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Home / Romance / Rule No 1:No Strings Attached / Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

All Chapters of Rule No 1:No Strings Attached : Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

7 Chapters

chapter 1

Summer’s POVBrooks Hunters had the messiest apartment known to man.I’d said that a hundred times and I’d say it a hundred more, because every single time I walked through that door, it proved itself true again. A jersey was thrown over the back of the couch. Shoes were kicked off near the entrance but never inside the shoe rack.“I don’t understand how he functions,” Ali muttered from across the room, holding up a damp towel she’d found draped over the kitchen counter. “Like genuinely, Summer. How is he not living in filth?”“He functions because people like me keep cleaning up after him.” I pulled a stack of books off the shelf and started arranging them again.“Hand me that mug, please.”She passed it without looking away from the towel. Brooks had texted me that morning, saying he just landed, and had stopped by to drop things, and I knew what that meant. The apartment would look exactly like this. So Ali and I had come over.Then two weeks ago, he’d broken up with Taylor.He ha

Last Updated : 2026-07-09

chapter 2

Summer’s Pov “Taylor, would you make me the happiest man alive, and marry me?” Brooks said while on his knees. I watched Taylor press her fingers to her lips, and then she extended her hand and Brooks slid the ring on.I had held that ring. And I had thought — even for just a second — about what it would feel like on my own finger. The room erupted. Applause, cheering. Brooks pulled Taylor in and kissed her in the middle of all those candles and flowers while everyone watched and celebrated something that was quietly breaking me apart from the inside. I still had the letter in my hand. I hadn’t realized I’d been gripping it the whole time. My knuckles were pale around the folded paper, the edges crumpled from how tight I was holding on. Three pages of everything I’d spent three years not saying, tucked into my bag earlier. I felt absurd now, holding it. I watched Taylor show the ring to the woman beside her, tilting her hand so the diamond caught the light. That should be me

Last Updated : 2026-07-09

chapter 3

Summer's POVThe first thing I felt when I woke up was the heaviness.It was like my body already knew what my half-asleep brain hadn't caught up to yet. I stared at the ceiling and for exactly three seconds, I almost didn't remember.Then it all came back.The ring. The candlelight. Taylor walking towards Brooks, who was on one knee. The sound the crowd made. Me standing at the edge of it all with a folded letter in my hand and nowhere to put it.I turned onto my side and looked at my phone. There were four missed calls from Brooks. Three from Ali.I set the phone face down and closed my eyes.Just before I could go back to sleep, a knock came.I opened the door and Ali walked straight in, wrapped both arms around me and held on without saying anything first. She just held on, and I stood there with my chin on her shoulder and my eyes pressed shut, and for a moment the tightness in my chest loosened just enough to breathe."I was so worried about you," she said finally, pulling back

Last Updated : 2026-07-09

chapter 4

Ace POVThe project didn’t interest me. The partner did.I’d walked away from that notice board knowing one thing for sure: Summer Quinn and I had unfinished business, and a whole semester working together was the perfect excuse to settle it. She’d slapped me in a freezing parking lot and then strolled off like I was nothing. That wasn’t going to stand.I changed and headed straight to the gym.Miller was already there, wrapping his hands. He gave me the usual nod. I taped up, rolled my shoulders, and stepped into the ring. We started light, circling and throwing easy shots, just finding our rhythm. The familiar smell of sweat and canvas, the creak under our feet—it was the one place where everything else faded away.I landed a clean combination and Miller grinned behind his guard. “There he is.”I pushed harder, feeling loose and strong, until it hit me out of nowhere.A brutal pressure slammed into my skull. I stumbled back against the ropes, blinking through it. For a second it eas

Last Updated : 2026-07-09

chapter 5

Ace POV:“Leave me alone, Ace,” she whispered, her voice thick. “I don't have time for whatever game you’re playing.”“I’m not playing a game, Summer. I’m making a business proposition,” I said, my tone turning serious. My gray eyes held hers with intensity. “Here’s the deal. I’m failing Professor Harrison’s sociology class. If my GPA drops below a 2.5 by the end of the month, I’m academically ineligible to box. Scouts from Boston and Chicago are coming to our home opener in a few weeks. If I’m on the bench, my draft future is dead.”She blinked, absorbing it. “And what does that have to do with me?”I stated firmly. “You’re going to make sure I pass Harrison’s final project with an A. And in return, I’m going to clean up my bad-boy reputation for the scouts by showing them I have a steady, respectable girlfriend. You.”She let out a breathless gasp. “You want me to fake date you? Are you insane?”“Think about it, Summer,” I pressed, leaning in close enough. “I want a wholesome image

Last Updated : 2026-07-09

chapter 6

Summer's POVI stood in front of my mirror the next morning, turning sideways, then turning back, trying to figure out why I even cared what I looked like today. It wasn't like today was different from any other Tuesday. Except it was, because somewhere out there, Ace Hunters was walking around acting like we were actually together, and I still hadn't figured out how to survive being seen next to him without my whole face giving me away.I smoothed down the front of my sweater for what had to be the tenth time. *You're overthinking this. It's fake. It's a project. It's nothing.*The TV was on in the background, low, more noise than anything else. I wasn't even really listening until the anchor's voice sharpened, and I caught the tail end of it.“…found early this morning near the east side of campus. Authorities have not released the identity of the victim, but sources close to the investigation say the injuries are unlike anything typically seen in—”A reporter stood in front of caut

Last Updated : 2026-07-09

chapter 7

Ace's POVMiller wouldn't shut up about it.“I'm just saying,” he said as we crossed the gym parking lot, gym bag slung over one shoulder, “you put your hand on the girl's face in the middle of a lecture and made Harrison lose control of his own classroom. That's not tutoring, man. That's a circus act.”“It worked, didn't it?”“It worked at getting the whole campus talking about you. It did not work at getting Summer Quinn to agree to spend her Tuesday afternoons explaining sociology to you.” He shouldered the gym door open. “She's going to drop you as a partner before she ever agrees to be your tutor. I told you, that girl is immune. Two years around the team and she's never once looked twice at any of us.”“She's not immune to me.”Miller snorted, dropping his bag on the bench. “Right. Because you're so different from the rest of us meatheads.”“We're dating.”The words came out flatter than I meant them to, but I wanted to see his face when he heard it. It didn't disappoint. Miller

Last Updated : 2026-07-09

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