Fair Game (The Rules #1)

  Fine, same with me. But I’m a changed man, damn it. Thanks to Jade.

  Hmm, Jade. Thinking of her immediately has my dick twitching. The shape of her mouth and the way it stretches when she smiles. How the color of her lips is the same pale pink shade as her nipples. The taste of her nipples, the way she moans and writhes beneath me when I suck on them. How slick and wet she is every time I slip my fingers between her legs. Every time. Always wet, only for me. Drives me out of my fucking mind.

  Just thinking about her like this, with my friends in the middle of a very busy restaurant, is driving me out of my mind. I need to stop.

  So I do.

  Tristan is unusually quiet this morning, shoveling food in his mouth, his head bent as if he’s staring at his plate. He’s not very talkative. None of us have been. Hell, I’d considered skipping our traditional breakfast meeting and I never do that.

  When you have a warm, naked girl in your bed, you’re willing to skip just about anything to spend a few more minutes with her.

  “It’s…good,” I finally answer somewhat lamely. It’s beyond good but I don’t want to sound like a starry-eyed kid. What exactly does Gabe want to know? If it’s dirty details, forget it. That’s between Jade and me. We have plenty of dirty details. Lots of them. But those are ours and no one else’s.

  “Really? Good? That’s all you have to say?” Tristan lifts his head, his gaze zeroed in on mine. He looks tired. Skeptical. Irritated. I know this semester has been kicking his ass and he can’t wait for it to be over. We’ve all been ready to make our escape from this town these last few weeks, especially Tristan and I since we spent the entire last summer here.

  But now? For me? There’s no rush. I want to savor every moment with Jade before school’s done and she leaves. I don’t know what’s going to happen after we leave. And I’m almost afraid to ask.

  “Well, it’s definitely not bad,” I say irritably, pushing my plate away from me. My appetite is gone. I hate it when they corner me, question me, act like I’m crazy for wanting to spend time with Jade and not them. I think they’re just jealous.

  “Tell me what it’s like though,” Gabe urges, his expression…sincere. “You aren’t bored yet?”

  “Not even close,” I mutter, grabbing my cup of coffee and taking a big swig. It’s lukewarm at best and I put too much creamer in it so it tastes like absolute shit.

  “She must know some real magic tricks in the sack then, huh? Let’s not forget she has that amazing mouth…” Gabe’s voice drifts and when I send him a dirty look, he immediately appears contrite. “Sorry dude. You know what I’m talking about.”

  I know exactly what he’s talking about. Her mouth is the stuff of my every wicked dream. She knows how to use it too. But I don’t need to hear my best friend go on about Jade’s mouth like he wants to sample it.

  The mere thought of him only looking at her lips makes me want to rip his eyes out of his head. I’ve turned into a possessive caveman when it comes to Jade and that makes no fucking sense whatsoever.

  “Listen.” I lean forward and rest my elbows on the edge of the table, staring at the both of them like I mean business. Which I do. “Jade is…off limits. We don’t need to talk about her. Not like we do with other girls.”

  “You mean the ones we hook up with?” Tristan asks, both eyebrows raised.

  “Yeah. Those ones,” I say slowly, irritated that I even have to make this new rule. But hell, they don’t get it. Any other girl, I’d be talking about her, because I’d already be done with her. How good she was in bed—or how bad. What sort of kisser she was. Hell, sometimes we’d rate them, especially back in the early days when we were young and total shitheads.

  If I had to rate Jade now, she wouldn’t even register on the scale, she’s that good. But no way am I going to say that out loud. They wouldn’t get it. Hell, I barely get it. Why exactly has she become so important? What is it about her that makes her so different from the other girls I’ve been with? It’s like the minute I kissed her, touched her, everything changed. I want no one else. Need no one else.

  Just her.

  Worse? I have no idea if she feels the same way. The uncertainty kills me and I don’t know how to deal with it. I’ve never had to deal with it and that’s my problem. She makes me straight up crazy. In both the worst and best possible ways.

  “So you get serious about a chick and you’re suddenly no fun.” Gabe shakes his head, his disappointment palpable. “That sucks, bro.”

  “Never thought I’d see this day happen,” Tristan adds as he balls up his napkin and tosses it on top of his empty plate. “I just lost my appetite.”

  I decide not to remind him that he’d already eaten all his food. “What, are you in mourning now? Give me a break. You are both assholes.”

  “This is college,” Tristan says, stressing the last word. “The land of opportunity. Not a time for you to get serious about some young chick. Dude, she’s a freshman, barely out of high school! The girl doesn’t know shit. She hasn’t even lived. What do you think will happen when you bring her home to mom and dad, huh? Your mom is gonna chew her up and spit her back out in seconds.”

  I push the worry out of my head that Tristan’s words bring. He has a point. But I don’t care what my parents think and it’s not like I’m bringing her to meet them. I’m not that serious about Jade, not yet. It’s only been about a month. Granted, the best month of my life but still.

  “Screw all this Shep’s got a girlfriend talk,” Gabe says irritably. “We have more pressing matters to discuss.”

  “Like what?” I ask.

  “Like when are we going to close down the house? Business is slow. Attendance is down. The semester’s almost finished and there’s no point in stringing this out.” Gabe nods once. “I vote we shut her down right now.”

  “Without one last weekend blowout event? Hell no.” Tristan shakes his head. “We’ll shut it down after Saturday. Let’s organize something, put together an end of the season event or whatever.”

  “End of the season?” I send him a look. “I didn’t realize gambling had a season.”

  Tristan shrugs. “It does when your clientele are college students. “

  “Do we have enough time to organize an event?” Gabe asks.

  “Absolutely. I’ll get started on the deets today. Trust me. It’ll be awesome. But we’ll all have to work Saturday night. Even you, Mister I’m in a Real Relationship,” Gabe says, pointing at me.

  Great. I was hoping to spend Saturday night with Jade. Maybe I could convince her to come. She hates that place—and I guess I can’t blame her—but I’d like her with me that night.

  “I’ll be there,” I reassure the both of them. I’m not about to shirk my responsibilities, though I know they both believe I’ll blow them off first chance I get. Not with this though. The house is business. I don’t do it for the money but we’re so caught up in it now, no way can I abandon it. It’s a project that took on a life of its own and I’m one-third responsible for it.

  My phone buzzes and I pull it out of my pocket, eager to see if it’s Jade.

  Imagine my disappointment when I realize it’s Mom.

  What are your plans this weekend?

  My heart starts to thump erratically and not in a good way. Why the hell is she asking me that?

  Don’t tell me you’re coming to see me.

  Gabe and Tristan are talking big plans for Saturday night. Free beer (need to put a limit on that). Special two-for-one deals (that needs a limit too). All sorts of special crap to draw people in before we shut down.

  My phone buzzes again.

  That’s exactly what I was going to tell you. Only for one night though. Your father has business in Los Angeles this weekend. Thought we’d drop by and see you for dinner Saturday.

  Fucking great.

  “My parents are coming this weekend,” I mutter to no one in particular, still staring at the screen of my phone.

  “Get out,” Tristan says.
“Why?”

  I lift my head and glare at him. “Not joking. Mom just texted me. They’ll be here Saturday night. They want to have dinner.”

  “But you have plans,” Gabe points out.

  Plans for the illegal gambling house I run with them that my parents know nothing about. If they found out, they’d fucking flip.

  “I can work the later shift. No way will she let me skip out on dinner,” I say grimly.

  “That fucking sucks,” Gabe says. “Maybe you should take your girl. Get that whole scenario out of the way.”

  Say the fuck what? Why does Gabe keep talking about my parents and Jade? Like I’d want to subject Jade to them anyway.

  “Tell me about it.” I shake my head and glance down at my phone, deciding I need to answer her.

  Sounds good. Call me when you get in.

  Will do, darling. Maybe you should bring a friend. Bonus points if she’s a girl.

  Is my mother a mind reader or what? I break out into a cold sweat just reading that latest text.

  There’s no one special in my life.

  I throw out a bogus answer in the hopes it distracts her.

  That’s not what I heard.

  Glancing up, I send a hard glare in Tristan’s direction until he can feel my eyes on him. He turns his head, his eyes going wide. “What’s up with you gossiping with your mama? And mine?” I ask.

  Tristan at least has the decency to look embarrassed. “What are you talking about?”

  “Somehow my mom knows there’s a girl in my life?” Hell, did Tristan set me up or what? The asshole.

  Now he’s blushing. And I’ve never seen him blush. “I was bored. Mom called. I kept talking. One thing led to another and…”

  “You told her about Jade,” I finish for him.

  “Yeah. Sort of.” He nods. “Sorry. She worked it out of me.”

  Great. It’s not that I don’t want to bring Jade to dinner with my parents. It’s more that I don’t want her to meet them. Yet. Shit, I don’t know what I want. It feels too soon. We don’t know each other that well. I mean yeah, I’m feeling pretty head over heels for her, which is fucking crazy but to bring my family into it makes everything seem so damn serious.

  And I’m not sure if I’m ready for that.

  “So I have some news!”

  I wince at Mom’s too loud, too excited voice in my ear. I haven’t really talked to her in weeks, not since I started hanging out with Shep and I’d been feeling guilty. Mom and I are close. It’s been the two of us against the world for a long time and when I went away to college, she was a little sad. I knew she’d miss me but I didn’t want her miserable while I’m off becoming an actual adult.

  But then she met Dex and they started going out pretty steadily. We haven’t met yet but she’s told me enough about him and I can sense he’s a pretty cool guy. He treats Mom well and that’s all I can ask for.

  He also occupies all of her time. Not that I have any room to talk. The minute Shep walks into my life, he’s all I can think about. Forget anyone else. Forget my freaking mother, which is awful. So yeah, I haven’t called her lately, but she hasn’t really called me either so I guess we’re both totally preoccupied with the men in our lives?

  The fact that I even have a man in my life—a man like stupid sexy Shep—is a thrill that I still can’t get over. I’m freaking pathetic, I swear.

  “What’s your news?” I ask cheerily as I walk across campus. I just left class and I’m feeling good. School’s almost over. I’m confident about my finals. Oh, and it’s a perfect spring day. The sky is so blue it looks fake, and the cool breeze brings with it the salty tang of the ocean. I sort of hate that I have class until late tonight. It’s my last one of the semester and we turn in the final next week.

  Hmm, I bet I could ditch if I wanted. I might. I might text Shep and see if he’ll pick me up early so we could go back to his place and get naked and…

  “…so it sold! In less than forty-eight hours! Can you believe it? Let me tell you, it was about the most exciting thing that’s happened to me in a long time, I swear!” Mom yells.

  Wait a minute. What did she just say?

  “Back it up, Mom. I think I missed the first part,” I mumble, dread creeping over me, settling like a cold lump in the pit of my stomach. I don’t know if I’m going to like what she’s about to repeat. To say I’m quietly freaking out would be apt.

  “I sold the house, sweetie! And I sold it for such a huge profit you would be shocked. Thanks to the remodel, we were able to ask for a much higher price and it turned into this crazy bidding war. I’ve never seen anything like it.” She laughs, sounding shocked and dazed and confused and so incredibly happy, I sort of want to bite my tongue so I don’t say anything at all to ruin her good mood.

  But I can’t help myself. Because I’m sort of pissed. So here I go.

  “Um, why didn’t you tell me you were selling the house?” I ask incredulously as I come to a full stop in the middle of the sidewalk. A guy walking right behind me runs into me, his backpack plowing into my arm with a heavy thud and I send him a dirty look when he glares at me from over his shoulder.

  Yeah, yeah it was my fault but still.

  “Well, I thought I did tell you,” she says tentatively and I glance around, spotting an empty bench nearby. I rush toward it, tossing my backpack on it before I sit. “I swore I did. Didn’t I mention it to you the last time we talked?”

  That would be a hell no. I think I’d remember something as important as my mother selling the only home I’d ever known. “No, you didn’t.”

  “I didn’t tell you that’s why I was having the remodel done? It wasn’t for my enjoyment, though I wish I would’ve done it sooner.” Her voice lowers. “You should see the kitchen, sweetheart. Beautiful appliances, granite countertops, and the new cabinets…it’s like kitchen heaven. It’s gorgeous.”

  I sigh. “Mom, focus. You never told me this, I promise. I wish…I wish you would’ve consulted with me first before you put it up for sale.” Not that she needed my permission, but that was my home too, and now she sold it in less than forty-eight hours. Like it meant nothing to her.

  “I swear I did, sweetie. Oh, I feel so terrible.” She makes a tsking noise and I know she’s fretting so of course, I feel terrible too. “Trust me, this was the best thing for me to do. With you out of the house, I realized I wanted something smaller. Dex helped me out with the remodel, got me the right financing so I took a little equity out of the house and now I have enough money that if I’m really lucky, I’ll be able to pay cash outright for the next one!”

  The way she keeps talking, I can envision an exclamation point after every single sentence she says. It’s rather unnerving. I don’t want to squash her excitement but crap. She sold my house. Where’s all my stuff going to go? “I’m not necessarily out of the house, Mom. I planned on coming home this summer. And the next few summers after this one.”

  “Yeah…” Her voice trails off and my stomach clenches, that cold lump of dread turning even colder. This doesn’t sound good. “About that.”

  “What about it?” I clutch my phone tight, glancing around the campus. Everyone looks happy. Carefree. Like they’ve got no problems. I feel like my entire world is about to cave in on me, all because of a house that really shouldn’t matter but somehow, it does.

  “Is there any sort of student housing you can look into over the summer? I know it’s so last minute—”

  “It’s beyond last minute,” I interrupt, trying to contain my anger, but it’s right there, just bubbling beneath the surface. It’s almost May and she’s asking about summer student housing? Is she out of her mind?

  “I know, I know.” She sighs. “I’ve been so caught up in everything and I only just realized you still planned on coming home when you have no home to come home to. I’m not sure what we can do about that.”

  I’m stunned. It’s not like my mom to be so…flighty. I blame the new guy. If Shep can evaporate my brain
cells with a sexy look and a long kiss, I can only imagine Mom is suffering from the same thing with her new man. “How long is your escrow, Mom?”

  “Thirty days, but I’d planned on staying with Dex while I look for another house.” She pauses. “We could do that, I suppose. The two of us stay at Dex’s house together. He has a guest room. We can put the majority of your stuff in storage along with everything else. That sounds fun doesn’t it?”

  No, it sounds freaking awful. No way do I want to stay at Dex’s house. I don’t even know this guy. “Let me look into other options,” I say, trying my best to keep my temper under control but I gotta admit. I’m super pissed about this. And worried. Where will I live? How will I be able to afford it? What in the world am I going to do?

  “Aw honey, don’t be mad! We’ll figure this out. We always do. I have some money so I can help.” She’s prattling on, telling me to think positive, that I can come home just like I planned but my decision has already been made.

  I’m not going back there. How can I?

  But how can I stay here?

  Stress makes me extremely bitchy.

  This is not a new realization. I discovered this little fact back in middle school, when I had a huge science project due and the group I worked with was full of incompetent a-holes who didn’t care if they got a good grade or not. Being the obsessed with grades girl that I was—and still am, sort of—this made me insane. It pushed me to the point that I yelled and screamed at my stupid group, took over the entire project, completed it all on my own and turned it in. All while informing my teacher that I was the one who did everything and the rest of them did nothing.

  I received an A on that project. Everyone else failed. They hated me. I didn’t care. They got what they deserved in my eyes. Yes, I know this makes me a bit of a stress monster but I’ve relaxed since then, thank goodness.

  That was the first of many blowouts. I’ve contained them over the years. Learned how to control myself. I have a temper. People blame my red hair, which is so incredibly stupid but hey, maybe they’re right. I can get so flipping mad over stuff sometimes, it’s ridiculous. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve calmed down. It’s not worth getting so worked up, you know? All it does is stress me out.