#BreakingTheRules

by Yesenia Vargas

  #BreakingTheRules

  Book 5 of the #BestFriendsForever Series

  Yesenia Vargas

  Copyright © 2019 by Yesenia Vargas

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  For my daughters.

  And my amazing VIP Readers. I’m here because of you. Thank you.

  Contents

  Book Description

  Become a VIP Reader

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Yesenia Vargas

  Book Description

  He’s her brother’s best friend. Her long-time crush. And completely off limits.

  * * *

  Rey never imagined Wes would ever take notice of her. But then her quest to turn the boy next door into a Potterhead begins to turn into something more. Could they ever have a shot at something real?

  * * *

  One very important person stands in their way, though.

  * * *

  Her brother.

  * * *

  He’s made it clear that their relationship would be an unforgivable violation of the bro code.

  * * *

  Will Rey figure out how to go after the guy she loves without betraying the one person who’s always been there for them both? Or are Rey and Wes doomed from the start?

  * * *

  Get ready to fall in love with this final installment of the #BestFriendsForever series. Grab book 5 and continue this popular series today!

  * * *

  This is a clean young adult romance.

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  One

  The approach of familiar voices and the slam of the back door made me stop typing mid-sentence.

  Uh oh.

  I slammed my laptop closed and tried to look like I hadn’t just been writing something super personal and private…

  Especially since my brother Hugo and his friend Wes paused beside me at the breakfast table in the kitchen.

  Hugo gave me an odd look. “Watcha doing, sis?” he asked with a small laugh. He held a soccer ball in his hand. Sweat trickled down his forehead, and Wes’s hair glistened.

  I stuttered, trying to come up with a logical response within a normal timeframe. “I—uh, I am… working on a paper.”

  Wes’s mouth turned slightly upward, and suddenly, he took a big interest in his shoes.

  My brother furrowed his brow, his eyes on my closed computer. “You’re working on a paper?…” he repeated after me, his teasing smile still there.

  I nodded, pasting on a tight-lipped smile. “Hm-hm.”

  He winced a little, like he was trying to figure something out. “With your laptop closed…”

  I glanced at my computer. Uh… “I’m thinking right now,” I added, pointing a finger at my head.

  And immediately regretted looking like such a dork.

  Wes’s mouth turned up even more, just about into a full-on grin, and I wanted to slink down until I hit the floor and could hide under the table.

  My brother laughed. “Whatever, sis. We’ll pretend we didn’t interrupt your super secret diary session.” Those last four words came out in a giant whisper. He headed toward the living room, still laughing. “Please go on. ‘Dear diary…’” he said in his attempt to mimic my higher-pitched voice.

  Not in a mean way, more like a funny, teasing older brother sort of way.

  Still, I rolled my eyes and wanted to disappear.

  Wes followed after him, giving me a small wave.

  I waved back, a huge smile on my face because he had actually noticed me. And said hi.

  But I knocked over my cup of tea, spilling it over the entire table.

  I jumped up, grabbing my laptop and setting it on the counter nearby. No damage there. Thank goodness I’d had the sense to knock the tea the opposite way.

  At least Wes hadn’t noticed. That would’ve been mortifying.

  I mopped up the mess with some homemade dish towels. My mom didn’t keep paper towels in the house. Not even paper napkins. She was crazy about not creating more waste and hurting the environment.

  Which I guess made sense, but presented me with a problem when I couldn’t find another dish towel to clean up the still wet table.

  Several minutes (and rinsed, squeezed, and re-used same dish towel later), I opened up my laptop again.

  Stared at the blog post I’d been writing and let out a long sigh.

  The words were ones I’d never be able to speak out loud.

  Why? Because I totally had a crush on someone I’d never have a chance with. I wasn’t sure we could ever even be friends.

  He was someone who had been in my life for what felt like forever, and he was perfect in every way.

  He had the kindest honey-colored eyes, complete with thick brows to frame them. Perfectly kissable lips, not to mention a dimpled chin and just the right amount of stubble covering it. I’d day-dreamed of running my hands through his tousled wavy hair, several shades lighter than my dark strands, for longer than I’d ever admit.

  But it would never happen because this guy that I had longed for forever?

  He was Wes, my brother’s best friend.

  Which meant he was one hundred percent off limits.

  It was one reason I loved pen and paper—or in this case, my blog—so much. I told my journal everything. And recently, the entire internet, anonymously of course.

  I knew there was only a small chance anybody I knew would ever come across my blog, but I’d make up fake names just the same.

  I’d never shared my thoughts like this before, but every time I hit publish, a surge of adrenaline coursed through me.

  And then I felt a sense of momentary relief because somebody out there knew how I felt, maybe could relate.

  I wasn�
��t sure I’d ever be brave enough to actually tell anyone how I really felt, but it felt great just the same. To put the most vulnerable part of myself out there.

  Maybe one day I’d finally be able to get over Wes, but until then, I could write about it. Let the poetry of the words comfort me and know that my words were out in the world, like releasing a balloon into the sky.

  Wes and Hugo were just a few feet away in the living room. I could hear the video game they were playing, the occasional shout or groan or laugh.

  My mom was doing laundry downstairs, and my dad was out. So I was alone once again in the kitchen, which meant it was safe to write again.

  I opened up my laptop. My fingers landed on the keyboard, each one in place, as I gathered my thoughts, read over what I had written, and decided what to write next.

  Today’s post was about the first time I’d met Wes.

  #TheDayWeMet

  We’d only been kids then. The day he and his family moved in, we came home, pulled in the driveway.

  I remember my big brother (#BB) got so excited because he saw #BND (boy next door) and realized he’d finally have a friend next door to play with. No more cranky old people for neighbors. Or annoying little brothers plus tag-along little sister. I’d stared out the car window, taking him in. He’d been helping his dad carry a box inside, but he put it down when #BB jumped out of the car and immediately shouted hi.

  That was #BB, alright. Of the two of us, he was the extrovert, the people person, the loud one. Easygoing and easy to get along with. Always smiling and talking. Could make a friend within one minute flat.

  I took my time getting out of the car, wondering if maybe there was a girl my age I could eventually hang out with. If I could ever be brave enough to introduce myself .

  I was out of luck, though.

  A boy who looked a couple years older than #BND walked toward the moving truck. So much for a potential new friend.

  I hung around the porch, watching #BB and his new friend talk and play. When they ran up the porch steps, they stopped in front of me.

  #BB glanced at me then at #BND. “This is my little sister. She’s cool.”

  To this day, I remember how awesome I felt, hearing my brother say I was cool.

  #BND had waved at me, told me his name.

  Like the introvert I still am, I sat there, unable to conjure up any kind of greeting, instead frozen like a deer in headlights.

  #BND had turned his gaze toward my journal, open in my lap. I’d been drawing a dragon like the one on the cover of the book I was reading, but it didn’t look quite right. “Cool dragon,” he’d said.

  Then my brother had dragged him off in search of his Play Station or whatever gaming console he was obsessed with at the time.

  I’d smiled after #BND.

  He’d been shorter then, but he still had the same kind eyes, like pools of warm honey.

  And a smile that had lit up something inside me.

  I sat back, reading over what I’d written, wondering if it was utterly terrible. And of course, thinking about Wes.

  Over the years, the three of us had grown up. Wes and Hugo were in their freshman year of college. Campus was only a half hour away so they were still living at home for now, but they both raved about getting their own place soon.

  I was only a year younger, which meant I was graduating this year. It was something I didn’t like to think about too much.

  But I’d only been too glad that Wes hadn’t decided to go to college somewhere far away. Instead, I got to see him most days.

  Even if I knew that there could never be anything between us. Plus I was sure he just saw me as his best friend’s nerdy little sister. Always a book in her hand. Or a journal. Not too far away. And usually too quiet or stuck inside her own head to say much.

  But unlike some of Wes’s other friends, he’d never been one to tease me or look down on me. Which only served to intensify my huge crush on him.

  Wes was the epitome of the boy next door. Handsome, sweet, and the first one to help you pick up your pile of library books when they fell out of your bike’s basket in the driveway, as I’d found out in seventh grade.

  And the one boy that was completely and utterly out of reach.

  No matter how much I liked him.

  Two

  Wes hung out at our house all the time.

  He still knocked at the front door, but everyone already knew the drill. Point him to wherever Hugo was hanging out at the moment, usually his room.

  After several hours of video games that afternoon, Wes finally disappeared, but it wasn’t long before he was back.

  I even knew the way he knocked. Two soft knocks pulled my attention away from the TV. Since my mom had migrated to the kitchen and my brothers were all upstairs, I got up from the couch and padded to the door.

  When I swung it open, Wes stood there, no longer sweaty or in gym shorts.

  In fact, I felt even more lightheaded than usual around him, and I wasn’t sure if it was my usual crush with accompanying heart palpitations or his new cologne.

  Then I remembered I should probably let him inside instead of staring at him without a word.

  “Hey,” I breathed. “Uh, come on in. My brother’s upstairs somewhere.”

  Wes stepped inside, his hands inside his pockets. “Thanks. I’ll just wait for him down here if you don’t mind. We’re supposed to go grab a bite to eat.”

  I nodded, probably too quickly so I stopped. “Cool,” I managed, not sure what to do with my hands. I went from clasping my hands in front of me to putting a hand on my waist. Neither of those felt right, and I could tell from Wes’s glance at my arms that I probably looked kind of twitchy.

  I made a mental note to limit the caffeinated tea next time.

  I went over to the couch and took a seat, grabbing a pillow to set in my lap.

  Wes sat on the love seat adjacent to me, glancing at the TV.

  I hit play and tried to go back to watching the fourth Harry Potter movie but ultimately failing to register what was happening.

  There was a full minute of silence, until Wes said, “Whoa. Dragons.”

  I smiled, his comment reminding me of the day he’d moved in and become friends with my brother. “Yeah.”

  Yeah?

  Gahhh.

  I tried to recover. “It’s the triwizard tournament. The first challenge—”

  But then my brother came downstairs. Wes’s gaze immediately went to the stairs, and he stood up. “Hey, man. I’m ready if you are,” Hugo said.

  They made their way to the front door and slammed it behind them. And with that, they were gone.

  Then my mom popped her head into the living room, propping the swinging door with her hip. “I keep telling your brother not to…” She shook her head and sighed. She took me in on the couch with my favorite blanket wrapped around me and a couple books beside me. “Oh, hey, hon. You not going out tonight? Hanging out with your friends?”

  I shook my head. “Nah. I thought I’d stay in tonight. I’m kind of tired.”

  She looked like she might say something else, but she didn’t. Just went back to the kitchen and I went back to my movie.

  So what if it was Friday night? Some of the #BFFs were probably out. Ella was probably with Jesse and Harper with Emerson. Tori had to be with Noah and maybe their little sisters. The soccer season was over so Lena was probably out on a date with Ian.

  Sometimes they’d invite me to hang out, but I didn’t feel like being the ninth wheel tonight.

  I’d made up that term not too long ago. Kind of like a third wheel except I was the only one in our group of five without a boyfriend. I was happy for my friends, but there was only so much hand-holding and pecks on the cheek I could take before I wished I had someone to hold me tight and kiss me good night.

  The girls had offered to set me up with some of the guys’ friends more than once, but I wasn’t interested in anyone that wasn’t Wes.

  And that would nev
er, ever happen. Lena, especially, pushed me more than ever to try to talk to Wes or something, but they didn’t get it.

  He was my brother’s best friend. He didn’t see me like that. .

  It wasn’t long before Hugo and Wes came back from their dinner out. Hugo almost looked surprised to see me. “Hey, sis.”

  Maybe because even our younger twin brothers had managed to find something to do tonight.

  “Hey,” I said shifting uncomfortably in front of Wes.

  They sat down on the couch, and from the way he glanced at the movie I was watching, I could tell Hugo wanted to watch the TV. I handed him the remote. “Here, I’m done.”

  “You sure?” he said, taking the remote. “We were hoping to rent this movie that just came out. Even though the ending—”

  “Don’t spoil it!” I said, throwing my pillow at him. It bounced off his head and landed on his lap.

  Wes laughed.

  I glanced at him, sort of pleased with myself for making him smile.

  My brother raised his hands defensively, then threw the pillow aside. “Fine, fine. You can watch it with us if you want, since you haven’t seen it yet.”