Free The Boyfriend Bylaws by Susan Hatler Page B

and leaned against Betty next to me. “Erica told me what she’d said to you.”
    My head whipped toward him. “What?”
    His eyes were serious. “Last year, after she and I had gone out a couple times, she said she told you I was a player.”
    “She told you that?”
    “She apologized, too.” He brushed my hair back out of my face. “She said she thinks what she said kept you from admitting how you felt about me.”
    “She’s wrong,” I said, strongly.
    He pulled away, confusion on his face.
    I stepped toward him and reached for his hand. “I kept myself from admitting how I felt about you. I think…I was scared.”
    “Of?”
    “You. Me.” I shook my head. “What if it doesn’t work?”
    He cupped my face in his hands. “What if it does?”
    I bit my lip, tears filling my eyes. “What if I fall in love with you and ten years down the road, you decide you don’t want me?”
    He brushed his hand against my cheek. “That would never happen.”
    Staring up into his eyes, a feeling came over me and I believed him. A sob escaped, my shoulders shook, and ten years of emotion came pouring out of me. “It happened with my mom. Why not you, too?”
    “I’m sorry, baby.” He pulled me to him, wrapped his arms around me and held me. “Your mom’s crazy for leaving you. I’m not crazy.”
    I buried my head in his shoulder, trying to catch my breath, and his spicy scent flooded through me. His hands skimmed through my hair, and he kissed the top of my head. His gentleness filled me with warmth. I tilted my face up toward him and our lips were a breath away from touching when he leaned back slightly.
    “What about The Boyfriend Bylaws?”
    I sniffed. “How do you know about that?”
    “Erica filled me in.” His hands moved up my back until his fingertips skimmed my neck, sending chills throughout my body. Then, he slid his thumbs over both of my cheeks, wiping them dry. “She warned me that if I kissed you without permission from your roommate, you’d lose your car.”
    Betty. On my tiptoes, I rested my chin on his shoulder, and stared down at what had been my shiny blue security blanket. I loved Betty, but I loved Matt more. I could call Patti, but I didn’t want to give her the chance to say no because it wouldn’t matter if she did. I wasn’t going to listen. I was ready to start making my own rules.
    I tore my eyes away from Betty, gazed back into his eyes, and tilted my mouth toward his. “It’s okay. You’re worth it.”
    He pressed his finger against my mouth. “I don’t want you to lose your car.”
    It hurt to lose Betty, but it would hurt me more not to kiss him right now. “I don’t care.”
    “I do,” he said, and fumbled with something in his back pocket. He pulled out his cell phone, ran a finger across the screen, and held it up for me to see. “That’s why I texted Patti and got permission.”
    The bright screen lit up between us and there was a text from Patti’s cell phone number:
    If Mel’s willing to lose Betty in order to kiss you, then you have my permission. She loves that car. If she’s okay with losing it…then, she’s finally made the right choice.
    Touched beyond belief, I smiled, then threw my arms around him. “You clever guy.”
    The corners of his mouth turned upward. “I’d do just about anything to make you smile.”
    “Then don’t make me wait anymore.” We moved toward each other at the same time, our noses bumping, until our lips finally met. His mouth was strong and warm against mine. I ran my teeth along his bottom lip, pulling it into my mouth, wanting to taste every bit of him.
    With my hand on the back of his neck, I brought him closer to me, and he parted my lips with his tongue. I gasped as our kiss deepened and he tasted me slowly, as if to savor every moment. As if this was what he’d been waiting for—and he had, we both had.
    When I melted against him, the bubble around me faded, and I was no longer alone.

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
     
    I