Match Made in Quarantine

9. The Rulebook

"Why are all these rules about me?" He narrowed his eyes as he flipped through the pages of the notebook.

I bit down on my lower lip trying to come up with a good answer to that question. There was none I could think of. How exactly would one even go about telling someone they're an idiot? That the rules were for my own safety and mental well-being? That—

"Looks like someone has a little crush on me, huh?" His outrageous statement instantly pulled me out of my thoughts. My eyes went wide as I turned to him, completely incredulous.

He had a huge smirk on his face and as soon as he saw me looking, he winked, "I don't usually go for the obsessive type, but—"

"As if! You're an idiot!" I guess that was one way of telling him. Then again, he had kind of asked for it. "If you had half a brain that notebook wouldn't have any rules in it!"

Unsurprisingly, he pressed his lips together, the corners still pulled up in a smile and nodded along to what I was saying.

"Sure, sure, whatever you say, babe." He drawled out the words in amusement, rising his eyebrows suggestively.

This was not going well.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" My voice was getting a bit too loud for comfort. I wasn't exactly happy he could probably see how much his teasing had affected me.

"Will do, princess." Just as I'd feared, his voice sounded way too amused. He was absolutely not taking me seriously.

"That's not any better!" I felt my gag reflex approaching critical level.

On the other hand, it seemed like Maddox was having the time of his life trying to suppress his laughter. Leaving that notebook out here was a huge mistake. Was he ever going to let me live this down?

With a frustrated groan, I snatched the notebook from his hands and stormed into my room. I could hear him laughing in the living room, saying something unintelligible. It was probably good I couldn't hear what he was saying because I was close to committing murder.

Taking a few deep breaths, I tried to remember the basics from the one meditation class I took. Perhaps the exercise would have worked better had the reason for my turmoil not been living-it-large in the other room.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, these light headaches were becoming a part of my daily routine. Taking a few more moments to prepare before going back out there, I nodded to myself in silent encouragement. After grabbing a sheet of paper and two pens, I stormed back into the living room.

Maddox was still on the couch, the same smirk still on his face, but he had now upgraded to holding a beer in his hand. 

In a way, it was incredible how he managed to completely surprise me, all the time, no matter how prepared I thought I was.

"Maddox, it's like 1 PM!" I couldn't keep the shock from my voice.

"Yeah, which makes it the afternoon." He said, raising his beer bottle at me. I just stood there, my hands crossed over my chest and a frown on my face.

"What, you gonna call the Beer Police on me?" He teased and chuckled at his own joke before taking a long sip.

"You bet I would, if they existed." I muttered, hopefully too quiet for him to hear but nonetheless, a smirk popped up on his face.

"What did you say?" He asked, giving me only a sidelong glance.

I raised the blank sheet of paper and pens, "We need to have the rules listed." Nice save, I suppose?