Little Space Rules Novels & Stories

Deciding enough is enough, I push myself up from the chair, grabbing the napkin beside my plate and tossing it carelessly onto the table. “Well then, Superman,” I say, stepping up to him. “For us to live in peace, let’s establish some rules.” “Rule number one,” I begin, holding up a finger. “No staring.” He doesn’t reply, so I take it as permission to continue. “Rule number two,” I continue. “No following me everywhere.” “That defeats the purpose of guarding you.” “You can guard me from a reasonable distance.” “Like?” I wave vaguely upstairs. “Like me in my room and you in yours, doing whatever emotionally unavailable people do.”

I commented. Eun-woo ignored me as he continued, “Rule 4: Don’t approach me just because you wanted to; Rule 3: Don’t try to talk to me if it’s not something educational-related; Rule 2: Don’t act as you know me personally; And most importantly, Rule 1: Never let anyone we’re step-siblings no matter what.” “Whoa… look who’s talking,” I mocked him. “Aren’t you the one doing as you pleased between the two of us?”

“I know that now, and even if she did send you just to mock me, it would still have been a mistake nonetheless. That woman didn’t understand my rules. The presence of male companions isn’t my issue. It’s the loud sex that I hate so much.” Will cleared his throat. “Um, I understand your point, Ms. Miller. So… What are the rules?” “Rule number one: you can’t bring in your boyfriend or girlfriend or anyone you could potentially have sex with. Rule number two: no swearing, shouting, or making any loud noises. Rule number three:, drugs and alcohol are strictly not allowed. Rule number four: no dogs or any animals inside the house,” Una rapped. “Rule number five…” Will waited and noticed how Una b

I put my hands on my knees instead of the keys. If I start, I might not stop. And I promised Ava I’d rest my voice. I turn to the glass. He’s still there. “Ground rules for this room,” I say, loud enough for him to hear through the partially open door. He steps closer to the console window. “I thought you liked rules,” he says. “No,” I say. “I like *my* rules.” He inclines his head. “Let’s hear them,” he says. “One,” I say, ticking a finger up. “You don’t come in here without knocking. I don’t care whose name is on the deed. This is Switzerland. Neutral zone.”

He spreads his arms along the back like he’s claiming territory. “Should I be taking notes on this legislation?” “Rule one: no women. Period. End of discussion.” “Already jealous? We’ve been roommates for twelve hours.” I ignore his smirk. “Rule two: no unauthorized exits. Rule three: no mysterious phone calls. Rule four: no suspicious meetings. This apartment is now Fort Knox.” He stretches his legs out, all lazy confidence and dangerous muscle. “That’s actually three separate rules, but who’s counting?” “Rule five: keep your hands off my belongings.”

“You won’t know until you see the content, will you?” Seeing her point, Dominic finally accepted the handout from her. “You are to abide by them.” She said arrogantly as he opened the document and began to take in the content. She had prepared it presentably by having it typed formally. He regarded her expectant look on his face for a brief moment before returning his eyes to the content of the document. He could see that it contained about five bulleted rules. He let his eyes go through them. There must be no physical contact with each other when we are alone except for when we are around other people. In a nutshell, there must be NO BODY CONTACT.

He said. That jerk!! "Conceited, egotistical jerk" I snapped. "Stupid." He replied. That annoyed me. "Manwhore." I said. "Stupid wet puppy." Now I didn't even get why we were arguing. I was about to respond when Jeremy entered. "So what's the first rule." He asked. "No naked males or females running around here." I said. Jeremy nodded and wrote it down. Jake smirked. "No, promises. No barging into each others rooms without knocking." He said.

“Sleep. Tomorrow, Daria will show you the estate boundaries. Cross them, and I’ll assume you’re trying to escape.” “Rule four?” His lips twitched. “Rule four is: Don’t touch my things. That includes my books, my office, and my men.” He dropped his hand and left without another word. I touched the spot under my eye. My skin burned where he’d touched me. 364 days left. Rule one: Don’t fall in love with me. Rule two: Don’t lie. Rule three: No privacy. Rule four: Don’t touch his things. He’d given me four rules in one night. How many would he have by day 365?

Snapshots flashing in my mind. "Getting changed here," Jennifer said. "I know. I'm sorry." I slowly backed away into my bedroom, like stepping away from a gunfight. After that we had a talk. I had a little fold-out card table I used for meals, so I brought that out. We both sat there staring at our hands. "I'm sorry about before," I said, "But I think we need some ground rules. You've got to let me know when you're changing like that." "I didn't want to interrupt your call," Jennifer said.

And underneath, a question: Do you want the man who makes the rules or the one who breaks them? I stared at it for hours. Then I did something I swore I wouldn’t. I wrote a rule of my own. RULE 9: You’ll both come to my room tonight. But only one of you will be allowed to touch me. The other must watch. And I slid it under both their doors. Now I wait. Naked. Plugged. Blindfolded. One will come first. The other will arrive later. But only one of them will win. “In a house with too many secrets, the final rule is the one that breaks you.”