Beautiful Broken Rules (Broken, Series #1)(2)

“What! Are you okay, Em?” he asked me in a voice that was scratchy and deep from sleep and too much whiskey.

His eyes were squinting at the brightness of the morning. He was attractive with a smooth, broad chest and bright golden brown eyes. He was fun last night, but sadly, it was night number three with him.

“Crap, sorry Micah! I didn’t mean to wake you. I just stepped on a bottle cap and cut my foot,” I said, bouncing on one foot while holding up the other. “Go back to sleep, I’m just heading out.”

He laughed a little bit under his breath and eyed me up and down. “You’re going to leave the frat house with no clothes on? You’re practically falling out of Q’s bra.” He got up, walked over to me, and knelt down to examine the bottom of my foot. “I think you’ll be okay, it’s not even bleeding.” He gave the bottom of my foot a quick kiss and then started rubbing his hands up my legs leisurely.

Before he could skim higher up my thigh, I stepped back. “Micah… I have to get to class,” I warned him as he scooted forward toward me.

“Please don’t follow that stupid ‘three times only’ rule you have. We’re good together, Em. You don’t even have to be my girlfriend. Just come back over tonight and I’ll remind you what we do so well,” he said, still kneeling on the ground and looking up at me with his fingers wrapped around my waist.

“Micah, I don’t break my rules. I made them for a reason,” I said in a barely audible whisper.

As good as it would be to come back to Micah, I did not intend to get serious with him and that’s where it would lead. It always does. It’s the gradual way of humans. We become comfortable with one another and then we’re married and someone’s cheating on the other one. I’m purely trying to prevent this from ever happening.

He gave my waist a small squeeze, nodded his head in defeat, and slowly stood up to look down at me. “Well, it was fun and you’re welcome back in my bed anytime, babe. Please take one of my shirts before you leave though. The walk of shame is one thing, but the walk of shame in that, Em?”

“Micah, your shirts are disgusting. I can’t even walk out of here with one of those on without getting nauseous with this hangover. I’ll be fine. Besides, Quinn thinks my clothes are out by the pool anyway. I’ll just run down there and put them on. You know none of those guys are anywhere close to waking up anytime soon. See ya!”

Micah shrugged, not even attempting to defend his gross pile of clothes and was already pulling the covers back over his head in bed, grunting out a good-bye. Must be nice not to have classes until later in the day.

I snuck down the creaky old stairs as quietly as I could but this house was really old, and had more groans than a ninety-year-old man. Besides, my one-legged hobble wasn’t helping with my stealthy escape either, since my foot was still throbbing. Thankfully, no one woke up to see me streaking through the house.

When I made it out back, I decided I was going to have to murder someone that day. I just didn’t know who it was going to be yet. My clothes were definitely out here but they were hanging from a tree branch, and there was no way in hell I was going to be able to get them down. Even if I found a ladder, I wouldn’t be tall enough. My flip-flops were floating in the middle of the pool. Fantastic. Thankfully, I remembered I had a change of clothes in my car, so I only needed to get to them, and I wouldn’t have to drive home practically naked.

Please, please, please, don’t let anyone be outside. I mean this was Frat Row. No one should be up before seven a.m. especially after a party night. I crept back through the house, tiptoeing over the passed out bodies on the floor. The majority of them were wearing Sig Alpha shirts, although I noticed there were a few other fraternities present. God, this place was a wreck. I felt bad for the pledges, because they’re more than likely the ones cleaning up this filth. That is one reason I never rushed a sorority. I had no interest in being on the bottom of the food chain; I just enjoy their parties.