Page 143 of Forgotten Rules (Rules 4)

Only then do I become aware that I’m butt naked—duh, I had sex over and over again last night—and tug the blanket up my bare body. The motion catches Will’s eye.

His head whips my way.

And his features light up.

“Hey, baby, you’re awake.”

I’m overwhelmed with relief.

He doesn’t look panicked, like he’s drowning in guilt. His cursing doesn’t seem to have been about us.

“Did I wake you?” he asks.

“Let’s see, did you cursing like a sailor wake me?” I crinkle my nose. “Nah. All good.”

A small smile warps his lips.

“Sorry.” He rubs at the back of his neck anxiously.

Something’s up.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah. It’s just… the fight with Haze is tomorrow. I kind of let myself forget with…” He pauses. “Everything going on.”

He’s not alone. I’ve been so focused on him lately that the stupid fight Haze challenged my brother to ages ago completely slipped my mind. Part of me was hoping Haze would come to his senses and cancel it beforehand. He clearly doesn’t need a deal to spend time with my cousin.

“That still on?”

He scoffs. “Unless Haze grew a conscience overnight, yeah.”

What’s to say he didn’t? He and Winter left together yesterday after dinner, and we didn’t hear anyone, not even my brother, come home last night—except my mom, who came back from her night shift at 4:00 a.m. Who knows what happened between them? Is Haze having a change of heart really that far-fetched?

“Is that what you were texting about?” I gesture to his phone lying screen-down on my bed.

“Yeah, I have to be at training in thirty minutes. We won’t be able to catch a fucking break the next few days. Kendrick’s going to get his ass handed to him unless we…” He stops short.

The reminder seems to weigh him down. Kendrick. His best friend. We completely forgot about him last night.

Didn’t once bring up the “best friend’s sister” dilemma while we were getting together—ahhh, we’re together—or going at it against the wall. No way around it. We’re going to have to tell my brother we’re dating. Soon. Will’s mood switches from worried to distant in a blink.

“I, huh… I should go.” He clears his throat.

Oh hell no.

He does not get to shut me out again.

Not after we slept together.

Not after he didn’t say it back.

I told him I loved him last night, and in response, he crawled down my body, spread my thighs, and gave me the third-biggest orgasm of my life. I tried not to overthink it—it was pretty damn hard to be mad with his face between my legs—but now that we’ve come back down to earth, I’m a bit… sad? Why didn’t he say it back? Did I read his fairy-tale declaration wrong?

Come to think of it, nowhere in his speech did he say he loved me. He talked about “wanting to be with me” but never, not once, brought up the L word.

Ouch.

I watch Will roam my room in search of his pants, feeling like a dumbass whose one-night stand is leaving before blocking her on everything.