Todos los capítulos de The Rogue Next Door: Capítulo 91 - Capítulo 100

Maya By Monday morning, the entire campus knows. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. I don’t know who started it. I don’t know if college students have some kind of underground communication network that alerts everyone the second something remotely interesting happens. All I know is that when I step onto campus Monday morning, people are looking at me. Again. The difference is that before, people whispered because nobody knew what was happening between Cole and me. Now they’re whispering because apparently everybody does. And honestly? I’m not sure which version is worse. I clutch my coffee a little tighter as I walk across campus. The morning air is cool enough that I keep tugging my sleeves over my hands, trying to disappear into my hoodie. Old habit. The problem is that disappearing doesn’t seem to be an option anymore. “That’s her.” The voice comes from somewhere behind me. My shoulders immediately stiffen. Nope. Don’t react. Keep walking. Pretend you didn’t

Maya I was losing. Badly. The annoying part wasn’t that I was losing. The annoying part was that Cole Ryder wasn’t even pretending to be humble about it. “That’s another point for me.” I looked up from my golf ball and narrowed my eyes at him. “You’ve said that after every hole.” “Because I’ve won every hole.” “You are genuinely the worst.” His grin only widened. “No. I’m winning. There’s a difference.” I rolled my eyes so hard it physically hurt. The mini golf course sat near the edge of town, tucked between an old arcade and a tiny ice cream stand that looked like it had survived at least three decades entirely on nostalgia and sugar. Strings of lights crisscrossed above the course, slowly flickering to life as the evening sky faded from blue to pink. When Cole first pulled into the parking lot, I’d honestly thought he was joking. Mini golf? This was his big surprise? Not dinner. Not some elaborate date. Not something designed to impress me. Mini golf. And someho

MayaI don’t remember sitting down.One second I was standing beside the booth staring at my father.The next I was sitting across from him again with Cole beside me and a cold knot growing heavier in my stomach.The restaurant around us kept moving.Plates clattered.Servers walked past.Someone laughed near the front counter.Normal life continued.Meanwhile my entire world felt like it was balancing on a knife edge.Dad rubbed both hands over his face.For the first time since arriving, he looked tired.Not drunk.Not angry.Just tired.Old.I hated how much that bothered me.Because no matter how many times he disappointed me, some stupid part of me still saw my dad.Still remembered movie nights on the couch when I was little.Still remembered him teaching me how to ride a bike.Still remembered the man he used to be before life seemed to wear him down one bad decision at a time.“Maya…”The way he said my name made me immediately tense.Because suddenly he sounded nervous.And m

Cole I leave Maya at her house just after midnight. Not because I want to. Because she needs sleep. Because she needs Bree. Because if I keep holding her in my truck while she cries quietly into my hoodie, I’m going to do something stupid. Like drive back to Po Folks and say everything I didn’t say to her father. Or worse. Mean it. Maya doesn’t cry loudly. That’s what stays with me. She doesn’t fall apart in a way that demands attention. She breaks quietly, like she’s trying not to inconvenience anyone with the sound of it. Like even her pain has to be polite. And I fucking hate that. I hate that she apologized when I walked her inside. I hate that she whispered, “I’m sorry this is so much,” like she was the problem. Like her father didn’t just sit across from her in a restaurant and admit he burned through the money her dead mother left for her future. Eighty thousand dollars. Gone. I don’t sleep. Not really. I lie in bed staring at the ceiling

MayaI don’t open the letter at the game.I don’t open it when we win.I don’t open it when Bree nearly tackles me celebrating a touchdown.And I definitely don’t open it while Cole is grinning at me across a parking lot full of football players and screaming students.Because some part of me already knows.The second I click that attachment, something changes.And I’m not ready for that yet.So I wait.I make it through the rest of the game.I survive Jake trying to introduce himself for the seventh time even though we’ve met at least twenty.I survive Bree yelling at strangers.I survive Cole looking at me like I personally hung the moon after every big play.I survive all of it.But the email sits in the back of my mind the entire time.Waiting.By the time I get home, my stomach is in knots.The house is quieter than usual.Bree disappeared into her room after announcing she needed a shower and “an hour to emotionally recover from football.”Logan left for practice.Anthony is som