Clipped by Love (Bellevue Bullies #2) (65 page)

When movement grabs my attention out of the corner of my eye, I see Jude and Claire coming out of the building, blissfully happy. And my God, they look like they’ve stepped out of a magazine! I want that. I want to feel that. When I see Jayden, I throw the door open, fully ready to pounce because I can’t wait any longer, but then he is being ushered toward a photographer and my heart sinks.

Maybe this wasn’t the place for this?

No! It is. Confidence, Baylor. Suck it up!

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Glancing over. I find Jace looking at me with his brow up. “Why are you out here and not in there?”

“I was late,” I admit shyly, and then I smile with a shrug.

He grins. “Thought you were hiding.”

“I probably am, subconsciously,” I say, and he laughs.

“Probably, knowing you,” he teases. “But you’re here, so get in there. We’ll be in in a bit. I have to get Angie’s shoes for pictures. She left them in the car, and by the time anyone noticed we were already at the altar.”

“Oh, okay,” I say as he rushes to his mom’s car, but I don’t move.

When he comes back, he looks at me funny. “What are you doing?”

Wrinkling my face, I shrug. “Does he even want to see me?”

Giving me a bored look, he says, “Yes, Baylor. Now go, stop being a little puss.” He starts for where his family is taking pictures, but then he turns to look at me. “Just be real, Baylor. Don’t beat around the bush, just be real.” When I don’t say anything, just stare at him, he shakes his head and laughs. “Y’all are the most frustrating couple in the world. I love you both, I do, but shit, just be together and be happy.”

Just be together and be happy.

I can do that.

But can Jayden? Or did I ruin that chance?

Sucking in a breath, I walk up the walkway and enter the door that says Reception on it. After getting my table assignment, which I am pleasantly surprised to find I have, I go to table number two. Sitting down next to a gorgeous lady with auburn hair, I cross my legs as she looks over at me with eyes the color of emeralds.

“Baylor Moore?”

Surprised, I nod my head. “Yes?”

“Hi,” she says sweetly in a thick country accent, taking my hand in hers. “I’m Elli, and Claire and my uncle have told me so much about you. I made sure she sat you next to me and my husband.”

I look past her to see her husband, and my jaw drops. It’s fucking Shea Adler, the captain of the Nashville Assassins, and everything inside me freezes. If that’s Shea Adler, then this is Elli Adler, owner of the Assassins.

Oh, I’m gonna kiss Claire.

Reaching over, he shakes my hand and then smiles. “So we heard you’re gonna be the first woman in the NHL?”

“That’s the plan,” I say breathlessly. “I was actually speaking with your uncle at our little fundraiser back in November.”

“Oh, I know, he told me all about you! We’ve been watching your game. We were at the game when Jude’s brother got hurt.”

Oh, God.

“Bad hit for him, but man, can you take some hits of your own,” Shea says with a nod, and I unfreeze. They don’t think it’s my fault?

Breathing in deeply, I nod. “Yeah, I’m as tough as they come.”

“And you can shoot, you’re fast, and man, we really like your game,” Elli says very adamantly as she talks with her hands. “I’ve never seen anything like you.”

“Me either,” Shea agrees. “We were really looking forward to meeting you.”

“Wow, I’m a little speechless here,” I laugh, a little overwhelmed as I look away.

When I look to the side, I see Jayden walking in with Jace beside him.

And he looks perfect.

With his hair brushed to the side, his face clean-shaven and his suit fitting him effortlessly, I let out a dreamy sigh. Looking back the Adlers, I know I need to stay and talk. This could further my career, and I need that, but I need to talk to him more.

“Don’t be speechless! You have to talk to us!” Elli giggles when I turn to look back at her.

“I’m so sorry, but can you excuse me real fast?” I ask, and she nods, but when I go to get up, Jace has a mic and Jayden is grinning at him like he is a dork. “Or not.”

“Announcing my brother and his gorgeous new wife, Jude and Claire Sinclair.”

When the room erupts in applause, Jude and Claire enter. But Claire isn’t wearing her wedding dress that I saw her in earlier. No, she has on a white silk cami dress thing that I highly doubt is proper wedding attire, but then Jude’s changed too into a thin white tee and his slacks.

“She changed,” I mutter, and Elli leans in to me.

“Yeah, they are going to dance. Isn’t it sweet? She’s a dancer and wanted to do something special.”

“Oh wow,” I say as I turn my attention back to the couple.

When the music to Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” starts, I sit back and watch as they slowly walk toward the dance floor, hand in hand, and then they are dancing. Now, I sat through a dance team tryout and I saw some great dancing, but holy crap on a cracker, Claire can dance. Like really dance. She moves around Jude effortlessly, her body looks like its fluttering, and Jude, he’s there catching her and lifting her like he’s been doing it his whole life. When they join up, moving in perfect unison, the room loses it, hollering and cheering them on.

But I’m in awe.

They are so in love, so perfect, and fucking hell, that’s how I feel about Jayden. I’m not saying I want to dance around like they are, but I want to be on that level with him. The level where I can just fall and know he’ll catch me. The level where I don’t question his motives, his love for me, and that he loves me, no matter what.

I’m there, I’m ready. Now I just need to tell him that.

As the song ends, Jude lifts her up, looking up at her with all the love in the world before he lowers her into his arms, his mouth connecting with hers.

“I knew they were gonna get married the day I met him,” Elli says beside me.

“Really?”

She smiles as she dabs at her eyes. “You always know when a man loves a woman; it’s in the way they smile. But unlike me, Claire went for it while I fought it off,” she says with a wink as Shea cuddles her in his arms.

“The best love is the one you fight for, though,” he says against her cheek, and tears sting my eyes.

“I’m a fighter too,” I admit, and she smiles at me.

“The best women are,” she says, leaning into Shea.

Before either of us can say anything, Jude says, “Okay, so yeah, that wasn’t easy.”

Turning my attention to where he holds the mic, he’s breathing hard as Claire grins up at him, and everyone laughs while some dry their eyes. Mainly Mrs. Sinclair.

Clearing his throat, he says, “I didn’t want to do that. But because she wanted to do something to show how much she loves me, in the way that she does best, I did it. Because I love you.”

“I love you,” she says, and the crowd swoons as they press their lips to each other. I know this is my chance to go after Jayden, but then I want to watch. It’s beautiful and I’m astonished by them.

“Now, she did her thing, and now I’m gonna do mine,” he says as a chair is brought out, and Jayden is there, handing him a guitar. “Let me tell you guys a little story,” he starts before sitting down. Jayden takes the mic, putting it on a stand. “Way back in the day, I got into a heated karaoke battle with a certain fiery redhead. When I won—”

“You didn’t win, I did,” she calls out, and he smirks back at her.

“Minor details,” he continues with the laughter of everyone. Even I’m cracking up. “I looked at her and knew that this girl was it. Every song that played reminded me of her, and it’s only right that I sing the song that is the epitome of my wife,” he says, and when Elli awws beside me, I grin really big, my eyes welling up with tears. “This one is for you, baby,” he says softly, and then he starts playing the guitar. My jaw drops at how good he is, but when he starts singing, even I’m swooning. I’ve always loved “All of Me” by John Legend
,
but hearing Jude sing it in his low, raspy voice, it does something to me.

It leaves me breathless, my heart is hammering in my chest, and it isn’t because he is so good. No, it’s because this song, it’s me and Jayden. He loves all of me. Even the fucked-up parts, and I’m out of my mind to not be screaming that I love this guy.

But that needs to change.

As Jude finishes up and wraps his arms around Claire, kissing her hard on the lips, I stand up and push myself to move to where he is. When I reach him, Jude looks over at me, surprised, and smiles.

“Um, Baylor?” he says, and I smile back.

“Can I borrow your mic?” I ask, and then I look at Claire. “You are unbelievably beautiful, and I’m sorry, but I need to say something.”

“No, go! Here!” she says, pushing the mic to me, and when it’s in my hands, I really don’t know what I’m about to say, but I know I have to say something. When I look up from the mic, Jayden’s eyes are wide. His brows are in his hairline and his eyes are asking what the hell I’m doing.

And there is only one answer.

I’m doing what I should have done a long time ago.

Better late than never, I guess.

“W
hat in the Sam Hill is she doing?” I mutter as Baylor stands awkwardly by Jude and Claire, the mic in her hand and her eyes trained on mine.

“Oh God, please say she isn’t going to sing,” Jace says beside me, and while I agree, it is great to see her. She looks beautiful in a short little black dress, her hair down in curls the way I like, and her lips painted that trusty red color she loves so much. The red I love.

Drawing in a breath through her nose, she lets it out and then smiles shyly. “Hi,” she says before doing a really awkward wave. “I’m sorry to interrupt this gorgeous display of love between these two amazing people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and calling my friends, but I need to address something.”

She bites into her lip, and I can’t help but smile. She’s freaking the hell out, and while I want to move to her and help her out, this is where I need to let her win. I need to see what her play is.

“Um. Well, you see. Oh, let me start with… Well, okay, like these two, I found the love of my life,” she finally says, and my heart just stops, restarts, and kicks into overdrive. “Um, but I have this really bad habit of not giving in to what I want, what I feel, and I’m kind of a…” She smiles. “He once called me a beautiful disaster, and that couldn’t be more true. The problem is, I kinda sorta hid him from the world and tried to keep our relationship a secret because I was scared that he would leave me. And if no one knew that he was the beginning to my end, then it wouldn’t hurt so bad. But then I watched him walk away from me because I lied and told my dad that he didn’t matter,” she explains, and I scoff as I look around. Everyone doesn’t know what the hell is going on. She’s rambling, and I find it very endearing. “I didn’t care about anyone else; I didn’t even care about me. All I cared about was the fact that I hurt him,” she says, her voice breaking. “I have to apologize for that,” she says, and then her eyes flood with tears before spilling over. Sucking in a breath, she admits, “I’m really bad at that, ask anyone. I don’t show emotion, I don’t say sorry, and I, for sure, don’t show weakness, but with him it’s easy. I’ll apologize over and over again, and I probably will have to because I’m stubborn and I think I need to be right all the time, but this made me realize I don’t. I just need to be with him,” she says, wiping her face as her eyes bore into mine. “Because like Jude sang, even when I lose, I’m winning because I’m loved by you,” she says, and tears well up in my own eyes.