Page 52 of Rules for Rule Breaking

“You talk in your sleep, you know,” he said, smirking.

“I do not.”

“You do too.”

“What was I talking about?”

“About how much you love me and how sorry you are for torturing me for the better part of a decade.”

Winter pushed his arm. “You’re such a dick. I was not. How did I end up here anyway?”

He pushed her back. “We got back from getting food, smoked some more, and watched a couple episodes ofCosmos. I think it wasa bit of a system overload for our brains, so we knocked out early.”

“Right. And your shirt?”

“You turned the thermostat up to, like, a billion. I was boiling.”

“I like to be warm while I’m sleeping.”

“You set it on hell.”

“Well, you could have turned it down.”

“I don’t touch thermostats around you after that one time.”

She remembered how mad she’d gotten when he’d turned the air conditioner up at her house and her parents blamed her for it. She let all the air out of her lungs.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“For what?”

“I don’t know. I’m just sorry.”

Bobby kept looking at the ceiling. “Since we’re technically breaking a rule right now, I want to tell you something.” The way he was looking at her made her nervous, but Winter nodded. “I had fun last night.”

The pit in Winter’s stomach returned. “It had its moments.”

Bobby rolled over to face her, so she did the same. “I’ve always tried to imagine what it would look like if we were friends. I think it would look a lot like last night.”

Winter laughed without meaning to. “Why would you imagine that?”

“Because you’re the only person who doesn’t like me, and it’s infuriating.”

Winter rolled back over and looked at the ceiling. She bit her lip and glanced at Bobby from the corner of her eye. “You’ve seen how shitty of a friend I am. Trust me, you’re not missing out.”

“Emmy doesn’t—”

He stopped abruptly, midsentence.

“Bobby?” Winter asked. “What happened? Is it anaphylactic shock?”

His face dropped color, and his stomach made the most terrible noise. He got up and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. She heard him retch and immediately realized what had happened.

It was the cheese.

Winter Park

23. WE WILL NOT FRATERNIZE OUTSIDE OF RULE BREAKING