Boarded by Love (29 page)

“Yes, ma’am. We do the halftime show.”

“I can’t wait! How exciting, watching my babies kick some hockey butt, and then I get to watch you. It’s going to be great,” she says, and I love how excited she is. Everyone is grinning, happy, and I’ve never felt so completely whole in my life. I want to gather Claire in my arms and tell her that she makes me the happiest guy in the world. I mean, my family is eating her up. I knew they would, but still, it’s comforting knowing that she fits in here. That everyone loves her.

“So is that your real hair color?” my dad asks, and everyone’s smile falls as Claire glances over at him.

Okay, I take that back, everyone except my dad likes her. He seems to be hell-bent on ruining this evening.

“No, it’s not. I’m a blonde, but I like to spice things up, and I think the red is more me than blond,” she says.

“It’s a little bold, but then again, Jude has some kind of fauxhawk, Mohawk, crazy crap going on on his head. I guess we should be thankful you’re not covered in tattoos and piercings,” he says, and I swear my blood pressure is through the roof.

Not able to take it anymore, I say, “Wouldn’t have mattered if she was ’cause you’ve been dead set on not liking her from the moment she set foot in this house.”

“Jude Marshall, please,” my mom stresses. “Not in front of our guest.”

“Tell him to stop talking to her like she is the shit on his shoes and I’ll be fine, Mom. I’m not going to sit here and listen to this. We can leave.”

“No, not at all,” Mom says loudly and then looks at my dad. “Mark, that’s enough. Be nice or you can leave.”

Dad scoffs while all of us are wide-eyed, looking at my mother. She’s never talked to my dad like that. “You aren’t going to kick me out of my own house.”

“The hell I won’t,” my mom sneers, and I swear you could hear a pin drop, it’s so quiet. I watch as my parents stare into each other eyes, nothing but heat and anger in their gaze, and I know that something really wrong is going on.

Knowing that I’ll have to wait to find out, I look over at Claire. “Told ya we aren’t a normal, happy family.”

Thankfully it’s still warm enough to ride home on the bike since I need the ride to calm down. After a very tense dinner, I was ready to go, but Claire insisted on helping my mom clean up, and I’m glad she did. They bonded some more, and afterward, my mom hugged her tightly, saying she hoped Claire would come back. I thought she would say hell no, but when she looked into my mom’s eyes and said, “I’d love to,” I knew she was telling the truth. I saw it in her eyes, and I’d like to think she wouldn’t lie to my mom.

When I get on the road to the Bullies’ house, I see that it is packed with cars, making me remember that there’s a party since we don’t have practice tomorrow morning. Coach had to go out of town, so we’re supposed to do a skate on our own. Because of that, the guys wanted to have some people over. Pulling up beside her Roadster, I shut off the bike and get off, taking my helmet off as she does the same. When I hear loud music playing, I look at the house and can see the shadows of people in the backyard. They are loud and I know that soon campus police will be called if I don’t go in there and shut them up.

“Party?”

I nod. “Yeah. Campus police will be here soon.”

“Fun time,” she says, laying her helmet by mine.

When I look back at her, she gives me a half-grin as she shrugs her shoulders. “Well, that was interesting.” She pauses, her eyes searching mine. “I love your mom, Lucy, Angie, Jace, and Jayden, but I have to admit, your dad is an asshole.”

I laugh as I nod. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“No biggie. He won’t keep me from visiting with your mom again; she was awesome.”

I wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her neck. “Thank you for going.”

She threads her fingers through my hair, and I close my eyes as she says, “Thanks for inviting me. I guess my family is next. I can guarantee you that it will be worse than that.”

I chuckle against her skin, nibbling up her jaw before saying, “As long as I’m with you, I’ll endure it.”

When I pull up to look into her eyes, she’s grinning, her eyes bright and inviting. Leaning into her, I kiss her lips softly, but soon our kisses turn demanding. I crave this. Need it. Sliding my hands down her back, I cup her ass and press her closer into me, loving the feeling of her body against mine. Parting, I kiss her top lip before whispering, “Three more days.”

“Till?”

I smile and then open my eyes to find her watching me. “Till I can take you to my room and devour you, woman!”

She laughs as she pushes me away playfully. “No way, not until you ask me to be your girlfriend in a totally cheesy romantic way that I can tell our grandchildren when we’re old and gray.”

I laugh as I nod. “I got you.”

“You better,” she says with a wink and then leans in for a quick kiss. “But I gotta go.”

“What? Stay. Let’s go to bed.”

“With a party going?” she says with a laugh. “No way in hell. I’m dead on my feet.”

“Yeah, I know,” I say, and then I see Rachael with some of the girls from the team. I nod my head toward them. “Rachael and them are here. Wanna come hang out?”

She laughs. “No way. I have to deal with her tomorrow.”

I smile as I kiss her again, and when her arms wrap around my neck, I deepen the kiss, holding her close. We kiss for a little longer until she pulls away. “I gotta go now, or I’ll never go.”

“I’m hoping for the latter,” I say with a wink, and she laughs before kissing my cheek.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

I shrug. “I’m a little embarrassed, a little pissed,” I admit.

“Don’t be. He didn’t scare me off. I love your family, and I’ve dealt with worse.”

I smile, kissing the side of her mouth. “You shouldn’t have to deal with anything like that.”

“Ah, it’s part of life. There are assholes everywhere. Thankfully, I found a good one.”

She flashes me a grin and kisses me on the cheek before heading to her car. I watch as she throws her bag in and then as she waves at me. “Don’t let it bother you.”

“I’ll try.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow?”

“All right, babe.”

“Thanks again for taking me. I really like your family, minus your dad,” she says with a grin.

I laugh as I nod. “I agree. Thanks for going, see you tomorrow.”

“Bye,” she says and then she’s gone.

Letting out a long breath, I take our helmets and head inside.

Once I shut the door, Matt grabs me and says, “Dude, I need a beer pong partner. Let’s go.”

I’m not tired so I agree, but when I see that we’re playing against Rachael and Mia, I wish I would have declined.

“No girlfriend tonight?” Rachael asks, and I have to admit that before I would have thought she was smoking in the barely-there skirt and shirt, but now I want nothing to do with her.

“Nope, she went home,” I answer as I fill the cups with beer.

“So that means you’re single tonight?”

Rolling my eyes, I let out a breath. “No, I’m not. I’m Claire’s.”

And after tonight, I know I’ll always be hers.

I
t hasn’t been the best day. I’m supertired since I didn’t get in till late, and I’m irritated because I failed my math pop quiz this morning. That’s what I get for not studying when I should have. Instead, I went to dinner with Jude’s family, but I don’t regret that. Even if his dad is a Grade A asshole, I’d fail a billion tests just to hang with his mom again. She was an amazingly cool woman, and I’m glad I got to meet her, even if I did have to endure Mark Sinclair.

I really don’t understand it. Mrs. Sinclair, Lucy, Angie, and Jace were amazing, good people and superfun, but Mr. Sinclair was rude and just angry from the moment I walked into the house. I spent all night trying to figure out if it was something I did, but I came up with nothing. I was polite, sweet, and all-around awesome, so really, I don’t get it. I don’t know what’s up that dude’s ass, nor do I know what’s going on between Jude’s parents, but it’s obvious it’s something major. They didn’t seem like a loving couple, not in the least.

With all that on my mind, and the fact I’m tired, dealing with the dance team is not what I want to do right now. What I’d love to do is go to Jude’s and take a nap. That’s what he’s doing since he’s hungover from playing beer pong last night. While I don’t condone drinking till you are passed out drunk, I understand why. His dad really gets to him, and Lord knows, I used to do the same thing. Drink myself numb so I didn’t feel all the pain and hatred in my heart, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow Jude to do that. He gets one time, and I plan on telling him that tonight when I see him. There are other ways to handle anger and hurt. I learned that in therapy.

I kinda wish I was in therapy right now. That’s how bad I want to leave this rehearsal. While I love teaching dance, teaching to a group of jerks is really trying my nerves. I figure that this is practice to get me ready for the bigger assholes of dance, but my goodness, how can a group of eight girls bitch so much? I mean, we are dancers! We had to be able to do certain stuff to join! So I really don’t understand why, when I add that stuff in the dance, people want to bitch. It’s insane and annoying. I don’t even want to be here, but I know I can’t leave. We perform Saturday, and I love this piece. I worked hard on it, and it’s going to be freaking fabulous as soon as these girls get it down. I don’t want us looking stupid in front of the Bullies team.

Especially my man.

“I can’t do a triple! I just can’t!” Mia complains and I stop the music.

I take in a deep breath and head toward her. “Yes, you can. Pull up, strong back leg, and hold it out,” I say, holding my arms out as I demonstrate it for her. “It’s all in the back leg. You have to push off with it to get you around three times. You can do it.”

She tries it a couple times, and finally the third time, she does it. “Feels good, right?” I ask as she grins at me.

“Yeah, I got it, thank you. You’re really good at this.”

“Thank you,” I say, and we share a small smile before I look out at the rest of the group. “Any other problems?”

No one answers me, so I go get the remote and then head to my spot which is right beside Rachael. I didn’t want to be by her, but I wanted to be in the middle so the team could see me. Since she’s the captain, I put her in the center, but I kind of wish I had stuck her in the back, or maybe even in the hall. I hate the way she’s watching me in the mirror, but I ignore her and hit play before calling out, “Five, six, seven, eight.”

The music to Jennifer Lopez’s “I Luh Ya Papi” starts and so do we. We all move in perfect unison, all attitude and great movement. I am so proud of this group in this moment. There are a few little wobbles here and there, but for the most part, it’s outstanding. When we finish, I stop the music and turn to the girls. “Great job, ladies. That turn was great, Mia. Keep working on it. Great attitude, Skylar. Remember, we have to point toes and be strong. Now, we only have twenty seconds left, and I want to do a side stretch. Like this,” I say then I throw my leg straight out to the side, my torso following the movement to where my body is completely horizontal, standing on one leg. Standing back up, I ask, “Who can do that? Or who wants to try?”

Only Skylar raises her hand as Rachael says, “No normal person can do that. I mean, how do you even do that and stay upright?”

Why does this girl test my patience? I have ten-year-olds who do that stretch beautifully. Swallowing loudly, I say, “I know a lot of people who can. It’s all about the strength in your bottom leg. Let’s all try it.”

She doesn’t say anything, and I demonstrate it a few times. Then I watch as some try it. It’s too rough though, and I know I can’t make everyone do it. When Rachael does it perfectly though, I clap in excitement.

“Great job, Rachael!”

When she gives me a shitty look, I want to punch her in the throat. But I ignore the need to do that because, as we’re both in the middle, we can do it together while everyone else does heel stretches or something. I explain what we’re going to do and everyone seems to be on board. I then run it over and over again, despite people bitching because I want this to be perfect. It isn’t till Rachael calls practice that I stop.