me?

I distracted myself with schoolwork, studying my own company, and staring into the abyss while trying not to throw up daily from the anxiety. The unknown text I got remained unanswered.

“He’s not my boyfriend. Are you feeling better after the news?” The news of Shane. She never really addressed it when the news came out, but that was yet another secret we kept from each other.

She plopped down with a cup of coffee and kicked her feet up. “It doesn’t feel real yet, you know? I tried to come to terms with it this week, but I couldn’t get myself to do it. We spent a lot of time together and I liked him, but he had secrets of his own.”

The secret iceberg struck again.

“It’ll be weird dating someone again I bet.”

She shifted in her seat. “Yeah, it will.” She wasn’t able to keep her full composure this time.

The lights were bright against the faded sky. Everyone was excited to see the Sharks take home another victory, sealing us with a win streak to party about until summertime. Crowds formed around the players as they made their way out for their warmups.

And there was Brent Vaughn, dark star of the baseball team, eating up all the attention. It felt like a repeat of the last time I saw him garner the attention from the girls, but everyone wanted a handshake or a high five from him to bring home the win they knew he could secure with the team.

He searched across the sea of people before him looking for something—or someone. I wanted to say that he was looking for Sloane, but I didn’t think it that likely. He was looking for me because I haven’t reached out since I kicked him out of my house after sex. When I asked for space, I didn’t think he would be the type to give it.

I caught sight of Sloane sauntering out there to see him. She wanted me to see her parading him around like he was a prize. Just an object for her to use in whatever manner she desired. Leaning into him, she planted a kiss on his cheek and whispered something in his ear. A gross feeling settled into the bottom of my stomach watching the two.

We stood in line for gross stadium food. Pretzels and nachos sounded not horrible, but maybe tossing in a corn dog would mix it up a bit. “I think I want to stuff myself with nasty baseball food.”

“When else would you want a corn dog?”

I held out my plate to her when the order came back. “Hold this while I use the restroom?”

The mirror caught my eye when I entered and with the new instincts I had, I went to ensure my eyeliner and mascara were still intact.

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