Chapter Four - Rules I'm Not Following

Noah's POV

Jacobs glare could've set the whole driveway on fire.

He waited until Ava disappeared inside before storming across the yard toward me like I'd personally declared war on his bloodline.

"What was that?" he demanded.

I wiped sweat from my forehead and kept my voice steady. "What was what?"

"Don't play dumb," he snapped. "You were flirting with her."

I raised my brows. Define flirting."

"You know damn well what I mean."

I did.

I really, really did.

But hearing it out loud forced a truth I wasn't ready to face-because if that moment with Ava wasn't flirting, then I didn't know what was.

I sighed. "Jacob, calm down. I'm not trying to-"

He interrupted instantly. "Ava is off-limits."

There it was.

The rule I'd known since freshman year of high school.

He said it like a command. Like a boundary he expected me to honor without question. Maybe I should've. Maybe I used to.

But things weren't the same anymore.

"I hear you," I said.

He narrowed his eyes. "That doesn't sound like you agree."

Before I could respond, Tyler called out from the truck, "Yo, Noah! Need you for the big box!"

I used it as my escape.

One Jacob stomped off, I walked inside my house, dropped onto the edge of my bed, and scrubbed both hands through my hair.

I shouldn't feel like this. Not over Ava. Not now.

But the picture burned into my brain wouldn't leave-the sight of her flushed from the hear, her hair falling over her shoulder, the way her voice softened when she said I looked "good different," That look in her eyes when she thought I didn't notice.

And then there was the moment at her window.

I'd been talking to Jace, pretending everything was fine, when I felt it-someone watching me. I looked up and saw Ava standing there. framed by soft sunlight, looking at me like she hadn't meant to but couldn't help it.

When our eyes met, she froze. Then backed away so fast she nearly disappeared from view.

That did something to me. Something deep. Something dangerous.

Jace had noticed me staring and elbowed me. "Dude. You're gone."

"Shut up," I muttered.

But he wasn't wrong.

Back in my room, I lay back on the mattress and stared at the ceiling.

Jacob thinks Ava is off-limits. My coach thinks I should focus on football. My mom thinks being home will keep me grounded.

No one asked what I think.

And what I think is this:

Ava Collins isn't off-limits. She's a problem I'm already too deep to avoid.

I should stay away. I should shut this down now before it becomes something bigger.

But when she looked at me from that window, it felt like gravity changed direction. Like she wasn't just the girl next door anymore.

She was the reason I couldn't breathe right.

And maybe that meant one thing:

I'm not following Jacob's rules. Not this time.