Free Breaking the Rules by Hb Heinzer Page B

that Carly was asking him to keep their relationship a secret. He wanted nothing more than to walk into the street dance with her on his arm. What she was asking was ridiculous.
    “Okay, so we've spent almost two months busting our asses to make things work between us ,” Adam stated pacing around the bedroom. “I've worked as hard as I can to get out here to see you as often as possible without raising red flags at work. But now, because my sister might not like it, I'm supposed to pretend like you're still just my sister's friend for an entire weekend that we're together?”
    Carly's shoulders slumped. When he put it that way, it did sound pretty pathetic. “I just...I don't want her mad at me,” she confessed. “I think it'd be better for all of us if we wait until a better time. Think about how much has already been thrown her way in the past few days.”
    “When would be a better time for you, Carly?” he barked. This was the first time they fought , and Carly winced at the harshness in his tone.
    “Adam,” she sighed reaching for him, his pacing driving her crazy, “I don't want to fight with you about this. Like you said, we're crazy about each other , and I don't want to screw that up by having Julia mad at either one of us.”
    This is exactly why Carly didn't do relationships. They were far too complicated , and she always managed to say the wrong thing. Life was much easier when she didn't try to guess what others were thinking.
    “So basically, you're saying how Julia feels is more important than how I feel?” he seethed.
    This was not going well at all. Logically, she could understand his train of thought but he was way off the mark. Carly wished she could make him see she was trying to do what would make their lives easier. She thought about coming clean with him and letting him know how scared she was of her feelings for him, but she couldn’t do it.
    “No,” she said placing her hand firmly on his chest. “It's not that at all. Well, it is, but only because I have more faith in you to handle this crazy request than I have in her to not flip out on us. I'm only going to be there for a few days, and I don't want to deal with any drama.”
    Instead, she was creating drama before she even got on the plane. She was risking the first decent thing she'd had in a long time over the opinion of someone she hadn't seen in years. Was it worth it? Was it possible for things to go wrong if their friends and family knew? Yes, she decided, there was an excellent chance of chaos if everyone knew. Maybe not now, but when things didn’t work out, it would drive a wedge between her and everyone she cared about for so many years.
    “Fine,” Adam sighed. “I still think it's bullshit. You know better than anyone that I'd never do anything to upset her, and I don't think this will. But I'm not going to spend my time here this week fighting with you about it.”
    “Remember, it’s not like she’s been open and honest with you either,” Carly pointed out. “Hell, she didn’t even tell you she was moving back to town. You had no clue that your own sister was living that close to you. How screwed up is that?” It was a low blow, but maybe if he could see that his sister wasn’t forthcoming either, he would be okay with this little secret. At least for a little while.
    There was no satisfaction when Adam stormed out of the bedroom without responding to her observation. Carly flinched when the door to the apartment slammed. She debated running after him to tell him she changed her mind. She didn't, fearing that if she did it would set a precedent for future fights that he could storm off like an immature ass, and she'd cave to his wishes. Caving was not something Carly did for anyone. On the other hand, if keeping their status a secret was going to cause issues this severe, was it worth it? Was she throwing their relationship away because she couldn’t let the world know how happy she was when she was with