Page 29 of Breaking the Rules
“I know,” I whispered.The weight of it was never far from my mind.
“Are you sure about this?”Felix asked, his voice softer now.“Really sure?This isn’t just some...I don’t know, forbidden fruit fantasy?He’s powerful, Charlie.And you’re in a really vulnerable position.”
My thumb rubbed a slow circle over the hidden mark on my collarbone.I thought of his control, yes.But I also thought of the way it had shattered.I thought of the fear in his eyes when he’d burst into my apartment, the raw terror that I’d chosen someone else.I thought of the quiet concentration on his face as he whisked eggs in my chipped bowl.
“I’m sure,” I said, and the conviction in my own voice surprised me.“It’s messy.It’s complicated.It’s probably the riskiest thing I’ve ever done.But...it’s real.What I feel is real.And I think what he feels is, too.”
Another long look passed between my friends.
Finally, Shay’s serious expression cracked, replaced by a slow, familiar grin.“Well, shit.Our boy’s in love with a billionaire.”
Heat exploded across my face.“I didn’t say that!”
“You didn’t have to,” Felix said, a smirk playing on his lips.“You’ve got that gooey, just-got-laid-and-also-fed look.It’s disgusting.”
I threw a couch pillow at the screen, which accomplished nothing except making them both laugh.
“Alright, alright,” Shay chuckled, settling down.“Serious hat back on for one more second.”He leaned in.“Just...be careful, yeah?We’ve got your back, no matter what.If this goes sideways, you’re not alone.But for the record...”His grin returned, wide and wicked.“I think it’s kinda badass.You tamed the dragon.”
“He’s not a dragon,” I protested, but I was smiling now too, a full, unreserved smile that made my cheeks ache.
“Sure he isn’t,” Felix deadpanned.“He just breathes fire and hoards gold.Totally different.”
We fell into easier banter then, the tension broken.They told me about the rookie Shay was terrorizing, about Coach’s latest meltdown.It was normal.It was my life.And for the first time, it felt like this new, terrifying, exhilarating part with Henry might actually fit into it.
As we were winding down, about to hang up, Shay’s eyes narrowed.“Hey, what are you doing with your hand?”
I froze.I hadn’t even realized I’d been absently tracing the line of my collarbone again, right over the hoodie.
“Nothing,” I said too quickly, dropping my hand.
Shay’s grin turned feline.“Uh-huh.He left a mark, didn’t he?The bastard marked his territory.”
Felix groaned.“I don’t want to know.My brain is already polluted.”
“Shut up,” I mumbled, but I was laughing, a real laugh, free and clear.
“Alright, loverboy,” Shay said.“We’ll let you go dream of your sugar daddy.Just remember: if he buys you a sports car, I get to drive it.”
We said our goodbyes and the screen went black.
Silence settled back over my apartment, but it was a good silence.The kind filled with the echoes of friendship and the quiet hum of a new, fragile hope.
I pulled the neck of my hoodie aside and looked down at the faint, bruising kiss mark in the mirror across the room.A claim, yes.But also a promise.
Shay was wrong.I hadn’t tamed a dragon.
Maybe, just maybe, the dragon had decided to build a nest.And for some inexplicable, wonderful reason, he wanted me in it.
