Breaking the Rules (The Dating Playbook #2)

by Mariah Dietz

“In a matter of weeks, I’ve learned I’m not invincible, and love is like one of those really bad sheet cakes you get from the grocery store, pretty to look at but packed with regret and imitation.”

“You make me want to fix the whole damn world.”

“Sometimes, we all need saving from ourselves.”

“I need a minute,” he says, turning away from me. I grab a lawn chair and drag it beside him, sitting. Pax looks down at me, confusion tangling with his visible annoyance. “What are you doing?” “Giving you a minute.” He sputters. “I meant alone. Why are you sitting there?” “Because we aren’t going through any more shit alone.”

I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to trust him again, and without trust, I’ve realized a relationship cannot exist. His affair would have been difficult, regardless, but seeing what he did to that poor girl and learning he had done it to other students before her, has me seeing him in an entirely different light, one where I don’t like him as a mentor, parent, or even as a person.

“He makes me feel braver and stronger,