Page 15 of Rebellious

Those are the words I sentenced us with tonight. The rule we cannot break again.

My fingers drift over the words one last time before I stand. “It’s done.”

She nods, giving the new rule acknowledgment. “It’s done.”

Flashing me a brief smile, she pockets the marker. “Now, are you gonna pussy out of bungee jumping or not?”

“Bennett!”

I jerk, the memory fading just like the ink on my stomach. “I’m sorry, sir,” I say to her father, who I apparently ignored.

He narrows his eyes. “You’re no longer my favorite,” he returns.

My lips twitch. “I’ll work on it, sir.”

“For heaven’s sake, Jameson. Did you only teach the boy one word? What’s with all the sirs? I feel like my grandfather.”

My dad shakes his head.

Calling my elders “sir” came from living at a foundation for veterans all my life. Aspen’s mother and my father opened the foundation before I was born. It started with Aspen’s mom, Anniston, finding my father, near death, in a ditch.

My father was homeless and didn’t care if he lived or died. Anniston, a doctor, nursed him back to health and refused to let him leave the property, only to die on someone else’s lawn. At least, that’s how my dad tells the story anyway. Anniston and my dad became friends, which sent my uncle Theo into a crazy tailspin. They, too, eventually became friends, but it was rocky for a while.

Theo isn’t really my uncle, but since we’ve always lived at the foundation together—growing up as a family—I’ve always referred to him as such. It’s the same way with Aspen’s roommate, Vee, who we rarely see anymore since she started dating the neighbor, Sebastian. Her father, Tim, was a veteran Anniston and my dad took in.

All my life, I’ve been exposed to the ugliness of the world where men who served our country were spit out and abandoned when they struggled to fit back into society upon return to civilian life. I’ve grown up around their rules, routines, and “yes, sirs.”

It’s what I know.

“Come on,” says my dad, handing me a bottled water. “Let’s go run before Fenn passes out again.”

I look at the carton of cream and then at Aspen. We won’t get to spend our last morning drinking coffee together in this house—another routine I will never experience again.

The run with everyone did nothing to quell the beast inside me. Instead of feeling exhausted and crashing on the couch like Fenn and my brother, I grabbed my bag and headed to the gym.

Theo insisted Aspen have breakfast with him and her mom. I figured they would keep her busy for a while. With last night’s events playing on repeat through my head, I wasn’t about to stay home and stare at the ceiling. I needed a distraction, and my teammates were the best I could come up with.

“Eventually you’re gonna have to come and hang out with us.”

Bruce, my left tackle, has spent the past forty-five minutes going over everything I missed last night at the Kappa-something sorority house party. Basically, there was alcohol, sex, and idiots. All things I try to avoid.

“Maybe,” I say, pushing past him.

I’ve showered, and I’m finally tired enough to go home and nap without seeing visions of Aspen in between my knees. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, okay. If you change your mind, we’ll be at Swanky’s tonight.”

Flashing Bruce a pinched smile, I nod. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

It’s not that I don’t like Bruce, or my teammates. It’s just when I think of fun, I always think of a blonde that doesn’t smell like sweaty socks and last night’s deodorant. Take Exhibit A, Aspen—the aforementioned fun—lying on the hood of my SUV with the sun on her face, attracting a small group of football players lingering in the parking lot.

That carefree personality is why I’d rather not hang out with my teammates. I plan to lap up every single minute I have left of Aspen and her ideas of fun.

Striding up to my car, I hold back glaring at the audience in the lot. It’s pointless though, since my fists are balled at my sides while Aspen, the pretty little hood ornament, talks to Jake, a senior on the baseball team. He’s a decent guy when he’s not looking at Aspen’s tits. Right now, he’s enemy number one.

“Can you do that for me, Jakey?” Aspen asks in that singsong voice of hers. The one she pulls out to get what she wants.

Jake straightens and takes a healthy step back when he sees me, averting his eyes to a safer location, like my foot, which he knows will be up his ass if his gaze travels anywhere near her again.

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