New Rules (Too Many Rules Book 4) Read online

  New Rules

  By

  G.L. Snodgrass

  Copyright 2018 G.L. Snodgrass

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof in any form. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means. This is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Purple Herb Publishing

  http://glsnodgrass.com/

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  Return to your favorite ebook retailer or the blog linked above to discover other works by G.L. Snodgrass. Thank you for your support.

  Other Books by G. L. Snodgrass

  Young Adult Romance

  Certain Rules

  Unwritten Rules

  Unbreakable Rules

  My Brother's Bodyguard (Hometown Heroes 1)

  My Hidden Hero (Hometown Heroes 2)

  My Favorite Love (Lakeland Boys 1)

  One Night (Lakeland Boys 2)

  My Brother’s Best Friend (Lakeland Boys 3)

  Worlds Apart (Lakeland Boys 4)

  The Lakeland Boys Complete Set

  My Sister’s Best Friend

  Hidden Friends

  Love's Winding Road

  Finding You

  Regency Romance

  The Reluctant Duke

  The Viscount's Bride

  The Earl's Regret

  Marrying the Marquess

  Confronting a Rake

  Charming a Rake

  Short Stories

  Best Friends

  Rescuing a Best Friend

  A New Year's Kiss

  Asking the Right Question

  Prom Date

  The One That Got Away

  New Rules

  Chapter One

  Mattie

  It was him. It had to be. Why here? Why now? After all these years? I was positive though. No other man could have made my butterflies jump like this. As if they had woken up after a long winter and started doing somersaults.

  Four years ago he tore my heart into small pieces, and now he walks into my world like a lost memory. Setting my heart to racing, jumbling over itself. As if it might explode at any moment.

  He was taller, his shoulders wider. No longer the gawky high school boy. Now a grown man. But it was him, there was no doubt. Even hidden by the Marine Corps hat, his eyes told me the truth, Kevin Hays.

  Biting my lip, I slipped behind a post so he wouldn’t see me. I wasn’t ready for this. Not now. Not here.

  The man was a walking recruiting poster. In a green uniform jacket, green pants with a crease so sharp it could carve turkey and polished black shoes that were brighter than my vanity mirror. So out of place on a college campus. A world filled with beanies and Birkenstocks. A world of ideas and possibilities, and here strode a man of action and commitment.

  Once I was safely hidden, I studied him. Yes, the Marine uniform was right. It was what he had always wanted. The wooden cane and heavy limp were a surprise, but again, not unthinkable. But it was the eyes that shocked me. They were his, but different. As if they had seen things that no person should ever see.

  Sighing at his pain, I shifted as he passed me. Why was he here in my world? Walking across the quad on a sunny spring day. The last I had heard he was halfway around the world living an adventure. Not on a college campus. Especially not my campus.

  “Kevin?” I called before I could stop myself. It was as if my soul had to act. Had to stop him before he walked away again.

  He turned, his eyes searching.

  I held my breath until I saw the recognition in his eyes followed immediately by a shocked expression that quickly turned over to a hidden happiness.

  My soul relaxed just the slightest bit. I sighed internally, he hadn’t automatically reacted with anger. Kevin Hays. My first love, my first kiss, my first everything. The one person in the world who knew the real me.

  Smiling hesitantly, I took a step towards him.

  “Mattie?” he asked with a touch of disbelief in his voice.

  I was hit with a thousand memories mixed with a new fear. What were the rules about ex-boyfriends? Were we supposed to hug? Why was my stomaching turning over like a clothes dryer on hyperdrive? Swallowing hard, I took another step towards him.

  Kevin, froze, obviously just as confused as I was. The moment was broken and neither of us made a move to hug. That prickly second in time that threatened to last forever.

  “Wow, you look good,” he said with that smirk of his. The smirk that had always made my knees weak.

  “You too,” I said as my glance flashed to his left hand holding the cane. No ring. For some reason, I felt a surge full of energetic happiness. But it was the truth, the man did look good. Wide shoulders stretching his uniform tunic. Dark brown eyes that had always reminded me of warm chocolate. Sharp cheekbones and strong hands.

  “Your grandfather told me you were going to the University of Washington. That after Scott got drafted by the Seahawks you decided to come here,” he said. “But I never expected to run into you. This place is huge.”

  “You talked to my grandfather?” the thought sent a worried chill down my spine.

  Kevin laughed. “He wrote me a couple of times a year. In fact, he was about the only person who actually wrote out a letter. A lost art, if you ask me.”

  I swallowed hard. Why had my grandfather written him? What had he told him? That thought was followed by a guilty flash at the realization that I had never written him. He was half-way across the world fighting for our country, and I never sent him a care package.

  “Hey, I’ve got a little time,” Kevin said looking at his watch. “Can I grab a coffee and join you, catch up.”

  My stomach clenched up for a moment before I smiled and nodded my head. This was Kevin, I reminded myself. The ex-boyfriend rules might say not to do this. But I couldn’t have stopped myself if I tried. I wanted to know everything about him.

  Kevin smiled back, then started for the door to Starbucks. I watched him walk away, dashing in his uniform. Tall, strong, manly, yet with a limp. A limp I knew for a fact he was trying to hide.

  I took a deep breath and returned to my table while I waited. A million different emotions flashed through me. Happiness at seeing Kevin tinged with fear all mixed up with a fluttery feeling deep down that I hadn’t felt in years.

  All of that was wrapped around the fact that I had broken up with him. I had hurt him as much as he had hurt me. A difference in dreams. But it had been my immaturity that had ruined us. Did he still hate me?

  Kevin stepped back outside, shooting me a quick smile that let me breathe again. There was no animosity in that glance. No disdain. Just an old friend.

  Hooking his cane over the back of his chair, he used both hands to lower himself into the chair.

  “Are you okay?” I asked before I could stop myself. How personal was I allowed to be with him? What was acceptable, what was the proper procedures for talking to someone like Kevin.

  He shrugged his shoulders and said, “It’s not permanent, at least not all of it.”

  That was the Kevin I remembered. The boy who never admitted that there was anything wrong. He’d rather have crawled over broken glass than admit there was a problem.

  I quickly took a sip of my hazelnut mocha as I tried to figure out what to say.

  He smiled at me and tilted his head. “Mattie James, who would ever believe it.”

  The sound of Kevin saying my name brought back a wave of memories.

  We stared at each other for a lon
g moment, both of us obviously remembering good times.

  The look in his eyes made me blush for some reason. My heart skipped a beat as I fought to keep my mind from jumping to our first special night together. A magical summer night under a starry sky.

  “Why are you here?” I asked, the curiosity burning a hole in me. “I thought you were stationed in San Diego.”

  He smiled weakly. “I’m temporarily assigned to the Navy Sub base over at Bangor while I wait for the Med board back in D.C. to decide what they are going to do to me.”

  I frowned for a moment as I deciphered his words. “What about here on campus?”

  “My ex-Commanding Officer just got assigned as an instructor with the ROTC program …”

  “You’re going to go into the ROTC?” I asked, unable to believe it, Kevin had always hated school. And why did the idea of him going to school here on campus make my stomach shiver?

  “No,” he said with a scowl and a vigorous shake of his head. “You couldn’t force me to go to college if you put a gun to my head. No, my Captain asked me to come over and talk to the cadets. Provide a reality check I guess. Not a big thing, but it got me off the base for a day.”

  That was my Kevin, still deathly afraid of being cooped up in a classroom all day. The boy had always been intelligent enough to handle the work. But the idea of being stuck inside listening to lectures terrified him. No, Kevin had to be doing. Off seeing the world. Living the adventure.

  When you get down to it. That was the core of our problem.

  I was surprised to feel an awkward silence threaten to fall between us. We had never really been awkward with each other. From the very beginning, Kevin’s cocky attitude had always refused to acknowledge anything as silly as awkwardness.

  I felt my breath begin to struggle as I fought to think about what to say next. Should I apologize for the things I said four years ago? Did I even broach the subject? Or do we keep it light, easy? Nothing more than two people who used to know each other.

  But this was Kevin. We had been more than just two people. So much more. This was the only person I had ever shared my true self. The only person who I ever felt safe enough to trust.

  I studied him for a moment. Two rows of ribbons on his chest that made me wonder where he had been and what he had done. Two chevrons on his arm. A corporal. Even I knew that was unusual in four years. A cane hooked over the back of his chair. Several small scars on the back of his right hand. And wrinkles at the corners of his eyes as if he had stared off into the distance for too long.

  “What about you?” he asked, interrupting my wandering thoughts. “You should be getting close to graduating. Did you ever decide on a major? If I remember it was going to be Pre-Med or bio-engineering.”

  I laughed, “Accounting,” I answered.

  He shuddered, “That is so you. You always did love numbers.”

  I laughed, “I will probably go for my CPA back in Nebraska. Grandfather has been pestering me to be closer. And I don’t like the idea of him being all alone on the farm.”

  Kevin nodded, “He mentioned in his last letter that he was thinking about taking on some help. Someone to work the farm for him.”

  “Really,” I said, unable to believe it. “He never told me he was thinking about that.”

  Kevin shrugged, his eyes glancing off into the distance for a second. “It was probably just in passing. He’d have already done it if he was serious.”

  I didn’t know for sure. Grandfather could be private about things like that. Anything that hinted that he was less than perfectly capable was never discussed.

  “Anyway,” I continued. “I want to move back. I miss it.”

  He studied me for a minute and said. “What, had your fill of the big city?”

  I shrugged. “I always was a farm girl at heart. I miss riding. I miss the smell of the fields after they’ve been turned. Knowing everyone, and everyone knowing me. All of it. Overall though, I just miss the slower pace of life. You know?”

  Setting his jaw he slowly nodded. “Yes, I do know what you mean. I miss it sometimes as well.”

  “What,” I exclaimed sarcastically. “Kevin Hays, world explorer, adventurer extraordinaire, misses a boring Nebraska farming town.”

  He frowned as his eyes took on a fierce glare for the briefest moment. Somehow I knew he was looking back over the last few years and not enjoying them.

  “Sometimes, I said,” he replied with a small smile. “Other time,” he added. “I just don’t know what I’m looking for.”

  I relaxed as I searched around for the next subject. Could I ask him about his wounds? Could I ask him about what he had seen and done? Nope. I instinctively knew that stuff was out of bounds. What about girlfriends? Nope, I wasn’t ready to hear the answer. Besides, it would make me sound as if I was interested. Not a message I wanted to send.

  “Listen,” he said glancing down at his watch. “I really should be going. The Marine Corps doesn’t understand the concept of being late. It doesn’t matter how pretty the girl is.”

  My stomach fell. That was it? A few minutes, and then he would leave. Would we ever see each other again? Was he bailing on me because of something I said?

  He looked at me for a second. Really looked and I got a sense that he didn’t want to leave either.

  This was Kevin, I told myself again. He was so important to you once. Don’t just let him walk away. Reaching out, I took his hand in mine. Trapping it on the table. “What are you doing on Saturday?” I asked.

  His brow narrowed for a moment, “Nothing,” he said. “I’ve got a doctors appointment on Monday with the surgeon. But my weekend is free. Why?”

  I smiled inside. No plans with his girlfriend.

  “Scott and Katie are throwing a birthday party for little Brian. I know they would love to see you. Nothing big, just my roommates and their boyfriends. Katie has sort of been a mother hen for us over these four years. We’ve all become good friends. It’s a three-year-old’s birthday. Burgers, beer, and if we are lucky, sunshine.”

  He hesitated a moment while I held my breath.

  “I don’t know?” he said

  “You can bring your girlfriend,” I added, again holding my breath.

  “No girlfriend,” he said with a laugh that let my insides relax for the first time since I had seen him.

  “What about you?” he asked. “Won’t your boyfriend be upset about you inviting an ex?”

  “No boyfriend,” I answered, secretly pleased that he had wondered.

  Kevin slowly shook his head, “I always did know these college guys were idiots.”

  My cheeks flushed, He could be so sweet.

  “Please,” I pleaded. “It would mean so much to them. To all of us.”

  He studied me for a long moment then nodded. “Okay, I’ll come. It would be good to see Katie and Scott again.”

  I sighed internally. This wasn’t going to end today. Soon, but not today.

  “Give me your number and I’ll text you all the information.”

  He nodded as he pulled out his phone. See, I thought to myself, sometimes I could be a genius. Not only was I going to get to see him again. But I was going to get his number.

  “I’ve got to go,” he said after our phones had connected.

  Nodding, I stepped back as a sudden urge to pull him into a tight hug almost overwhelmed me. Don’t ruin this Mattie, I told myself as I watched him, searching for any hint of what he thought about this.

  “It was good running into you,” he added with a soft smile. “It made the day special.”

  I smiled up at him and gently laid my hand on his arm. “Me too,” I said.

  We stared into each other’s eyes for a minute. Lost in what might have been. Lost in dusty memories that threatened to wash over us.

  At last, he nodded, breaking our moment, then reluctantly turned and started walking away. A tall, strong, handsome man with a thousand hidden wounds. A man who had once held my soul in the palm of h
is hands.

  He didn’t turn to see if I was watching. But then he didn’t have to. He knew me as no one else did. He knew I wouldn’t be able to look away.

  Chapter Two

  Kevin

  The ferry was packed with commuters returning to Bremerton. The chatter of a thousand people searching for seats and the thick rumble of the engines were both hidden in the background. The smell of diesel, the calling of gulls, none of it really registered. I was lost in my own mind as I thought back to seeing Mattie again.

  Finding a seat where I could stretch out my leg without being in the way, I positioned my damn cane so people could see it. One of the corpsmen had told me about the trick. Saying I need to give people a warning to stay away.

  You’d think the scowl on my face would be enough.

  Closing my eyes, I tried to get lost again as I drifted back to thinking about Mattie. God, she was as beautiful as ever. That same saucy look that could turn my guts into solid stone. Long brown hair as smooth as Chinese silk. Her face as angelic as a Madonna. That mix of girl next door with just a hint of wild. And that body…

  I took a long breath as I remembered that body. She had not changed a bit. Still the perfect curves, still the enticing eyes that had burned their way into my soul in ninth grade. Still that soft scent of jasmine. The same one she’d used years ago. The one the crept into my brain and turned it to mush.

  No, she hadn’t changed at all. Still the girl I had loved. She was still the Mattie James I had thought about all those long lonely nights on the wall.

  Sighing, I grimaced and tried to think of something else. I was a washed-up Marine on his way out of the Corps. No prospects. No future. Just another grunt with nothing left to offer anyone. The last thing a girl like Mattie James needed was someone like me.

  She didn’t hate me though, that was something. The way she had smiled. It was almost as if she had forgiven me.

  The memory of that day long ago hit me like a train engine at full speed. Every detail was still as clear as a mountain morning in the Hindu Kush.

  We were walking down the hall, hand in hand. Mattie and Kevin, the one couple who had made it through the trials and tribulations of high school. The one couple everyone just knew was too good to be true. But lately, things between us had been rough for the first time.