The Aubrey Rules

by Aven Ellis

  I smile. “What conversation?”

  “Thank you. Now please go get back together before he becomes all serious again. I don’t want that Becks back. I want the Becks that is happy with Aubrey.”

  I smile. Landy really is a good guy, and I feel guilty for having misjudged him.

  “I will. And thank you. Thank you for being such a good friend to Beckett,” I say.

  “He’s a brother to me. And I know he needs you,” Landy says. “So go take care of him, okay?”

  I tell Landy I will and hang up. My heart is racing, and I draw an excited breath of air.

  A few minutes ago there was no hope for Beckett.

  No hope for getting back together.

  No future together.

  I had nothing except a broken heart.

  And now, with one phone call, everything has changed.

  Beckett thought he screwed up. If he didn’t love me, he wouldn’t have said that. He wouldn’t be crushed. I don’t know why I haven’t heard from him, but he might be thinking I hate him so much I wouldn’t want to hear from him. I can see him taking this all on and never saying a word out of fear of me rejecting him.

  Okay. Enough. Enough crying, enough second-guessing.

  I look like hell but I don’t care. I leap up off the couch and hurry to the hallway, grabbing my parka off the coatrack and tugging it on. I hurry into the kitchen, and swipe my tote off the countertop.

  I’ve only been broken up with Beckett for eight hours but this ends now.

  I’m going to Chicago to get my man back.

  I’m not taking no for an answer.

  I unlock the door, determination filling me.

  I jerk it open, and when I do, I stumble backward in shock.

  Because on the other side of the door, I find Beckett standing right in front of me.

  Chapter 32

  The Aubrey Rules To Live By, Rule #32: Love is a journey. It’s not always going to be easy. It will have ups and downs. Sometimes he’ll piss me off. I’ll infuriate him. We’ll disappoint each other. But when you find the person who makes you happy, who makes you want to be the best person you can be, who loves you exactly for the person you are, flaws and all, none of those things matter. When you find this person that fills your heart, Love will always win.

  **Note** I’m not letting Beckett walk away from what we have.

  **Note #2** I’ll use duct tape and rope and tie him to a chair until he sees this if I have to. I’m not giving up on the man I love without one hell of a fight.

  **Note #3** Okay, so not having duct tape and rope and the fact that he’s 6’3 and plays hockey for a living might hinder that plan.

  **Note #4** But seriously, I love this man. What we have is meant to be. And I won’t be healed until I know that Beckett loves me, too.

  “Beckett,” I gasp, stunned at the sight of him.

  “Please don’t slam the door on me,” he says quickly. “You have every right to. You have every right to hate me for what I did to you this morning. But I’m begging you to hear me out. Please, Aubrey. I have to talk to you. Please.”

  I see nothing but pleading in his deep brown eyes. And in those eyes, I see the truth.

  Beckett’s come to Milwaukee to fight for me.

  I don’t trust myself to speak without sobbing so I simply nod and step aside. Beckett steps through the door, and I shut it behind him. I drop my tote on the floor, take off my coat, and head into the living room. I take a seat on the sofa, but Beckett remains standing.

  And I notice he has a notebook in his hand.

  I’m about to ask him about it, but he begins speaking first.

  “I fucked up,” Beckett says, standing before me. Then, to my shock, he drops down on his knees in front of me. He sets the notebook on the coffee table and places his hands over mine. “And I’m on my knees begging you to forgive me.”

  A huge lump has formed in my throat. Tears slip from my eyes.

  “I do know you,” Beckett continues, his voice thick with unshed emotion. “I should have listened to you. I knew I was wrong the second you threw the notebook at me.”

  “You were blindsided by the copies,” I say. “I see that now.”

  “But I know you,” Beckett says, his voice anguished. “And you were right. I never believed I could find a girl who would like me for who I really am. But I found you. Yet in the back of my mind, I always worried that you would somehow realize you could do better. And then you’d leave.”

  “I had the same fear,” I admit quietly. “That you would eventually realize that you could have anyone you wanted. Someone without all the annoying quirks that I have. Someone who had the looks of a supermodel. Before I met you, I lived by rules. To protect me. Not dating an athlete was one of them. But the more I fell for you, I didn’t want my rules. And I started changing them.”

  “I know,” Beckett says, his eyes growing glossy. “I read your journal. Every word. You loved me for me. For being awkward. Serious. All of it. You loved me as I am. I guess the question is, do you still love me? Because I love you. I love you so much, and I’ve never loved anyone this way in my life. I love you, exactly the way you are, inside and out.”

  My heart jolts back to life the second Beckett says he loves me.

  “I do,” I say, nodding. “I love you, Beckett.”

  Beckett reaches up and puts his hands on my face, and I choke back tears at the feeling of his warm hands against my skin.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispers. “I love you. I love you, everything about you, every crazy thing you do. I fell harder and faster for you than I’ve ever thought I could. The very things you think could drive me away from you are the things that make me love you even more.”

  I put my hands on his face. “I can say the same about you. I love you. Just the way you are. And I don’t need rules anymore, Beckett. Loving you has taught me that. I need to follow my heart. And that’s with you.”

  Beckett draws me to him and his lips brush against mine. Emotions swirl through me the second I feel his loving kiss. He loves me. Beckett loves me as much as I love him. And his sweet, gentle kiss tells me everything I need to know.

  He breaks the kiss and caresses my face with his hand. “I love you.”

  I grin at him. “I love you more.”

  “Impossible,” he says.

  Beckett gets up and sinks down next to me on the couch, drawing me into his chest and stroking my hair. I close my eyes and listen to his heartbeat, knowing it belongs to me.

  And always will.

  I prop myself up so I can see him. “I quit ChicagoConnect.”

  “I know,” Beckett says. “Tom called me this afternoon. I told them I had your notebook. I said you were telling the truth and the entries were altered. I sent him screen shots, too.”

  “He screwed up believing that bitch,” I say, anger coming back to the surface.

  “Mallory’s been fired,” Beckett says, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear.

  “Get out!”

  “Get in!” Beckett teases.

  “He fired her?”

  Beckett nods. “They checked into the Internet use, the credit card, and the screen shots I sent. She was fired and escorted out.”

  “Good,” I say. “Mallory was mean and abused her position. They need to hire someone worthy of the job next time. And I’m extra happy because at least I won’t have to deal with her when I go and clean out my desk tomorrow.”

  “I know Tom regrets his decision,” Beckett says. “What if he offered you your job back? Would you take it?”

  I don’t even need a second to consider it. “No. I wouldn’t. I’ll find something else.”

  “What about working with Evan?”

  I furrow my bro
w. “Your agent?”

  “He’s starting to build his social media side, and Evan loves what you’ve done for me. You could do it for other hockey players, too. I know if I told him you were available, he’d jump on it.”

  “So you’re saying I should be a social media consultant for hockey players?”

  “You’re good at it. And you do have rent to pay, you know.”

  I see the sparkle in his eyes, and happiness fills every fiber of my being.

  “Oh, so now you’re going all landlord on me?” I say.

  Beckett grins. “It’s going to be in The Aubrey Rules.”

  “What?” I laugh. “The Aubrey Rules?”

  Beckett leans forward and swipes the notebook he had placed on the coffee table.

  “Well, rules are important to you,” Beckett says. “So I thought we could write down all the rules for you in this notebook.”

  “What?” I cry, delighted.

  Beckett draws me into him and kisses the top of my head. “It’s blank. We start right here, right now. But the first rule we have to negotiate is rent.”

  “You realize I’m unemployed now.”

  “I understand your current state of unemployment, but we should have it down in writing. A rule about your responsibilities as my tenant.”

  “Of course,” I say seriously.

  “Unless you don’t want to be my tenant,” Beckett says slowly.

  I sit up so I can see him. “What?”

  “You could move in with me,” he says simply.

  “Move in with you?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” Beckett says. “I love you. We’re forever. I want to spend all my time with you. So I would love to have you live with me. If you want to. But you don’t have to. I mean, I know it’s very soon. And crazy. But I like crazy when it involves you. And I don’t believe in rules when it comes to love. But if you don’t I under—”

  I burst out laughing, and Beckett stops mid-sentence. “You sound like me.”

  His face grows pink. “I’m nervous. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be,” I say, leaning forward and kissing him. “But what about this condo you just subletted?”

  “I’ll break the contract,” Beckett says. “But you haven’t answered my question. Will you move in with me?”

  “I leave laundry on the floor. When I’m not Super Staging, that is,” I admit.

  “Good, I’ll get a preview of your panty collection,” Beckett quips.

  Now I’m the one who is blushing.

  “I forget to pick up cereal bowls off the counter,” I say, ignoring him.

  “Then I’ll do it.”

  “I want a cat.”

  “Only if I can give him a badass hockey name,” he says. “And everything else about you I’ll discover as we go. And live with. Because I adore you. I love you. Now will you please move in with me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes?”

  “For realz,” I tease.

  Beckett flashes me the biggest grin, and I know I’m beaming. And as we seal the deal with a kiss, I know one thing for sure.

  Love can’t be found in a rule book.

  It’s found with your heart.

  WAITING FOR PRINCE HARRY

  Available now at Amazon:

  http://tinyurl.com/nuzzrsy

  Also by Aven Ellis

  THE DEFINITION OF ICING

  Kenley Hunter finally has everything sorted out. Fresh from studying chocolate making in Europe, she's gambling everything on her new business, Confection Consultations.

  All Kenley wants in life is people to take her seriously, to see the person on the inside rather than the blond beauty on the outside. While pursuing her passion of chocolate, Kenley discovered people seek her knowledge. They see past the exterior and fall for the chocolate delights in front of them.

  So with work as her focus, Kenley is ready to start her career in Dallas. Men are out of her recipe, because she fears that once they get past her looks, they’ll be disappointed in what they find. Kenley decides she's all about the chocolate now.

  Or is she?

  Because a chance meeting with new Dallas Demon hockey star Nate Johansson might change everything. Sent to Dallas in a blockbuster trade, Nate is somewhere he doesn't want to be, for reasons that have caused him heartbreak on multiple levels. Nate knows he will never trust a woman again after what happened to him in Minnesota.

  But when he meets a woman with an intriguing name and a passion for chocolate, Nate isn't so sure about his theory. And he might just learn a definition of icing other than the one used in hockey with Kenley as his guide...

  THE DEFINITION OF ICING AVAILABLE NOW AT AMAZON:

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