Chapter 9. Rule Number Five

Tessa’s POV

Rule number five: we tell Knox ourselves. Together.

I wrote it on the back of a Business Ethics syllabus on Monday afternoon. By Thursday afternoon, I’ve drafted the conversation eleven times in my head.

Knox, before you say anything, let me finish.

Knox, it’s not what it looks like.

Knox, please put down the chair.

I’ve also drafted what I’ll do if he asks the obvious question. Why Wyatt? Why now? I’m a terrible liar. I go red, I talk too fast, and I can never remember which details I’ve already made up. Cole used to laugh about it. You’d never survive a poker game, Kates. He said it like it was cute.

Turns out it was useful. For him.

In every version, Wyatt and I sit him down somewhere public, somewhere with witnesses and nothing heavy within reach, and we explain calmly that Cole and I broke up, that Wyatt and I are seeing each other, and that it’s new