Page 6 of Your Rule to Break
Emilie is trying to keep it together. She picks at her palms, and her chest rises and falls quickly, matching her breath. I don’t have all the details but it’s clear Emilie has a complicated relationship with her family, which is hard to relate to. My parents, who were high school sweethearts and are still married, plus my baby sister, are some of my favorite people.
“The problem is that my sister is a sleuthing snake. If we’re not dating, she’ll find out, and she’ll find a way to twist it and make it some terrible thing I did to her.”
I have half an idea forming, maybe not even half.
“Okay, so we’ll date.”
Emilie’s eyes widen. “We’ll date? How many drinks have you had?”
“I’m sober, Emilie. We’ll pretend to date, that way your sister won’t find anything amiss.”
“You want to pretend-date me?”
“Why wouldn’t I? We’ll try out all the new restaurants on my list. You already come to the Cosmos games with Willow. It’ll be fun.”
She scoffs and shakes her head, looking around the room, before stopping at the floor. It kills me to let the silence stretch.
“This is a big deal. Things between Eliza and me are already rocky and complicated.”
“I understand.”
“That means you won’t be able to—” Emilie’s eyebrows scrunch, and her eyes dart around the room, like she’s trying to find the right words— “do whatever it is you do with whoever you do it with.”
Well played. She’s being as vague as possible, but I get it.
“Is that something you’re willing to give up?” Her mouth is pressed in a line so thin I can barely see her red lips.
That isn’t something I considered with the very loose idea in my brain. I can do that, probably. For Emilie, I can try.
“To jog your memory,” she says, with her arms crossed and a slow but painful look. While taking a slow breath, she tilts her head. “The last time we were out, you were practically having a threesome on the dance floor.That’swhat you’re giving up.”
Nothing vague about that. I'd like to tell her that was a one-time deal, but that would be a lie. This specific instance had me between two sisters, both with chocolate colored hair, and they couldn’t get enough of making me their sandwich. I kept catching Emilie watching me, and she made sure I saw her roll her eyes while she wore a smirk. Nothing like a little light judgement when I probably deserved it.
“Done and done. Let’s deactivate the dating app right now.” I pull my phone out, going to the exclusive app which only allows celebrities and athletes to join. Emilie watches as I go to my settings and click the big deactivate button.
Emilie bites her lip. “We’re really doing this?” she asks.
I answer by reaching for her hand and leading her to the dance floor. A slow song is playing so I put my hands on her lower back, and she wraps her arms around me.
How hard can this be?
Chapter 5
Emilie
I’m home after ameeting with Willow and now I'm thinking about how much my life has changed while working with her. She’s one of my best friends and one of the biggest celebrities in the world—I never would’ve dreamed of meeting her, let alone having her become one of my closest friends.
It also let some of my other friends show their true colors, ones I was already wary of. Making and keeping friends, as a woman, is so hard.
Living in New York was the first nail in the coffin. Michigan is technically home, and I don’t make it back often. My last trip there was telling in the worst ways, considering they kept asking me weirdly personal questions about Willow and acted like I owed them something.
Not a good sign.
It’s been a few days since the ridiculously successfulWhen We Playevent and now I’m thinking about Zack. If we can pull this off, I’m sure my old friends will resurface. That’s how they broke the radio silence the first time, when they saw pictures of me and Zack at a Cosmos event last year.
I stepped onto the red carpet, wearing the type of dress which fits in a way that makes you hold your head a little taller. My heart raced as someone recognized me: That was Willow’s assistant, Emilie! The press shouted, shifted their lenses, and took a few pictures. I had done the PR training and knew that when you came to an event like this, you stood on the carpet, let people get a photo or two, before you slinked into the background.
Zack Andersen stepped onto the carpet, and I felt the energy shift. I had met him briefly at a Cosmos game. He had always been kind, welcoming, and damn, he was hot. He didn’t just pose on the red carpet—he danced. He actually shimmied and shook his shoulders between poses; he was having the time of his life.