Boarded by Love (35 page)

I pause, my heart clanking against my chest. “So you don’t love me? Mom, Jayden, Lucy, Angie, or Jace?”

“Of course I do, but that’s different. What you’re feeling right now is lust, and enjoy that, but don’t get all wrapped up in this girl to where your game starts to suffer. I’ll be watching you, Jude Mitchell. Don’t let her ruin you.”

I don’t know why I let him bother me, why I even care. But that pisses me off to the point of no return. Claire wouldn’t do that. She loves me. “She won’t ruin me. She’s changed me. Made me a better person.”

“You’re still the same person – you’re just trying to impress her for some ass, Jude. Don’t lie to me or yourself. You’re exactly like me. We aren’t made for that stuff and I got stuck. Don’t get stuck, and don’t tell your mother I said that. It’ll piss her off. I love your mother, but that took a long time for me to realize. Don’t make my mistakes. Go into the NHL, enjoy life, and leave her behind. She’ll hold you back.”

I feel like he’s kicked me in the gut. Who says this to their kid? Doesn’t he want me to be happy? “I have changed, Dad. I’m nowhere near the kind of person you are, and I know that loving someone is not a mistake. Not when they lift you up instead of holding you back. Don’t talk about Claire, my mother, or anyone I love like that. You are lucky to be loved by Mom ’cause God knows you don’t deserve it. I’m going to go into the NHL, and I’m going to do it with Claire beside me. I’m going to be the best player in the world ’cause not only am I a badass player but I’m loved by her.”

He laughs and it makes my skin crawl. “Keep dreaming, kid. You’ll end up with kids and a wife and no NHL in no time.”

I don’t even know what to say. I’m so hurt, so fucking mad. Ending the call, I drop my phone before falling onto my back and squeezing my eyes shut. I don’t know why I let him affect me. Why I even listen to him. He’s a fucking jerk. He doesn’t love me, or anyone but himself for that matter. When everyone realizes this – and leaves him – he’ll die an old, sad man with no one, while all of us are happy and loved. That thought alone has me calming down. His words are like rocks and meant to shatter me, but I won’t allow him that power. I know what I have. I know who I am and what I can accomplish. I can do anything I put my mind to, but with Claire encouraging and giving me her love, I can do it ten times better.

Somehow I think she knew I needed her because my phone dings with a message.

Claire: Just got done with my second class and I find myself watching the clock, hoping it tells me it’s time to meet you downstairs. I miss you.

Smiling, I text her back.

Me: I miss you. I just took a nap, but was woken up by my dad calling. Jerk.

Claire: Ew. Is he being a meanie?

Me: He always is.

Claire: Want to talk about it?

Me: Ur busy, we can talk later.

I wait for her reply but then a picture of her and me kissing comes up because she’s calling me.

I answer with a grin, “Hey.”

“Hey, I got time. What happened?”

“He’s a dick.”

“Yeah, I know that, but what happened?” she asks, and then I hear a door shut. She must have shut it to give us privacy.

I let out a breath and say, “Well, my agent called. I have four teams looking at me.”

“That’s amazing!” she squeals. “Which ones?”

I smile. “Kings, Rangers, Lightning, and Hawks.”

“Oooo, go with the Rangers. I love New York. But then again, I love LA too, and LA is close to Vegas! Maybe I can get a job there! Hmm. Chicago is great. So is Florida, the ocean. I love the ocean.”

I laugh, my heart hammering against my chest. “So you’ll come with me?”

“Well, duh! I can teach or open a studio anywhere! But we’ll worry about that in what, a couple months? When’s the draft?”

“June.”

She goes through the months out loud, and I assume she’s counting because then she says, “So nine months, yeah, we’ll worry about that then, but I
love
the ocean.”

“I don’t think you realize how happy you make me,” I say, my heart in my throat.

“Aw, Jude, I love you, and you make me happy, but we both know that,” she laughs. “What happened with your dad?”

My heart drops in my stomach, and I feel like I want to puke. I don’t even want to talk about him, but I know I need to get the words out of me and for her to reassure me. I don’t know why I need that. I’ve never needed reassurance before but with her, I do. “He first downplayed the fact that the teams want me.”

“Okay, he’s dumb, go on.”

I want to laugh, but instead I say, “And then he went on this spiel about how I’m not made to be with anyone, that I’m him and all this other bullshit. That you’re going to bring me down and hold me back. That being with you will ruin me.”

The line goes silent, and I wonder if she hung up. But when I check my phone, it displays the call is still connected. Clearing my throat, I say, “Claire?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Listen, I would never ever do that. I promise you, I won’t.”

“I know you won’t. That’s what I told him,” I say. “I just hate how he doesn’t believe in me.”

“He’s just a sad dude, Jude. I’m sorry, he’s a jerk. You don’t deserve that. Maybe you should call your mom, talk to her?”

I shake my head, even though she can’t see me. “I don’t want to tell her what he said. It will hurt her feelings and she’ll worry about me and she doesn’t need that stress.”

“See, I just don’t get it. You’re such a good dude. You love your mom something crazy, and you care about people’s feelings, you know? Maybe that’s why he’s such a jerk ’cause he knows he can get to you. Ignore him. Just do you.”

I nod. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“It happens often,” she teases, and I smile. “So let’s change the subject. I have two minutes.” I laugh and she says, “Did you read Rachael’s status on Facebook?”

“You two are friends?”

“We have to be, I’m on the dance team.”

“Oh yeah. No, I’ve been napping.”

“Lucky ass, anyway, she put this long-ass status about how it’s hard to let go of someone and forget them when you have such great memories with them. And so some girl is like, girl, forget those people, if they don’t want you, they don’t deserve you. And she says, but he does deserve me, I just need him to realize that and get off the girl he’s with. I wanted to comment, but I know she did it to bother me.”

“Wow, that’s crazy. Facebook is a cesspool of drama.”

“Agreed. Crazy bitch. But really, you should talk to her. Get that all taken care of. You know? She’s obviously hurting, and as much as I don’t like her, I have to assume a broken heart hurts, and also I don’t want her thinking she has a chance with you.”

“She doesn’t, and it shouldn’t be broken. I never ever gave her any kind of hope of something happening between us.”

“Jude. Don’t lie to me. I’ve heard it from half the damn campus that you promised to get with them first if you ever started dating.”

I laugh. “It was an empty promise.”

“That people took seriously. When you want someone so bad, you don’t hear things right. You hear what you want to believe, and they took your words to heart.”

I never thought of it that way. I never really cared, though. It was just fun back then. Now that I’m in love and hang on every word she says, I can see what she means. I kinda sorta feel like a jerk for leading on so many people. Clearing my throat, I say, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Again, it happens often,” she says and I scoff, my face breaking into a bigger grin. “I gotta go, babe. See you at four? I gotta go by my dorm to get my outfit for the dance.”

“Is it hot?”

“You know it. I’m gonna be your little Mexican cutie.”

I chuckle. “A pale, blue-eyed, redheaded Mexican? I think not.”

“Hey, it could happen. See you soon.”

“Bye, babe,” I say and then hang up. Lying back on the blanket, my arm rests across my stomach as I take in a deep breath and let it out. I feel a hundred times better and my dad is a distant thought, all because of one phone call from my girl. Closing my eyes, I decide to sleep for a little longer but then my phone dings again.

Picking it up, I see it’s a text from Claire.

Claire: btw…I love you.

My heart feels as if it is blowing up in my chest, and I can’t help but love the feeling. It’s so breathtaking and special. Only she can make me feel like that too.

I write back quickly.

Me: Btw…I love u more than you’ll ever know. Thanks for being there.

Claire: I’ll always be here for you.

Good. That’s really fucking good.

“S
o, I have to admit something.”

Claire looks back at me and grins. “What? Gosh, you look silly in that sombrero.”

I send her a devilish grin as I run my fingers along the huge-ass sombrero hat I’m wearing. It goes great with my poncho and khaki shorts. “This sombrero is what makes me look silly? Not the big black mustache?” I ask, twirling the ends of my pasted-on mustache.

She laughs as she rolls her eyes. “You’re right. That
is
what’s making you look silly.”

I pinch her butt as she walks by me, and she smacks my hand away as she goes to my mirror to put lipstick on. She’s wearing tight red shorts with a frilly, black, Mexican-inspired top. Her hair is back in curls, held up by a big black rose.

In other words, she looks fucking hot.

Looking at me in the mirror, she says, “What did you have to admit? Hey, stop staring at my ass.”

I chuckle as she pulls her shorts down some, trying to hide her assets, but there is no hiding that spectacular ass. “Hey, that’s my ass to look at, thank you.”

She sticks her tongue out before turning to look at me. “Whatever. Admit what you gotta admit.”

I stand and walk toward her, wrapping my arms around her waist and picking her up off the ground. She squeals, wrapping her arms loosely around my neck as I say, “You, my love, are
muy caliente
.”

Her face warms with color as she says, “Why, thank you. I didn’t know you spoke Spanish.”

“I do, thanks to four years of it in high school.”

I basically learned it so I could talk girls out of their panties, but I don’t think I should say that to my girlfriend. Might piss her off.

“Ooh, say more,” she demands, a lusty grin playing on her sweet mouth.

Letting her slide down my body, I tuck my fingers inside her shorts as I bring my lips close to her shiny red ones. I then whisper, “
Tu estas muy caliente y demasiado bella, mujer. Te quiero acostar y hacerte cosas tan sucio
.”

Taking in a sharp breath, she grins at me. “Good God, that’s hot. What does it mean?”

Nipping at her bottom lip, I say in a throaty, rough way, “You are so hot, my beautiful woman. I want to lay you down and do the nastiest things ever to you.”

As the last word leaves my mouth, I press into her with my pelvis, letting her feel every hard inch of me. Her eyes darken with color before she goes up on her toes, her lips only a breath away from mine. Everything she does makes me hard, even just her breathing. She’s so undeniably amazing and she drives me absolutely insane. Threading her fingers in my hair, she says, “I like when you talk dirty to me…especially in another language.”

I smile but then her lips are moving against mine. Holding her close, I move my tongue into her mouth and then along her tongue, deepening the kiss. Curving my tongue up, I lick the roof of her mouth before moving it again with hers. Pulling back, she kisses my bottom lip, then the side of my mouth before my jaw and then chin. Looking up at me, she says, “Red is a good color on you.”