Breaking the Rules (Pushing the Limits, #1.5)(103)

“Here. In a hotel room with Echo, Isaiah and Beth. Getting ready to stand with Echo at the showing and preparing to be her shoulder for when she sees her mom.”

“How do you feel about everything that’s happened?”

I lean forward. “Like shit for hurting Echo. With my mom’s family, I feel like I’ve been run over by an oil tanker. Knowing that Echo and I can walk through hell together and come out stronger on the other side...” I halfway smile. “It’s the closest I’ve been to being a king.”

The smile falls, and I rub my hands together as I relax back in the seat. Mrs. Collins tilts her head. “What?”

“Do you believe in happy-ever-afters?” I ask.

“I believe I’ve seen a few movies in my time, but I’d like to know your thoughts.”

“Do you ever answer a question?” I push.

“Yes. I answered that one. What are your thoughts on happy-ever-afters?”

I pause. “I believe in happy for now. I want Echo and me to work. She loves me. I love her. I’ve seen enough already to know that life isn’t always shits and giggles. Life is hard, but it’s going to be easier with Echo by my side.”

“Even with Echo a thousand miles away?”

“Even with that,” I answer. “There’s no reason that we still can’t be happy.”

“That’s all any of us can ask for, isn’t it?” She grins.

I glance over at the closed door of the bathroom. “When this started, Echo covered her arms again. Hunter thinks she should cover them tonight. She doesn’t want to, and I’m in agreement with her, but am I wrong on this?”

“It’s healthy for Echo to accept her scars. There will be people who can never understand Echo because of it, and then there will be people like you that love her regardless. It’s something she’ll have to learn to deal with.”

I nod to let her know I get it.

“And Noah?”

“Yeah?”

“There will be times that she backtracks. There will be days that it’s easier to cover them. A few days of doing so out of months isn’t a backslide. Sometimes we all need a moment to lick our wounds. And sometimes she might just be cold.”

I chuckle. “True.” After a few beats: “I’m mad at my mom.” Though not as much as I was.

Mrs. Collins places a hand over her heart. “It’s okay to be mad at her.”

“I know.” I clear my throat when it threatens to choke me up. “When I get back, could I stop by? Maybe talk about it?”

I swear the head shrink wags her tail and pants. “You paid me in advance, remember? Let’s schedule an appointment now.”

*

The bell rings, and the elevator doors open to the lobby. With marble floors and shiny shit everywhere, it’s by far the best hotel Echo and I’ve stayed since we’ve started this trip. The reason we’re here is because Hunter’s paying for the rooms for his artists in the show.

I didn’t like the idea of accepting Hunter’s charity, but Echo described it as a business perk. That explanation I can respect, plus it’s something I’m going to have to get used to. That is until I make enough money to pay for anything Echo craves.

I walk out of the lobby and into the late-evening sunlight. Isaiah texted me fifteen minutes ago, asking me to meet him in the parking lot. He and Beth bailed out of our joint room two hours ago so I could help calm Echo’s nerves and to allow us time to get ready.

“Going to prom again?” Isaiah asks as I walk up to Echo’s car. He extends a cold beer to me. Condensation drips down the bottle.

“Fuck you,” I mumble, but I take the beer. Isaiah and Beth continue to rip my outfit: white button-down shirt, black slacks, dress shoes. The works.

“Is that a tie?” Beth cracks a rare genuine smile.

“Yeah.” I stare her down.

“Noah Hutchins has gone like the beer,” she says, “domestic.”

“Got a problem with that?”

She shrugs. “I’ll have a problem with it later. Today, I have beer.”

I can deal with that.

“Where you’d score this?” I motion to the beer in my hand then at the bottles they hold in theirs.

“I have my ways,” says Isaiah. “Figured you’d need it. Got an extra one for Echo if she wants it.”

“She might.” My gaze wanders to the eighth floor. Echo’s talking with Mrs. Collins for some last-minute pointers on how to handle tonight. I’m also nervous as f*ck, but I’m going to follow the advice Mrs. Collins gave me—stick tight to Echo, yet give her space. Love and accept her needs and wants. While the woman can’t predict what will happen, she makes me better at facing it.

Isaiah runs a hand along the tattoo of the tiger on his arm and peers out onto the traffic moving at a snail’s pace on the road in front of the hotel. “I don’t feel right about Echo paying for these tickets.”

My stomach twists, and I pop off the top of the beer. The small cap clanks when I toss it into the bag. Isaiah and Beth thought they’d be hitching a ride back to Louisville with me and Echo. I thought that was the plan, too, but Echo prefers to keep the car in Colorado then fly back so she doesn’t have to drive back by herself after she returns home to pack for the year. I offered to drive from Louisville to Colorado with her and then ride the bus home, but Echo didn’t want me to miss the first week of college.