Page 56 of The Rules

Jesus Christ.Nowhe did. He put the phone in his pocket and turned away, irritated at the way his skin burned. “I think you might have just forgotten what the look I had meant, Joshua. Married sex must be getting pretty boring by now.”

The light turned green, and Josh stepped on the gas. “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

Dylan chuckled. The best way to piss Josh off was to call into question the institution of monogamy that he felt so strongly about, and getting Josh riled up was a good way to deflect the attention off of whatever “look”Josh thought he’d seen. A dirty trick by some people’s standards, but not Dylan’s.

“You saying you’re still hitting it like you used to now that you’re married up?”

“I’m saying that’s none of your business, but if it were, there’s only one of us who has a woman in his bed every night.”

That serve was begging to be spiked back, but after his fit over Dani’s overshare with some guy named Benji whom Dylan had never even met, he figured he should shut his mouth. Besides, Josh still had him beat. Until a few weeks ago, Dylan only had Dani inherbed—sometimes her couch—and only on Fridays.

Great. The good mood his flirty texts with Dani had put him in just disintegrated into an unproductive rivalry over something he didn’t want in the first place. Was he really competing with Josh over who had to share their bed? The joys of someone stealing your covers and snoring? No thanks.

Okay, he did sort of like sharing a bed with Dani. The way she sprawled out over half the mattress, her arm thrown over his stomach in an aggressive-even-in-her-sleep embrace was adorable. He caught himself smiling at the memory, but quickly rearranged his face before Josh saw him. “Whatever, man. Let’s drop it.”

“So you’re not going to tell me who she is?”

“I’m not.”

Josh shrugged. “Your call. I’m sure she won’t be around long anyway. Unless you’re bringing her camping?”

In a couple of weeks, they were spending two nights tenting oceanfront for Shawn’s birthday. Dylan had been counting down to it all month. He could practically feel his muscles relax in anticipation of doing nothing but enjoying the water and the fall air for the whole weekend. He’d already scoped out some hiking trails, and knowing Shawn and Minnie, the food was going to be fantastic. It was just the kind of re-charge weekend he needed.

“First of all, a weekend away with a bunch of married couples isn’t anything I would invite a woman to. Second of all, have fun killing scary bugs and listening to Cat whine about not being able to blow dry her hair the whole weekend. I’ll be fishing and paddleboarding. Working on my tan.”

“Cat doesn’t whine, and it’s not just couples. Sonya is coming without Marcus, and I don’t think Dani is bringing anyone.”

Dylan’s head snapped up. Dani had better not be bringing anyone after that little tantrum she’d pulled at Josh’s. His mood took another nose-dive at the thought of some jerk killing scary bugs for Dani. They might not be going on this trip together, but he would be killing Dani’s big scary bugs, thank-you-very-much.

Oh, for Christ’s sake. Did he really just have that thought? Josh was breaking his brain. What he should be thinking about is how to get Dani into his tent after everyone went to bed.

“I guess we’ll see who has the better time, Joshua,” he said. He’d lay bets it would be him.

Twenty-two

Because her SUV positioned heras the driver for most road trips over the years, Sonya had begun enacting what she called Sonya Says—a set of rules that applied when she was shuttling a group of them to a long-distance destination.

One bathroom break per two hours on the road. Use it or lose it. (Otherwise known as the Emma rule.)

Do not, under any circumstances, connect your phone to her Bluetooth and attempt to hijack the playlist because she “will cut a bitch”.

Hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. (That rule was mostly for Cat.)

If you attempt to navigate from the backseat, shewillpull over and youwillwalk. (This rule was added the first time Dylan rode with them on a trip to Ocean City for the weekend.)

“It’s like Josh wants to be married to an amputee,” Sonya said, shaking her head and pointing to Cat’s arm hanging out the window of Josh’s Jeep in front of them.

Dani shrugged and took another sip of her twenty-ounce iced coffee. The sun was far too bright for this early in the morning. Considering they were about to spend two nights in a tent, she should be glad for the good weather, but at the moment all it was doing was exacerbating her pounding headache.

She glanced in the mirror through her thick, black sunglasses, to see Dylan stretched out across the back seat, his head on his backpack, and his own aviators hiding the fact that he was most definitely asleep.

She sensed an internal struggle brewing in Sonya’s mind between the importance of seatbelt safety and the peace and quiet that a sleeping Dylan afforded her, but that would be determined when she updated the rules.

The right-hand blinker on Josh’s Jeep flicked on, and Sonya slowed to follow him. The dirt road they’d pulled onto was lined with maples on either side, the edges of their late-September leaves red and yellow and gold. Dani lifted her sunglasses and rolled down her window to look at them without a filter. The scent of ocean air and dried leaves mixed together and rushed her airways.

Minnie had picked this place. She and Shawn had been here a few times before Mattie was born, and both Dylan and Josh had jumped at the idea of oceanfront camping. Neither one of them could stand to be too far inland.

Because Marcus was out of town, Dani and Sonya were sharing a tent, which was basically the only reason Dani had agreed to attend this trip. It wasn’t that she was nature-averse, not entirely, but she liked her nature in small doses—an afternoon hike followed by a warm bath and a glass of wine; a trip to the botanical gardens where she could enjoy the flora in heels and a sundress. Sleeping on the ground and wearing hiking boots and socks that put her at risk for an awkward tan line was not exactly something she would have chosen. But birthdays were a big deal, and Shawn,Mr. Craft Beer,hadcome along on the wine cruise they’d all taken for her last birthday, so she wasn’t going to be a spoilsport.

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