Page 63 of Break the Rule
“Yeah?” Andrew asks, his smile brightening.
“Well, he’s very annoying. He gets stuck in your head,” Eden grumbles.
“He is annoying,” Andrew laughs. “It’s great.”
Eden doesn’t say anything because great isn’t the word he’d use. It’s frustrating and confusing and makes Eden want to run again.
“How about I make you a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“Your phone number in exchange for embarrassing photos of Charlie.”
“What makes you think I want that?”
“We’ve got a family dinner this weekend. Are you telling me you don’t want me to send you some of his embarrassing baby photos? Or better yet a photo of him doing something stupid, which I know he will because our baby brother Alec will be there, and those two always get themselves into trouble when they’re together.”
“Are you going to give my phone number to Charlie?”
“Do you want me to give your phone number to Charlie?” Andrew counters.
Does he? Eden’s not entirely sure. All he knows is that he likes Andrew. He likes Charlie too, even if acknowledging it pisses Eden off and makes him mildly nauseated. Feelings are fucking stupid.
“Maybe,” Eden concedes. “For now…just you.”
“Sure.” Andrew unlocks his phone, sliding it across the table. “There’s no pressure here, okay? I need you to know that.”
“Why?” Eden asks.
“Maybe one day I’ll tell you. For now, maybe you could just trust me.”
“I don’t trust most people.”
“Me either,” Andrew admits.
It’s strange how much he looks like Charlie, yet how different he is too. None of the attraction is present despite their shared appearance, but Eden is hard-pressed to deny how much he likes Andrew, albeit in a different way.
“What if you’re wrong?” Eden asks, holding Andrew’s phone in his hand. He stares at thecreate a contact,hesitating. “What if Charlie doesn’t want anything more?”
“I’m not wrong,” Andrew asserts, somehow managing to avoid sounding cocky. “But if I was, then maybe we can still be friends. I like you, Eden. I can see why Charlie does too. Besides, we could all use another friend, right?”
Eden’s fingers hesitate over the screen while his heart lodges itself in his throat. Does he need another friend? Does he want one? Does he want Charlie? He doesn’t fucking know. Feelings confuse the fuck out of Eden, and he does everything he can to avoid having them. It’s exactly why he should shut all of this down before things get complicated. Becoming friends with Andrew, opening himself up to seeing Charlie again, are both things that are going to involve messy, complicated, confusing feelings that Eden’s spent the better part of his life avoiding.
Andrew and Charlie King are nothing but trouble. They’re good men who deserve better than Eden’s fucked up psyche and tainted past. Somehow that doesn’t make things easier. All he wants to do is scream and run, but somehow,somehowhe fucking stays.
If Charlie King is trouble, then maybe Eden wants trouble.
Unsure what the fuck he’s getting into, he adds his name and number to Andrew’s phone before passing it across the table.
“Thank you,” Andrew says, as if the promise of Eden in his and his twin brother’s life is something good. As if Eden is something besides the burden he’s always been. Then Andrew smiles, like he’s genuinely happy about what’s happening, and something very small in Eden crumbles.
What the fuck is he doing?
12CHARLIE
“Get in the car.”
“No.”
