“I just want to be Claudia to you again.” I ran my hand down the front of his jacket. “Don’t let what happened to me stay in your head. The rock never hit me. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“You’realwaysClaudia to me,” he said, his brows knit together. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“I want the Jude who isn’t afraid to slam me against the headboard because he knows I can take it.” I leaned against my door as our eyes stayed locked. “And who doesn’t hold back because he knows all of him is all I’ll ever want.”
I kissed him before he could answer. Closemouthed, but hard enough to make my point. “I love you. Be safe, and I’ll see you later.”
I drove to Peyton’s, in need of a shower and time alone. I hadn’t meant to snap at Jude and I knew he meant well, but I wanted a boyfriend not a bodyguard.
“Hey, I wasn’t expecting you this morning,” Peyton said as I ambled into the kitchen. I felt her eyes on me as I headed toward the coffeepot and filled up one of her oversized mugs.
“Jude went to work, and the outfit I wanted for today is still in your basement. Plus, I wanted to shower alone. Or at least without someone lingering by the door.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Peyton eyed me as she dropped Cheerios onto Keely’s high chair tray.
Peyton hovered too, but she had a touch more finesse about it than Jude.
I exhaled a long breath as I nodded.
“I think I just need a little breather. I love him like crazy, but he’s driving me nuts.”
“Because he lovesyoulike crazy. We all do.” She darted her eyes from mine as she sipped from her coffee mug.
“I owe my parents a call, and then I’ll get in the shower.” I kissed the back of Peyton’s head and blew a raspberry on Keely’s cheek before I made my way downstairs.
Only my father knew about the attack. I didn’t like lying to my mother, but Dad was right. She already worried about me running a bar and closing at night, and telling her after the fact didn’t make sense when it would upset her so much.
She didn’t notice the uptick in video calls, requested by my father. He said seeing my face more often would make him feel better, if only until everything wasn’t so fresh in his mind. While I was determined to put what had happened to me in the past, it was fresh enough in my own mind to be soothed by my parents’ doting faces on-screen a few times per week.
“Good morning, ladybug,” my father said, giving me a good view of his chin as he tried to position his phone on what looked like their kitchen table. “Mei, Claudia is on the phone!”
I smiled at the scuffle from my mother’s slippers as she pulled up a chair next to Dad.
“Hi, sweetie. You look so pretty today,” she said with her hand on her chest.
I had a ratty ponytail on top of my head and not a stitch of makeup on, but my mother’s dark eyes—eyes that matched my own—were so full of love and happiness each time we talked, I felt a horrid rush of both guilt and relief that she didn’t know what had happened to me or what hadalmosthappened.
Dad had been sick when I was attacked and couldn’t make the trip up, but Eric had driven up the day after Jude had called my father. Getting a glimpse of Eric’s anger and worry was enough, although he’d had a good amount of pride in his eyes when he’d learned I still knew how to use my elbow.
Seeing my father’s heartbreak when I was still recovering would have done me in, and although I had wanted nothing more than to collapse into his arms at the time, I was grateful that neither of them saw me until my face was healed.
“Ah, it’s all that love, Mei. How’s Jude?”
“Good,” I said a little too quickly, guilt washing over me when I thought of the hurt in his gaze when I’d driven away from his house.
“He’s a good man,” Mom said. “I’m so happy you found him.”
“Me too,” I said, a smile sneaking across my lips. The shrill ring of their landline pierced the sudden silence.
“Sorry, sweetie. I think this is your aunt, so I’ll take it in the bedroom.” She blew me a kiss. “I’ll try to be quick.”
I’d commuted to college, but I’d bet if I had gone away, these were the affection-filled calls I would have received in my dorm room. You had to love how cute my parents were.
“How is Jude? He’s holding up okay?” Dad asked, his brow furrowing as he gazed at the screen.
“Fine. Why?”
Dad lifted a shoulder. “The last time he called, he sounded tired.”
