The Rule Book

by Sarah Adams

“And…would that N be for…Nora?”

“Yes,” he says. “I got it for you.” Stunned doesn’t begin to describe me. “But…when?” He drops his head again and breathes against the skin of my neck and ear. “The week after we broke up. Or more specifically—the day after you saw me kiss that woman outside my apartment.” “Why? Especially after the way I hurt you? Why would you get my initial?” “Because regardless of how it ended, I needed a way to prove it existed.” He says the words just above my mouth. “I was scared of forgetting what we had. The tattoo was a way to admit to myself that you were important to me and would always be a part of me no matter how much time passed.”

Derek’s thumb traces up my jaw to tease the corner of my lips before his head lowers, mouth finally covering mine.

From the second his mouth covers mine, it’s consuming. It’s years and years of longing, and missing, and needing.

It’s this little brief second where no time has passed at all and we’re still just two young people madly in love with their whole lives ahead of them. And I don’t know…maybe we are still those people.

I wanted her. Still want her. Will likely spend forever wanting her. But not just in a physical sense. I want her as my best friend, my favorite person to talk to, the one who I walk with through every good and bad season. I want so much more with her than just that kiss on the beach.

“I’m dyslexic.”

“But now, all I have is football, Nora. All I am, and have ever been, is a good football player. And I’m scared that if I lose this—the only thing I’ve ever exceeded at—I’ll lose everything. Who am I without it?” Because the last time that I lived a life without football, I was nothing but a disappointment.

I kiss her. I steal the words right out of her mouth. But then I remember that she has a no-kissing-inside-the-room rule and I pull my mouth away just as quickly. “I’m sorry. You said not to kiss inside and I—” She kisses me.

“Nora, in the spirit of full disclosure, I want you to know, I plan on breaking every single one of our rules over the course of this week. Now is your chance to officially tell me not to.” Her lips part in shock. It takes her a few seconds to respond. “Wh—why?” “Because…” I breathe out my nerves. “Because I regret ever letting you go in the first place.” If she looked shocked before, she really does now. “Because I’m not convinced that what we had is really over between us. Because when we kiss, it feels right. Because when you smile at me my world feels whole. And I want to use this week where you’re not my agent and I have no other obstacles in my way…to woo you.”

“Darling, I love you with every fiber of my being, but I’m angry at you for thinking any of this is fake. Or even has been fake since the beginning. And since I happen to know with all my motherly wisdom that it’s not fake and that that boy will be sleeping over at your house before you know it, I want to restock your silverware drawer.

“Let’s break all the rules, Derek Pender.”

She’s mine.

“Which version of us is going? Agent and client? Husband and wife? Or friends?” Her face blooms. “All of them.”

“I only lost because I want to show you in a physical way that I’m intentionally and completely vulnerable to you, Nora. That I’ll gladly lose to you every day of my life—because for me, the prize is just being near you.”

“I don’t want to tell you what’s in my bedside table because when I do, it will change everything between us, and I don’t think you’re ready for it yet. I have no desire to watch you bolt out the door, so you’ll have to be content with waiting.” Another kiss on my other cheek as delicious heat billows off his body, silently calling to mine. “My favorite color is hazel.” He angles my jaw up and his lips find the underside of it. “And I fund that organization because when we were dating, you said you’d wished something like that would have existed for your mom and other moms like her. So when I got my first major paycheck and my CPA asked what kind of charities I’d like to donate to, your words were the first ones that sprang to mind. I did it anonymously because I didn’t want you to see it and think it was strange of me.”

“And the first day I saw you again in the conference room, I was livid”—he growls that word—“that you were still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life.” Now tears collect in my eyes and drop down my cheeks. Derek wipes them with his thumbs. “I’m at your feet, Nora. If you want me, I’m yours.”

“I love them.” A dark grin overtakes his mouth. Eyes glittering dangerously. “Now take them off.”

Like how Derek’s teeth are so perfect because they’re actually veneers he paid thousands of dollars for and hasn’t regretted once.

no

“I don’t care what you say, you’re a great friend, Nicole.” She narrows her eyes. “Work friend. We’re work friends only, got it?” “I would honestly die for you,” I say solemnly while standing up from my desk and moving around it without having to press my back to the wall. “We’ll be best friends by next week.”

“What will you tell me next? You’re a singing governess for the von Trapp family on the weekends?”

“Hi,” she says, with a soft smile, but then I notice she’s holding something. A big cardboard box. And suddenly this feels too much like the day she broke up with me.

We’d find our way back to each other.

“I watched every single game you played with Colorado. I’ve also gone to every home game you’ve played for the Sharks. Not because I loved the Sharks—because I loved you. Every. Single. Day.”

“My whole life I’ve felt like nothing but a stepping-stone for people. Whether it’s that I’m too much for them or too little, I’m not sure. All I know is that friends only stick with me until they find the better, less obnoxious version of me. The one who doesn’t have weird catchphrases and compulsively organizes their linen closet.” And pantry. It’s a big one for me. “Even my dad continues to try out fatherhood on me until he gets a new stepchild and then dumps me to the side.” I breathe through a rush of emotions. “And my last ex-boyfriend, Ben, he couldn’t stand how incapable I was of sitting quietly in a room. He was always commenting on how much attention I brought everywhere we went. And after I passed out at the sight of his blood, he told me this was just too much for him and ended it.” Derek looks like he’d like to tear a mountain in half, but I continue. “I was so afraid back in college that I’d give you everything and in the end, I’d be your stepping-stone too. So part of me broke up with you to beat you to the punch. But I’m not afraid anymore, and I want you to know that I’m so completely in love with you.” His hold around my waist tightens and I’ve never had a more captive audience. “I don’t want an out. I want this—me and you—for real if you’re up for it.”

“You are not and could never be a stepping-stone, Nora.” His lips slip into mine and even from this small touch I want to groan my delight. He pulls away too soon, but his words make up for it. “You’re a gemstone. Rare and unique and vibrant. And anyone who can’t see that doesn’t deserve to have you in their life.”

“If it wasn’t obvious before, I love you too. I love you more than you love cereal on ice cream and more than the sun loves to fry your pretty skin.” His eyes crease in the corners. “You deserve the whole world, and I’d try to give it to you, but I think you’ll enjoy fighting for it yourself more.”

“What do you think about letting me date you for a while?” He nips at my earlobe before his lips slide down my jaw, headed back for my mouth. “You live at your place, and I’ll live at mine, and I’ll pick you up for dates. We’ll have sleepovers. We’ll take things slow just purely for the fun of it because we can. Because we have forever. Because I hate that I didn’t get the time you deserve to win you back before we inked these bands on our fingers—and I want to give you that time now.”

“I’ve missed you all these years, Nora. My friend. My love.”

Nora Mackenzie Pender. And then there she is, my wife.

“Kiss me,” I half demand, half beg. She obliges, pressing a tame yet intoxicating kiss to my mouth. I’m vaguely aware of cheers and catcalls rising around us. “I missed you last night,” she says, breaking the kiss with a twinkle in her hazel eyes. “But I used my time well and made this epic sign.” My gaze drops to the thick cardboard she holds up for me. PENDER, LET ME SEE THAT TIGHT END. I shake my head. “Is that drawing supposed to be my ass in uniform?” “It’s an uncanny likeness.” Her eyes glow with happiness—or maybe that’s just all the glitter reflecting from the sign. “I love you.”

This one’s for you.

“First, her name is Nora Mackenzie Pender now, but don’t be mistaken. She might share my name, but she owes her success to no one but herself. My role in her life has nothing to do with how hard she’s worked for years and years to get where she is now. And I swear to god, anyone else who dares question my wife’s integrity or work ethic is going to have to deal with me, but more terrifyingly, you’re going to have to deal with her. Don’t be fooled, she can be ruthless as hell.”

or…we can discuss how I’m officially retiring from the NFL.”

HUH

“I had to get something from my bedside table,” he says meaningfully while moving to stand in front of me. I know my eyes are lit up like stars right now. Who cares if he interrupted my proposal…I finally get to see what— Oh. Derek drops to one knee. And then he pulls a little black velvet box from behind his back. “You don’t mind if I pick up where you left off, do you?” He smiles, and every drop of blood in my veins rushes to accommodate my bursting heart. “I know we’re already married, Nora. But it would mean the entire world to me if you would stay married to me. For real. For always. For eternity. Stay with me. Let me love you fully and desperately forever and ever.” He pops the top of the black box, and a shiny diamond ring sparkles up at me.

I said when I gave it to you, it would change everything. Because this…this ring belongs to you—and it always has. I bought it for you in college.” “What?” I breathe out. “You…you were going to propose?” He nods. “The day you broke up with me actually.” He grins at the horrified look on my face. “There was a proposal waiting for you on the other side of my apartment door with way too many flowers. It’s part of why I didn’t ask you to come in and talk it all out after you said you wanted to end it. This ring”—he raises it—“was in my back pocket.” “No.” The word comes out as a breath. “Derek. That’s heartbreaking.”

actually crying for him rn

“I can make you scream if that’s what you want…but I’d prefer it be my name over and over again.”

“Since it seems like the perfect day for big revelations and truth bombs, I thought I’d go ahead and share with you all that…I’m pregnant.”

we all seem to notice Nathan’s face at once. His shocked face. And that’s when we realize…Bree hasn’t told him yet. “Surprise,” she says, looking up at him with so much love and tenderness it feels as if the entire room has just been blanketed with sunshine. “We’re having a baby, Nathan.” “Bree…” He blinks and looks for all the world like he’s just been crowned king. His jaw flexes and his nose wrinkles, as he tries and fails to keep his emotions at bay. And then he’s taking her face in his hands and kissing her as they both cry. We’re all crying. Even Derek is rapidly blinking back moisture.

Yes—Nicole left the company and that’s how the two of us started our own agency, one founded by women and ready to provide a safe, affirming atmosphere for female athletes. Of course, men are welcome too, and when told our mission statement, Nathan was all too happy to stay on with Nicole and help promote the cause. As were each of my clients. It was so lucky that Nicole was badass enough in her early days to demand that all noncompete clauses be removed from her contract before signing with Sports Representation Inc. and taught me to do the same.

“Hey, remember that rule book we made?”