“Volatile people?” I’m not afraid of confrontation in theory. Jace can vouch for that, but I know how to manage certain personalities. “My dad, mostly. Sometimes customers or coworkers. It was easy at first. To keep Nathan happy, Ijust didn’t say or do certain things. But the list of things kept growing.”
Jude combs his hand through my hair. “You didn’t have a choice with your dad, so it took a bad experience to learn when you did. Nathan left you stranded and in tears. Repeatedly. We weren’t sneaking around. I just showed up. You made a choice, and he doesn’t have to like it.” He kisses my head the same way he has for the better part of a year and remains calm. “It’s over, and he wasn’t going to accept it whether it happened now, five months ago, or ever.”
“If I had known—”
“I know. I’ve been over it a million times.” He tips my face up and wipes the tears I’ve been trying to hide. “So here’s what I suggest.” He pauses for a quick kiss. “Answer Jackson. Let him know what really happened. He’s reasonable. I’m sure he knows how his brother is.”
“How do you know?” I ask.
“We’ve crossed paths in business. He seems like a good guy. Screenshot everything, and please don’t go anywhere alone, okay? I doubt Nathan will bother you in person, but keep Annie or one of the guys with you while I’m gone.”
I take a second to let that sink in. How does he stay so calm? “Nathan accused me of having a thing with his brother and then shifted it to Sam. I don’t know if he even remembers you.”
“I assure you he does, but I’ll be happy to remind him if not.”
Holy hotcakes. Assertive Jude.
I still have concerns. “He’ll try to convince people I was with three different guys before this all goes away.”
“Well, hang around with Jace while I’m gone and see if we can make it four,” he quips sardonically.
“Gross, Jude.”
“I’m sorry.” He laughs. “I shouldn’t joke about it. But the more absurd the accusations, the less likely anyone will believe him.”
I huff out a tired laugh. “I’d rather laugh than cry.”
“If you need to cry, I’m here. But I’ll do everything in my power to make sure these are the last tears he gets.” His eyes examine my face. “We’d better go back to your mom’s. It’s getting late, and I need more than a few minutes to give you the kind of goodbye that’ll last until I come back home to you.”
I’m dying to experience his idea of a proper goodbye.
I just don’t want him to leave.
“This thing hasgotto go,” Jude mumbles against my mouth as he pulls me over the center console onto his lap.
Let me tell you, I’ve never been so thankful for my short legs and a roomy vehicle. Somehow, we’ve added truckkoalato truckkiss,and he’ll be calling this thingThe Love Shackif I don’t get out of here.
“I’ll be home Friday,” he says. I nod solemnly, looking down at my second favorite tattoo while I twist and turn his bracelets, which now include a pink hair tie. “Look at me.”
It’s impossible not to smile, even if I might fall apart later.
“I love you, Punk,” he reminds me again.
“I think I need it in writing.”
He kisses my nose and begins to unbutton his shirt in the narrow space between us. “I can’t reach a pen, but how’s this?”
“Well, if you insist,” I tease, confused as to why he’s giving me a show, but he’s not getting an argument from me.
He reaches to turn on the dome light and shift his shirt off the side where the bandage had been. “It’s not completely healed yet, but I think you can see—”
The band on his forearm has officially been knocked down to third place.
I gasp, slipping my hands under his shirt, pushing it off his shoulder to look at the sun and clouds tattoo spilling over part of his chest.
Feminine eyes with irises in a kaleidoscope of greens now peer out of the clouds, and dainty diamonds drip like tiny tears of rain. It would be trippy and psychedelic if it were any brighter, but it’s subtle and understated, blending with a scene he must’ve been adding to over the last few months.
“And to be clear, my Lucy in the Sky,” he says, shifting back so I can see, “I mean it in every way you could possibly interpret this. I put it in writing.”
