Page 6 of Four Simple Rules
God. Last night was magical. Powerful. I never knew what it was like to feel complete until I slid between her legs and took the one thing, she had saved for me.
“It’s for you,” she whispers, nervously sucking in a breath when my tip slides between her wet folds, sinking further into her pussy.
What she didn’t know was I saved myself for her, too. No sane man crawls through some chick’s window without feeling an ounce of anything toward her. Blake is my everything. And I…
“Jesse!” Natalie whines, following after me like a fucking leech on my ass. “Jesse! Where are you going, baby?” she asks again, grating on my fucking nerves.
I’m no one’s baby. Definitely not hers. Not Posey’s. Maybe Blake’s. She’s… My everything. And I’ve fucked it up all over again. First screw up being the stupid rules I created my freshman year. I just… I wanted to keep her safe from the assholes I call friends.
The same friends I need to keep my spot on the baseball team to get my ass the fuck away from this town and from my father. If it weren’t for the connections, I’d ditch them. But I can’t. I need Rhett, my best friend. I need Posey and her little gang of bitches to further my chances. They’ve already helped me get a baseball scholarship to CaliState. So now, I’m coasting through the rest of senior year and then peacing the fuck out.
Sometimes I wonder why I even fucking bother. I’d rather be in Blake’s bedroom, confessing my deepest darkest secrets, than be here with them. Or at parties. I just want to play baseball. I need to get away from my father and his fury.
"You're a worthless sack of shit, boy," he growls in my ear as my eight-year-old self whimpers in the darkness.
“Leave me alone,” I say, brushing Nat’s hand from my bicep as the memory wrecks me all over again.
“But…” she says, puffing out her bottom lip.
“I gotta go, Nat. I’ll see you….” Hopefully, never again. Wishful thinking on my part. She’ll be up my ass until we graduate. They all will. I’m not sure what appeal we have to Posey, Nat, and Melody, but they stick to us like glue. And I let them.
Stupid me.
“At the party tonight, right? You’ll be there?” She bats her eyelashes at me, grinning widely when I nod.
“Uh, yeah. We got practice tonight. But I’ll be there.”
Coach will make me run from pole to pole when I get there tonight. No one on the team skips out on school without consequences.
Blake is worth the repercussions.
After whipping my damn Range Rover into drive, I peel out of the school’s parking lot like my ass is on fire. Blake disappeared. Usually, I see her roaming the halls. Lately, though, she’s been alone with her nose in a book about photography or plants. My girl’s got big dreams ahead of her. Horticulture. Photography. The world is her damn oyster.
But something between us is broken now. Something I don’t know if I’ll be able to repair, but I’ll try. I’ll work as hard as I have to get her back in my arms. I’ll beg and cry and promise her it’ll never happen again. Because it won’t. If Blake takes me back, I’ll drop every ridiculous rule I put into place and parade her around like my queen. I’ve gotten my scholarship already, and I don’t need the rest of those assholes nipping at my heels. It’ll be just Blake and me from here on out.
After a ten-minute drive, I pull in front of her house. The same place I’ve snuck inside every night for the past five years—my sanctuary. Since Gavin died, I've lived up to my promise to him. Something I'll never break.
My heart drops into my ass when I tap on Blake’s window.
“Tulip,” I rasp, tapping again.
Usually, a light turns on. Or movement catches my eye. But this time, nothing happens. I grunt, lifting the window until it's completely open.
Four years ago, she promised me she’d never lock me out. And it seems she's kept her promise.
“Blake!” I say, swallowing hard as I climb through the window. “Please, Tulip! I’m sorry. Please answer…” I trail off with my chest heaving. Panic wraps me in its grasp when I take in the room around me.
She’s not here. Fuck! Sucking in several breaths, the realization of our situation settles in. My heart sinks.
Everything's the same. Yet so fucking different.
Her green comforter is tucked neatly into the corners. The pillows are perfectly in place. Her plants. God, those stupid plants sit everywhere, soaking up the sunshine. Fresh water droplets drip from their leaves.
My Blake is nowhere to be found.
Usually, she's perched on her bed with her nose in a book. Or pointing her camera at different corners. Maybe she's…
My heart shudders in my chest. The tree. It's the one place we've sought refuge since Gavin died. It's ours—our safe space in the middle of the woods.
