Writing the Rules: A Fake Dating Standalone Mariah Dietz (best novels to read .txt) 📖

happen since no one is around to see, and that is the entire purpose of the kiss per the rules. Paxton steps closer, and the wind blows harshly against my bare cheek, making me shiver and wish for the warmth of my car, but I don’t dare move.

Pax reaches forward, catching the wisps of hair that the wind manages to misplace, and tucks them behind my ear, once again surprising me by his gentleness. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Please.

Please.

Please.

I don’t mean to lean forward, but I realize as he closes the distance between us that I am. His lips seal over mine, soft and firm and painfully gentle considering the tension and desire currently coursing through my body that has me wanting to re-write every rule between us.

“Hey! Hey!” A familiar voice calls, pulling Paxton and me away too soon. Arlo is grinning at us like he’s seeing Santa Claus. “What’s up?”

I take a step back, suddenly embarrassed. Was he kissing me because he saw Arlo? “I have to get to class. I’m going to be late.”

Paxton places his hand between my shoulder blades. “I’ll text you after practice.” He leans in and kisses me again, a chaste show of a kiss that doesn’t have my body warming like the previous one.

I slide into my car with a genial smile—a show smile—because that is what this is, after all.

Everything is beginning to feel complicated. My feelings were so much simpler and more manageable when he was just Rae’s brother. Avoiding complications was the entire purpose of writing the rules. I need to study and memorize them before the trip like I would for a big exam and stop twisting every look and word to mean something they don’t.

I drive too fast, trying to get to class on time. Never would I risk being late for a class to hang out for a few more minutes with a guy, and yet I’m rushing to class and voluntarily chose to skip a class on Friday to go to an away game where I don’t even know that I’ll see him except for our dinner.

The thought of him asking me to go out for a late dinner—just the two of us—is where the lines begin to bleed together. Is it all for show? Is it because our friendship is starting to create a new and defined structure? I shake off the thoughts and head into the classroom as silently as possible, trying not to disrupt the lecture. Luck is on my side as I discover the class restlessly moving and talking, waiting for our professor to arrive.

“Hey, Poppy,” a girl I don’t know or recognize greets me.

I smile in response and consider sitting near her when an arm raises a few rows higher, catching my attention. Mike grins and pulls his chin back, patting the empty space beside him.

I take the steps, wondering if this is a bad idea or a terrible idea. Being around Mike is only adding to the mounting number of questions in my head.

I take a seat and quickly withdraw my laptop from my bag.

“You’re cutting it kind of close there,” Mike says as he grabs a Twix from his sweatshirt pocket. The action creates another time warp as memories from years past flood my thoughts. They were always his favorite candy, and because he was always on the thin side and working to gain weight, his mom bought them in bulk. Like then, Mike withdraws one of the cookies and slides the second one to me.

22

Poppy

I’m beginning to believe that the fix for any problem or issue is a girl’s day as Rae and I land in Spokane, Washington, leaving the drizzly Seattle skies behind in exchange for a clear and bright afternoon.

“We probably should have looked at what there is to do here,” Rae says as we wait for the plane doors to open. She grabs her phone and starts a search. “The top attractions are park, park, park, hiking, hiking, farm…” She looks up at me. “Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore.”

I laugh and take her phone. “There’s a city. We saw it while landing.” I scroll through the top attractions. “There’s a mall.”

“Where there’s a mall, there’s food. Let’s go there. I haven’t eaten all day.”

“Olivia told me that she and Arlo came over here this summer to watch a basketball tournament, and they stopped at a candy shop downtown that has soft peanut brittle that she said was life-changing.”

Rae laughs. “Add it to our list!”

“Maybe we start at the mall, get something to eat, and then wander around and see what we can find. It sounds like that’s what Chloe and Nessie did on their road trip this past summer, and they had fun.”

“Yes. I’m just glad to spend the day with you. I feel like we’re both so busy that we’ve only been seeing each other in passing.”

“Agreed.”

The man behind us signals for us to get out into the aisle. I smile at him in thanks, and slide out into the aisle where I pull Rae’s bag down and then my own small suitcase.

As we near the front of the plane, icy air blows against my face, causing me to shiver. “Did we land in the Arctic?” I ask. The cold steals my breath as we hit the short ramp that leads outside instead of directly into the airport.

Rae releases a barely audible squeal behind me. “It’s freezing.”

“A balmy twenty-two,” I tell her, shivering as we follow the trail of people into the airport.

We follow the signs to baggage claim to find the exit, and then find a Lyft to take us downtown. Small snow berms line the streets, dirty from exhaust. It’s drier on this side of the Cascades, which means it’s also colder during the winter and hotter during the summer.

The drive to the mall downtown is short, allowing Raegan and I only enough time to realize we hadn’t considered pulling our suitcases around all day as we explored