The Rule
There was one rule.
Do. Not. Touch. My. Brother.
My bestfriend Ava had said it a thousand times since middle school. Half joking. Half not.
And i had never once been tempted.
Until this summer.
His name was Dylan Carter. Two years older. Senior. Caption of the soccer team. Reputation darker than it should be. The kind of guy teachers watched and girls whispered about.
And unfortunately?
He had just come home from college for the summer.
The first time i saw him agian was at Ava’s house,
I was in her kitchen, stealing fries off her plate, when i felt it. That feeling. Like someone was watching.
I turned.
And there he was.
Leaning against the doorway. Black hoodie. Sleeves pushed up. Messy dark hair falling into his eyes, that slow, knowing smirk like he already understood something about I didn’t.
“You’ve gotten taller,” he said casually.
My stomach flipped,
“You’ve gotten… more annoying,” i shot back.
Ava groaned. “Please dont start.”
But Dylan didnt move. Didn’t look away.
His eyes dragged over me not in a gross way. In a slow way. Like he was thinking.
“Didn’t realize you were still hanging around, Lila.”
“I didn’t realize you were still brooding,” i said.
His smirk widened.
Oh no.
This was bad.
Later that night, Ava ran upstairs to grab something, leaving me alone in the living room.
And of course, of fucking course. Dylan stayed.
He walked closer. Too close.
“You always talk back like that?” He asked softly.
“Only when someone deserves it.”
He leaned down sliding, close enough that i could smell his cologne dark, woodsy, unfair.
“You nervous?” He murmured.
I swallowed. “No.”
“Your hands and legs are shaking.”
He was right.
I hated that he was right.
“I’m not scared of you.”
He tilted his head. “You shoud be.”
That wasn’t a threat.
It sounded like a warning.
The doorbell rang, breaking whatever charged moment that was.
He stepped back like nothing happend.
But as he walked past me, his fingers brushed my waist.
Barely.
Intentional.
And quiet enough that no one would ever know.
Except me.
And him.
When i got home that night, i had one new relization.
The rule wasn’t there to protect Ava.
It was there to protect me.
And i was already breaking it.
