Page 84 of Unbroken Rules (Rules 3)

Crap. Maybe I should’ve kept my mouth shut.

“I mean, I’m not sure. He just said he had to go back home. He and Kendrick got into a huge fight. He didn’t go back to you?”

She traps her lip between her teeth, pain flashing in her gaze. “No, he didn’t. Today’s the first time I’ve seen him since he left with Kendrick four months ago.”

What the hell?

“But he was such a wreck over you. I could’ve sworn—”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s over.” She shuts me out. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

I’m about to fight her on this, to try and piece back their relationship together, but composure depletes from my body when I stare ahead of me.

My heart breaks all over again.

Haze.

He just walked out of a jewelry store, holding a small see-through bag. In a perfect world, he’d walk in the opposite direction, turn away, and never notice me. But in this one?

He heads right toward us.

One second is enough. He gives us a quick, careless glance. Then his eyes widen as if the information just registered.

Right away, he does a double take.

My gaze collides with the iciest blue eyes I’ve ever known, and the feelings I’ve been repressing infiltrate my cracked heart.

“Shit, is that Haze?” Kass comes in late to the party.

Both Kass and Allie grab my arm and begin dragging me in the opposite direction. But I know it’s pointless. That’s Haze we’re talking about. He saw me. He isn’t about to just let me run off. As predicted, he sprints over to me in record time. Dark circles rim his eyes. He looks exhausted. I flinch under his gaze and stare at my feet.

“Hey,” he says, almost in a whisper.

“Hey? That’s all you have to say. Hey?” Allie gets all up in his face like an overprotective watchdog.

“Five minutes, that’s all I want,” he begs, and I pray that Allie won’t fall for it. I know that she likes him. If it were up to her, we’d be together forever and have a thousand babies.

Allie’s eyes ask if I’m okay with talking to him. Am I? I don’t know. Part of me wants to run to him, hide into his arms, forget any of this happened. But the other… the other is crumbling when he stands this close to me.

Succumbing to the pressure, I nod.

“You have one minute,” Allie says before dragging Kass two steps away to listen.

Silence.

My eyes remain fixated on the ground.

“Winter, look at me.”

I draw a sharp breath and oblige. Looking into his eyes makes it all that much worse. Pain slices through my beating heart like butter. Like it was meant to be there. Like it was meant to destroy me.

“I’ve been calling,” he starts.

“I know.”

“Texting, too.”

“I know.”