Page 2 of Rulebreaker

“Excuse me,” she says softly, pushing back her chair and striding for the privacy of the hallway of The Sapphire Room.

It’s the club my friends and I own, one we started to honor Colt, and now a place that has become a second home for us.

My eyes linger on the entrance to the hall for long enough that Dash kicks my foot.

Hard.

“Dude,” he mutters, “you need to pull it together.”

“Seriously,” Royal says, “you’re givingwhippeda bad name.”

“Pot meet kettle.” My words are terse, filled with warning.

One they all ignore.

Because they’re my friends. But they’re also my family.

And because our love language is giving each other shit.

I ignore Banks when he says, “You need to ask her out.”

And Briar whenshesays, “Exactly. He needs to shit or get off the pot.”

“Maybe we should all give Atlas a break,” Jade, the nicest of us, murmurs.

“Or maybe he needs a push,” Willow, who’s also nice, but whose wicked streak comes out more frequently now that she and Dash have fallen in love. “I know I did.”

“I need another drink,” I growl, shoving up to my feet and striding to the bar, trying very hard to keep my gaze away from that empty hallway where Lily disappeared.

It’s just…

She’s taken a lot of phone calls tonight.

Like an obscene amount—and that’s saying something, considering my cell is perpetually glued to my ear.

That’s why I leave my empty glass on the bar, turn for the hall.

Her voice reaches me before I see her.

“...I’m not trying to be dramatic Erin, but that’s not going to work for me.”

I frown, move a little closer, drifting through the corridor and toward the woman standing near to the door to the parking lot, phone to her ear, chin to her chest, tension wound tightly through every inch of her frame.

My frown deepens.

Because this isn’t the Lily I’ve come to know over the last months.

She’s light and joy, mirth and mischief…not this picture of frustration with a hint of gloominess.

As if the weight she’s carrying is heavy.

Tooheavy.

When every interaction I’ve had with her before now makes it seem as if worldwide stardom has barely touched her.

I step closer and she starts, head jerking up, eyes going wide for a heartbeat before I see it.

A mask slipping back into place.