Page 13 of Unwritten Rules

Fuck, I can’t unsee the look in her eyes. It haunts me every damn day. Even when I dream, which is a damn rarity, I can’t escape the pain there either.

I can’t stop myself as my head tips back onto the headrest of the oversized office chair, letting the memory of Henry and Liv’s wedding assail me once again.

* * *

“Now,” Caden’s voice booms over the mic, “let’s get the wedding party out on the dancefloor with Peachy and the Grump.” He flashes a self-satisfied wink alongside his shit-eating grin at a droll Henry. “Come on then, folks, move your asses!”

Mila rises from her seat beside me, grabbing my hand and pulling insistently.

“Come on, before I’m left to partner up with Caden. He’ll do something like pinch my bum just to get a rise out of my brother!”

Chuckling low in my chest, I shrug while nodding easily. She’s not wrong there.

Still holding her tiny hand, I follow Mila out onto the dance floor set amongst the surrounding forest in Devon, where the new Mr and Mrs DeMarco had tied the knot in utterly excessive fashion – not that I’d expect less from a DeMarco, in fairness.

I tug my dance partner’s hand gently, spinning her around and into my waiting arms to pull her close as Misdirection begins to play. Beau Maxwell, their burly drummer, is singing in Cade’s place – his deep chocolatey voice breaking into an acoustic version of “Rewrite The Stars.”

Mila’s golden eyes find mine as they widen impossibly.

“Shit, I didn’t think he’d actually do it!”

I can’t hold back my laughter. This girl is one of the very few people who can easily bring my true emotion to the forefront – another reason we’ve spent basically every weekend together over the last two years since the incident that changed the course of so many lives.

She’s a safe place to be me. A true friend – and fuck knows, I don’t have many of them. Not truly.

Still slowly rotating across the dance floor, I can see several other couples have joined in. “You didn’t think he’d do what, exactly, Mila?”

She worries her pink lip between her teeth, narrowing her eyes in contemplation before deciding to disclose whatever it is she’s referring to.

“Well…I was joking with Beau earlier and he said Caden had laid very specific rules. For the setlist, you know?”

Her wide eyes meet mine, seeking acknowledgement, so I nod encouragingly.

“So…I dared him. To play whatever his heart desired.”

I can’t help snorting. “And his heart desired a cover of this?”

I glance over Mila’s shoulder to find Cade, who’s dancing with a hysterically laughing Josie, shooting daggers at his drummer.

Realisation dawn; Beau Maxwell’s heart’s desire was to piss Caden right off. My laughing eyes turn to find hers, only to see her brows drawn in deep thought.

“I-I need some air.”

Jerking herself from my hold, she spins on her heel and takes off at the speed of light across the dance floor and into the darkened forest beyond. Before my brain can draw a conscious thought, I’m moving after her.

My eyes take several long moments to adjust to the mostly-darkened state surrounding me – the lights of the ongoing wedding party at my back with pitch-black stretching out before me. Yet I move forward, needing to make sure the kid is alright.

“Mila? Where did you go?”

A whispered “Shit!” meets my ears somewhere to my left, but I still can’t make out her form in the darkness.

“Come on, Mila. I can’t go back until I know you’re okay. Where did you go?”

As I ask the question, the moon breaks free of the night sky’s hold on her, shining between the darkened clouds to light up my quarry. Her blush-pink dress shimmers in the light like a beacon.

“There you are.”

She throws her hands up in exasperation. “Even the fucking moon is out to get me tonight. I can’t even have a drink without brother dearest monitoring me like an overbearing father. He knows he’s only fucking thirty-one, right?”