Page 50 of The Rules

Of course she did. She should.

Even as he told himself that, he tightened his arm around her, a weird possessiveness nipping at him out of nowhere.

What the hell?He didn’t possess her and he didn’t want to. Not like she was looking for.

He buried that thought and turned his attention to the television. Dani had clicked on an old episode ofThe Office.

“This is the one where Ryan sets off the fire alarm,” he said, laughing preemptively.

“That’s my date tomorrow night’s name,” she said. “Ryan. Hope he has better cooking skills.”

Dylan’s jaw clenched, annoyance rippling through him. For fuck’s sake, he’d been inside her less than two hours ago. He grunted a reply and pulled his arm back, shifting into the corner of the couch.

Her head popped up. “What?”

“I just could have gone without that info, thanks.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You asked for pictures the first night, Dylan. Now you don’t even want to know a guy’s name?”

She had a point but the wolf stirring in his chest didn’t care. It snarled and spit. “I’m just saying, save the girl-talk for Cat. This isn’t that kind of slumber party.”

Dani’s lips pursed, but not in thatget ready to be chewed outway, it was more confusion. Maybe a little hurt feelings.Fucking hell.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

By the time the opening theme song had ended, the tension over his little outburst had turned into another presence and wedged itself into the sliver of space between them. Dani’s legs had gone stiff on his lap, her hands folded politely in her own. His muscles were whining from holding perfectly still, afraid of an accidental brush or caress.

He eyed his shirt across the room, his skin itching with the need to cover himself up. Actually, he was itching to get off of that couch altogether.

He reached down to fasten his belt, giving her a reason to move her legs. “You know what, I’m not really feeling like TV tonight.”

She fiddled with the hem of her tank. “All of a sudden?”

“Yeah. You were right. All that meat gave me a stomachache. I should go.”

“Dylan—”

He held up a hand at the pity in her voice. “No, it’s fine. Things have been getting kinda weird, right? Should probably rein it in a little.”

She nodded her head slowly, and her lower lip pushed out, torturing him. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I guess I didn’t know the rules.”

He huffed out a laugh and even he heard the edge in it. The total lack of humor. “Right,” he said. “The rules. I think you know they were always yours, Dani.”

Nineteen

“Dani. Hey.” Soulmate date numberfive leaned in to kiss her cheek, a day’s worth of soft scruff brushing her jaw. Spicy cologne filled her nostrils, warming her against the early September air.

Ryan Tulci. Tall, dark-blond hair, cut like a statue. Also, the highest scorer yet of all her matches. He’d messaged her a few weeks ago, but she’d had the Jansen party with Dylan. This was the first night they could fit in both of their planners. It felt good having a high score for date number five. She was more than halfway through this, and she needed her odds to increase. And looking at Ryan, it seemed that increase they did.

“You look gorgeous,” he said, appraising her but stopping short of ogling.

“Thank you.”

Ryan let his hand fall to her lower back, leading her down the sidewalk. “I hope you like Italian food. I made a reservation, but we can change it if you’d rather something else.”

Something annoying buzzed in her brain at the cuisine choice, but the last thing she needed was a bratty outburst of Dylan’s ruining an entire genre of food. Or this date.

She’d been thinking about it all day—the way Dylan had spoken to her. Maybe he was right. Maybe they needed to rein things in. She supposed he had a point about her talking about other guys while they cuddled on the couch. And maybe if she really dug down deep, she might admit she’d said itbecausethey’d been cuddling on the couch.

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