Page 51 of Breaking the Rules of Love

“I thought it would be hard on her if I started dating during her formative years,” she continues. “So I remained single. But in retrospect, I think I may have set a bad example, and maybe that’s part of where she gets this idea thatsheshould remain single now too.”

“Ah.” I nod. “I see.”

“But I thought when she met a good guy like you, she might put that all behind her,” she says, patting me on the knee. “You seem like such a great guy.”

Well, there’s one hurdle covered. Winning over the mother. Of course, that’s something guys normally think will be harder or more daunting than actually getting with the girl. Not when it comes to Sadie, apparently.

“Thank you,” I say. “But yes, it’s that damn no-relationship rule that I’ve been trying to break down since we met.”

“Trust me, Jake.” Her mother smiles, shaking her head. “I’ve been trying to get her to drop that for a while now. So far, nothing I’ve said has worked.”

I sigh and lean against the back of the couch. Maybe this is it—the news I’ve been waiting for. The reality check. Maybe some battles just aren’t meant to be won.

“I’ve even thought about kidnapping her and taking her to a therapist,” her mom laughs, rolling her eyes.

Mrs. Reynolds is smiling away, and I’m pretty sure she’s talking too, but her little joke just triggered something inside of me, and I’m no longer able to listen.

There’s an idea now forming in my mind. An even riskier idea than the one I just came up with that could blow back in my face but could also fix everything between us. And I’m tired of sitting around waiting to see if something changes with her.

It’s time for me to make aseriouslybold move.

36

Sadie

Another evening,another talk from my mom about how I need to settle down with a nice man and give up my slut-ways. At least that’s what Ithoughtlast night was going to be. But as it turned out, Mom ended up coming over and just hanging out with me and not saying a word about any of that.

We made spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread, watched some nature show on television that my mom wanted to watch, and then she left. All in all, it was basically a good night. I don’t feel good saying I’m surprised about it, but I sort of am.

I didn’t hear from Jake, either. I’m not sure whether I should be surprised about that or not.

On one hand, I did kind of march out of his house after telling him that the conversation we were having was totally inappropriate and could be considered breaking my no-relationship rule, and I could see why that would piss him off enough to not contact me. But on the other hand, this is Jake we’re talking about here, and he’s never been the kind of man to back down. Especially when it has to do with me.

So I’m not sure whether I’m hurt or not. Or if I am, whether I even have the right to be. After all, if he was backing off and waiting for me to get in contact with him, wouldn’t that be pretty much exactly what I told him to do?

You’re a mess, Sadie.

“Yeah, I know,” I grumble, as I get up from the couch and take my dishes to the sink. I made myself a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and blueberries for breakfast this morning, finishing off the last of the oatmeal and berries in the process. This means I’ll have to go to the grocery store, and seeing as how I don’t have work until this evening, I guess there’s no better time than now.

I grab my keys from the bowl on the counter and slip into my shoes. I glance out the window at Jake’s house. It seems awfully quiet for today. His truck is in the driveway, but there’s nothing else going on. The lights are all off at his house, the windows are closed, and the blinds are down. It’s almost like no one is home.

But there must be if his truck is there…

“Weird,” I mutter to myself as I step outside and look the front door behind me. It’s a safe neighborhood, but there’s no reason not to be careful. Especially with Howard lurking around lately.

“Hey, you.” The voice behind me startles me so badly I nearly jump out of my skin.

I spin around, clutching my keys and my phone, and see Jake standing behind me. He’s grinning and walks right up to me before I have a chance to recover. “Good morning. It is a nice morning, isn’t it?”

“J-Jake,” I stammer like an idiot. “

He takes my hand in his, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t control the strong sense of security that comes over me as he does so.

“How are ya doing?” He smiles as he starts to lead me down the lawn, away from my car and toward his truck.

“W-where are we going?” I ask, but before I know it, I’m being lifted into the passenger seat.

“You looked like you were going somewhere,” he says with that grin. That charming grin always goes right through me. “Why don’t I give you a ride?”

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