THIRTY 18+✔️

Chapter 8 Two Week Trial ✔️

He brushes my hair to the side and bends down, resting his chin on my shoulder. He wraps his arms around me, standing here watching the bright orange glow of the setting sun shine on all of the buildings in view.

"Do you think this is a mistake?" I ask him, laying my arms over his that are holding me, linked together across my stomach.

He turns me around to face him.

"Are you already having regrets?" He says seriously. "Because if you are, then we can forget this, we can end it before we even..."

"No, it's not that. It's just.. I don't know Kole. I am just so damn tired of being alone, so tired of going out with all of these...."

"Assholes." He fills in for me.

"Yeah, and you are just so, so"

"Perfect?" He teases.

"Well, yeah, actually. I just don't want to force you to do this, and you end up hating me for it. I don't want you to settle with someone like me just because you think that ..."

"Kandi, listen to me right now. Anyone would be lucky to have a chance to be with you. You are the one who is perfect. If anyone is settling in this situation, it is you." He says tucking my hair behind my ear.

 There is a knock at the door.

"That would be my food." I say pushing against his chest.

"Our food." He corrects.

"That entirely depends on what you ordered." I laugh as I go to open the door.

♡♡♡

Sitting there stuffing our faces, we decide now is as good a time as any to discuss what he keeps referring to as "the rules."

By the time we are finished, we have come up with several—so many that I grab my journal and pen to make a list.

1. Friends First: Always remember that, regardless of where this leads, we are friends before anything else.

2. No secrets: We tell each other everything, just like we always have.

3. Only What Both Are Comfortable With: We will both always be considerate of the other when it comes to anything physical or otherwise.

4. Honesty: This goes along with number 2, but, we must always be honest with each other.

5. If Either One Of Us Starts Having Doubts, Speak Up: - Never lead the other on

6. If Either One Finds Someone Else Or Has Feelings For Someone, We Must Tell The Other immediately.

7. No One Knows Until We Are Ready: No one knows about our arrangement until we are ready to let them know.We make this rule because we both know that our family and a few mutual friends will go crazy once they find out, and it is best we wait to see how this is going to go before we say anything.

8. No Cringey Couple Nicknames

( because apparently me calling him Ko and him calling me his Kandicane isn't cringey.)

9. No Sex With Anyone Else: As long as we are a "we", we will not date or hook up with anyone else. If we feel like that is where something is headed, then we keep an open dialogue about it and tell each other BEFORE anything happens.

10. NOTHING CHANGES!!!

This is the most important rule! So that we won't let anything that may or may not happen take away from what we have and only, hopefully, add to it.

I think that this rule and what all of this means is what scares both of us the most—the possibility of it ever coming between us.

Driving us apart instead of closer together.

But we are both hell-bent and determined not to let that happen.

"Number 11" Kole says with a mouthful of food.

"What?"

"Write it down. Number 11." He says waking his fork at me.

"Ok?"

"We reserve the right to add more rules as we see fit or as they come up."

"Only after discussing it with the other person first."

"Of course, now put it down."

I jot down number 11 at the bottom of the list and close the notebook, leaving the pen inside.

"Ok, so I guess that makes it official?" He asks, looking at the closed notebook.

"Guess so." I say smiling.

An actual couple. Us. I still can't believe it. Now, where the hell do we go from here?