Rule (Marked Men, #1)

by Jay Crownover

Not only did the girl look like a fairy-tale princess, but she was also on track to be a freaking doctor.

us—“you have always been determined to make everyone who cares about you prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt. You’ve never wanted to be easy to love, Rule, and you make damn sure that nobody can ever forget it.”

Remy was my other half, both figuratively and literally. He was my identical twin, the light to my dark, the easy to my hard, the joy to my angst, the perfect to my oh-so-totally fucked up, and without him I was only half the person I would ever be.

“The only reason you’re here is because that little girl in there is bound and determined to keep this family together regardless if we’re her own or not. You go in there and play nice; otherwise, I’ll kick your ass, broken arm and all.”

My struggle was that Rule was complicated; he was brash, mouthy, careless, thoughtless, often cranky, and generally an insufferable pain in the ass. But when he chose to be, he was charming and funny, artistically brilliant, and more often than not, the most interesting person in the room. I have been head over heels in love with both sides of him since I was fourteen years old. Of course I loved Remy, loved him like a brother, like the best friend and consummate protector he had been, but I loved Rule like it was my mission in life.

That's deep...

Even battered and bruised Rome was the kind of guy who stood between the people he loved and anything that might possibly hurt them.

You’re a smart, beautiful girl; you have to know how Rule’s story ends.” “I don’t believe in skipping ahead, Dale. I read the book all the way through.

guy—I wanted the one who was damaged and blind to the way I felt.

Life...

What I never spent any time being was the person that I actually felt like I was. She was locked somewhere deep inside me, suffocating and still holding on to the hope that Rule would notice she was alive. It was exhausting, and in the vulnerable moments when I was brutally honest with myself, I had to admit I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep it up.

“Trust me, Shaw, you will never forget today.” And she was right, because by the end of the night this birthday would prove to be life changing.

Kissing Shaw was a different experience from kissing any other girl. For one, she was really good at it.

Most girls got lost or a little confused because of the lip ring and the metal barbell in the center of my tongue, but Shaw seemed oblivious to both of them and kissed me like she had been born to do it.

She kissed me like she had been created to do it exactly the way I liked and matched my rhythm the way only people who’ve had lots and lots of sex together normally managed to do.

I liked the way she fit next to me, like she was custom-made to be right there.

She shivered a little as I got close and I could see raw vulnerability in her eyes. It was scary to know how easily I could hurt this girl and how desperately I didn’t want that to happen.

“Rule, if this goes bad it’s gonna be so, so bad.” Her voice was just a husky whisper against my chest. “True, but if it’s good, it’s going be so very, very good.”

So very very good

“You have me, Shaw, any way you need me, any way you want me, you have me.”

“Because it’s always been you even when I didn’t want it to be, even when it broke my heart over and over again. It’s just always been you.”

“When I look at you I don’t see anything but you, and Shaw, you are perfect. I don’t care what color your hair is, if you’re pale or tan, if you have makeup on or just woke up—all I care about is that when I look at you, you always look back and see me. You’re beautiful inside and out and if you wanted to tattoo all that pretty white skin from head to toe, I would be honored to put it there for you, but if not, I’ll take you all smooth and milky white any chance I get.”