Page 34 of The Rule Breaker (Colton U Playbook #1)

RYAN

I love sleep.

The silence. The stillness. The way my body sinks into the mattress, a half-dreamy buzz in my brain, and absolutely no responsibilities waiting for me.

What I don’t love?

The loud-ass banging that rips me right out of it.

I groan as another knock rattles through the room, echoing like a goddamn drumline in my skull. “Shut up,” I mutter into the void, dragging the pillow over my head and squeeze my eyes shut, silently begging whoever it is to go away.

No such luck.

“Ryan, you up?”

Nathan .

Shit.

My entire body goes rigid, but my brain’s still fuzzy, still catching up. I blink at the ceiling, trying to piece together why my sheets feel warmer than usual—and then freeze.

There’s someone beside me.

Someone warm. Someone soft.

My heart launches into a sprint, slamming against my ribs as I glance down and take in the absolute chaos of limbs tangled in my sheets and curly brown hair spilling across my arm.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuuuuuck.

Nathan is banging on my door.

And his sister—his very naked sister—is in my bed.

I swallow hard, every nerve lighting up like a damn fire alarm.

“Ryan?” Nathan calls again, knocking louder this time.

Panic stirs in my chest and I slide a hand over Isabella’s bare back, giving her a gentle shake. “Isabella,” I murmur.

She makes a sleepy little sound, her body curling into mine like she’s chasing the warmth. My lips twitch despite the full-body panic setting in.

Fuck, she’s cute.

Focus, dumbass .

“Bels, you need to wake up,” I whisper, a little firmer.

She shifts, groggy, her fingers dragging across my stomach as her lashes flutter open. “Ryan?”

“Yeah, baby,” I say, my voice still rough with sleep. My hand settles on her hip without thinking. “You spent the night in my bed, remember?”

Her lips curve into a lazy smile, eyes still hazy. And for a second, I completely forget I’m supposed to be panicking. All I can think about is last night. How she sounded, how she felt, how perfect she was underneath me.

And how badly I want her again.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

“Ryan, you up?”

Nathan’s voice slices through the moment like a goddamn buzzsaw. Isabella’s eyes snap open, and her whole body stiffens. Before I can say a word, she’s bolts upright and scrambles out of bed.

My eyes follow her, taking in every inch of glowing skin, every curve, every second I’m not supposed to be enjoying right now.

She’s fucking stunning.

I blink hard, trying to reboot my brain. “Yeah—uh—just give me a sec!” I shout.

Fuck, I just want to enjoy this. I’ve never slept beside a girl before—especially in my own bed—and instead of having a lazy morning, soft kisses, and morning sex, I’m picking up her clothes off the floor and tossing them toward her.

She catches them and tugs her sweatshirt over her head, sliding into her shorts a second later. She bends to grab her sneakers, and I catch myself staring again, wanting to pull her back to me, to kiss her, to do everything I’m not supposed to.

“Are you naked or something?” Nathan calls through the door. “You know I’ve seen your junk more than I’d like to, right?”

I groan. “Just—fuck. Hang on.”

I dive for my sweats, yanking them on.

Then Isabella drops to her hands and knees and crawls under the bed.

“What are you doing?” I whisper.

“What do you think?” she hisses back, halfway under already.

Jesus. This is so fucked.

I don’t want her to hide. I want her right here, preferably back in my arms, definitely not on the ground and under my bed.

But if Nathan walks in and sees her in my room?

Yeah. Goodbye balls.

“What the hell are you doing in there?” Nathan grunts from outside the door.

I let out a breath when Isabella finally gets fully under my bed, squaring my shoulders. “I’m good. You can come in,” I say, forcing my voice to sound normal.

The door swings open, and Nathan steps in. I cross my arms and lean back against the dresser, trying to look like I’m not sweating bullets.

Does this look weird? It looks weird, right?

Nathan narrows his eyes at me. “Why are you acting weird?”

“I’m not,” I say, though I know I look as guilty as a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I sit on my bed, leaning back on the mattress. “What’s up?”

“Did you forget we have practice this morning?” Nathan raises an eyebrow. “You’re late, and still half-dressed.”

Trust me. I’m more dressed than I was a few minutes ago .

“Yeah, I know. Thanks.”

I want to glance at Isabella—just a quick look, to make sure she’s still hidden—but if I do, I’m dead. Nathan will catch me, and that’s not how I plan on dying today.

Nathan groans, rubbing the back of his neck. “My shoulder is killing me.”

My eyes flick to him in desperation. Fuck, I need him to just get out.

“Can I use your massage gun real quick?”

I blink. “Yeah, sure,” I say, waving him off. My brain is still stuck on how the hell I’m gonna get Isabella out of here without Nathan noticing.

But then my eyes widen as I watch him reach for the massage gun and something clicks in my mind.

Oh, fuck no.

“NO. You cannot!” I shout, jumping on top of the massage gun, panic flooding my chest.

Nathan freezes, his eyes widening. He raises his hands, confused. “Jesus. What’s the big deal?”

“I just… don’t want to share it,” I say, shrugging, praying to whatever gods might be listening that this works.

Nathan stares at me, his eyes narrowing. “What? Why not?”

Shit. What do I say? I can’t tell him the truth—that would traumatize him and seal my fate in one shot.

“I… I…” I let out a long sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration. “I came on it.”

Fuck my life.

Nathan’s face drops. “ What ?”

Fuck, am I really doing this? There’s no turning back now. “I was jerking off, and?—”

“No,” Nathan cuts me off, shaking his head, holding his hand up to stop me. “Jesus fucking Christ. I did not need to hear that.”

“You asked,” I point out.

“And I fucking regret it.” He glares at me, muttering under his breath. “Fucking hell, I’ll buy my own massage gun.”

Without another word, he storms out of my room, slamming the door behind him.

I stand there for a second, breathing out a deep sigh of relief.

“You can come out now,” I tell Isabella, watching her slowly crawl from under the bed, her lips pressed together in amusement.

“Really?” she asks, arching a brow. “That was the best you could come up with?”

I roll my eyes, trying to push down the embarrassment. “I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t want to traumatize him, baby,” I tell her, my hands instinctively reaching out to smooth her messy curls away from her face.

Her sleepy eyes meet mine, and a small smile tugs at her lips. She looks so damn cute without an ounce of makeup, just glowing in the soft morning light. All I want to do is pull her back into bed, wrap her in my arms, and just hold her. Kiss her more. Touch her more. Fuck her again.

But we both know we can’t.

“Any ideas how to sneak me out of here?” Isabella asks.

I chuckle, already formulating a plan in my head. “We need a diversion.” I grab my phone, quickly typing out a message to Austin.

Me:

I need a diversion. No questions asked.

I hit send, tapping my fingers nervously against the screen as I wait. I’m not sure if he’ll come through, but I can only hope.

Before I have time to second-guess myself, a loud crash echoes from downstairs, followed by some yelling.

Isabella raises a brow, a grin tugging at the corners of her lips. “Was that the diversion?”

I shrug. “Why don’t we find out?”

I walk toward the door, peeking out through the crack. The hallway is empty.

“C’mon,” I mutter, holding out my hand to her.

She follows me down the hall, her soft footsteps echoing behind me.

“Are you five years old?” Nathan’s voice floats up from downstairs. “How the hell did you break all of our plates?”

I stifle a laugh as we slowly descend the stairs. That was one hell of a diversion.

“It just slipped, alright?” Austin replies.

The yelling gets louder as we move down, and I round the staircase, heading toward the back exit. We turn the corner, and I slip through the hallway to the door. I hold it open for Isabella, letting her go first.

She squeezes past me, heading outside, but before she can fully step out, I tug on her wrist, pulling her back toward me.

Her eyes widen in confusion. “Wha?—”

I cut her off, leaning down and crashing my lips to hers. My hands cup her face, feeling the softness of her skin beneath my fingertips.

When I pull back, I can’t help but smile, smoothing a few stray strands of her hair from her face. “Couldn’t let you leave without doing that.”

Her smile widens, a playful glint in her eyes as she shakes her head. “Just say you’re obsessed with me already,” she teases, leaning in to press another kiss to my lips before stepping back.

I chuckle quietly, watching her slip through the door. I close it behind her, leaning my forehead against it.

She’s not wrong. I’m fucking obsessed with that girl, and it scares the hell out of me.

I pull my phone out, the screen buzzing with a message. Austin’s name flashes across the screen.

Austin:

You’re welcome.

Also, we need new plates.

I can’t help but laugh, shaking my head.

Fuck, that was way too close.

And yet, I regret nothing.