Page 27 of Forgotten Rules (Rules 4)

“I’m not against relationships. I think they can be good.” His eyes meet mine. “Just not for me.”

Silence ensues.

I snort. “Deep.”

He fights a smile. “Shut up.”

“Let me guess, Willy’s afraid of commitment?”

“It’s not that I’m afraid of it, I’m just not…” He pauses. “Interested in it. Feels kind of pointless to me. Like it would only make my life more complicated. Plus, aren’t relationships just watching someone slowly get sick of you anyway?”

His last question bounces around in my head. That’s exactly what my father used to say. Also what I’ve been saying since my disastrous breakup with Blake. The difference is, in my case, I’ve always known this was nothing but a temporary feeling. I can’t imagine feeling like this forever.

A life without love?

That’s way too sad.

“Man, you must be horny all the time if you think that way.”

Smirking, he stares me dead in the eyes and says, “I said I don’t do love, control freak. I never said I don’t fuck.”

My cheeks combust.

I’m so unfamiliar with the way these words make me feel I’m tempted to sink underwater to try and wash the blush off me. I swear if I could hold my breath without dying, I’d be gone by now. So, he has meaningless hookups? Is he good? I wonder if he has a big…

Heart.

“So, you’re a hit it once and quit it kind of guy. Noted.”

“Eh. More like hit it again and again, then quit

it,” he shamelessly admits.

I wonder if he’s better than Blake.

Probably.

Everybody’s better than Blake.

“What can I say? They always come back for more,” he says as a joke, but I know it’s true.

Well, he sure is honest.

“Must be nice. Never getting attached.”

“It’s not that hard, really. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult for some girls to differentiate sex and love.”

“Spoken like a guy who’s never been in a relationship.”

His smile falters for a split second.

Oh, don’t think I didn’t catch that, Willy.

“Who was it?”

“Who?” he asks.

“The girl who broke your heart.”