Page 51 of The Bad Boy Rule

Fuck. Me.

I haven’t colored since I was about… five.

“Saint, this is Decker.”

I’m in uncharted territory right now. Do I shake his hand? Give him a high five?

“Hey,” I finally say, offering a small wave. “Nice to meet you.”

Decker simply stares at me, big brown eyes scrutinizing me. Finally, he says, “Why are you so tall?”

A chuckle vibrates out of my chest, and I shrug. “Born this way, I guess.”

He nods, pursing his lips. “I was born with a broken heart.” Reaching up, he pulls the robe open slightly, showing me the thick, uneven scar that travels down the center of his chest and disappears beneath the fabric.

Shit.

“Well, that’s a pretty sick scar. Makes you look really bada—” I snap my mouth closed when I catch myself. “I mean… It makes you look really cool.”

Decker grins, his face beaming with pride as he nods. “Yeah, my dad says I’m the coolest kid he knows. Maybe it’s true. Sometimes I think he just says it because he has to. He’s my dad.”

I shake my head. “Nah, you’re definitely the coolest kidIknow.”

He’s the only kid I know.

Lennon smiles, an smug look on her face, and judging by that, I know she’s never going to shut up about this.

What? I feel like shit that this kid’s stuck in here. If I’m going to be nice to anyone, it’s gonna be him.

“Hey, Decker, why don’t you show Saint some of your drawings?” She gestures to the table he just got up from. “I bet he’d love to see them.”

Decker looks from her to me, and I nod.

“Okay,” he says, grabbing his oxygen tank and wheeling it back over to the table, reclaiming his seat. “These are my superheroes. They save all kids from bad hearts and lungs and brains. They can saveanyone.That’s their superpower.”

The coloring sheets in front of him have various superheroes that he’s colored, mostly staying in the lines, and he’s drawn a few hearts on them.

“Those are cool. Way better than I could ever do,” I tell him honestly, watching as he picks up a blue crayon and starts to color in the chest of one of the superheroes.

Lennon leans into me, standing on her tiptoes to whisper in my ear, “My dad just texted and asked me to come talk to him and Mom. Think you’ll be okay here for a second by yourself?”

For a second, I panic. I have no fucking clue how to… be around kids like this. I’m winging this shit harder than I’ve ever done anything in my life.

“It’s easy,” Decker says, glancing up from his paper. “I could teach you to color in the lines if you want.”

I drag my gaze from him back to Lennon, then back to him once more before sighing and dragging a hand through my hair. “Okay, yeah, that sounds cool.”

“Be right back. It’ll be quick, I promise,” Lennon says to both of us but offers me a secret smile and then walks toward the exit.

And that’s how I end up squeezing all six foot four of me into that tiny-ass chair, coloring superheroes with a kid who’s got a bad heart and scars… just like me.

TWENTY-FIVE

LENNON

I should probably be slightly more worried about leaving Saint alone with Decker when he’s so…Saint, but right now, the dread of the impending conversation with my parents is overshadowing that.

He’s an adult, and I think he can handle ten minutes by himself in a playroom with kids and toys.

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