Boarded by Love (Bellevue Bullies 1)

“Ack, I sound like one of those needy girls who need some kind of reassurance that you’ll do me later. Ew. Sorry, that’s so not me or how I act. Can we start over? I meant to say I hope we can do it again… No, I didn’t mean that ’cause that means I expect it, and that’s not… Well, maybe, but shit, oh my God, I’m rambling, stop me,” she says quickly, and I oblige by taking her sweet mouth with mine.

She melts against me as I hold her close with my arm. Pulling back, I smile before kissing the side of her mouth. “Rambling Claire is cute.”

“She’s annoying, hence why she doesn’t come out much. You bring out weird things in me.”

“Good,” I say just as the waitress comes up. We order the same All-Star Meal and then fall lower in the booth, cuddling into each other. While sometimes sex leads to cuddling

with girls, I usually find an out. But here, wrapped in the warmth that Claire is giving me, I don’t want an out. I love the feel of her. My hand lazily plays along her arm and her hair smells so damn good. Something girlie and expensive I think because I usually don’t smell something so alluring. Then again, maybe it’s just Claire.

When she glances up at me, I grin and she smiles back as her face warms. “Shit, Jude, I’m all girlie around you. It’s disgusting.”

I chuckle as I hug her tighter against me. “I think it’s adorable. Please continue. I love the color on your face. It matches your hair, which, by the way,” I say as I lower my voice, “I was curious on your real hair color, but I got no clue, still. Care to fill me in?”

She laughs as she shakes her head. “It’s blond.”

I try to picture her as a blonde, but it doesn’t fit. “I can’t see it.”

“Maybe I’ll show ya a picture one day. It’s more of a strawberry blond, but I’ve been dyeing my hair this color for years. Sometimes I’ll do black tips or something else crazy.”

“I love your hair. Don’t get me wrong, but why do you dye it?”

“To be different. I want to people to see me.”

“You don’t come off as an attention whore, though.”

She smiles as she nods. “I’m not now, but I didn’t have the best childhood, and because of it, I wanted people to see me, notice me, so I did everything I could to make people look at me. Wore dirty, naughty clothes, shaved my head up one side at one point and… Oh my God, why am I telling you this?”

She tries to hide her face but I don’t allow her, holding her where I can see her. “Because you trust me. Don’t hide from me.”

She bites into her lip and takes in a deep breath. “I wasn’t the person I am now but I still love this look. I think I look very Little Mermaid-punky.”

“Well, I guess I can say I’ve seen what’s behind Ariel’s shells, and I like what I found very much.”

She laughs, smacking me playfully before shaking her head. “You’re crazy.”

“About you? I know. And, by the way,” I say, capturing her lips with mine. I kiss her, slow and deliberate before pulling way to whisper, “I want to see you again and again. Game changer, remember?”

She nods slowly, her lips moving up and down mine as her eyes lock with mine. Her mouth is turned up in a cute little naughty grin as she says, “So I guess since you want to see me, we have to do that whole get to know you stuff, huh? I’ve never really dated anyone. Well no, I take that back. I was with this guy named Brian once, but he was more a friend than anything.”

“Yeah, you said you hadn’t been with anyone in a long time. Reason why you’ve been celibate?”

“Bad childhood. I slept around real bad when I was younger. When my uncle took custody of me, I still tried to ruin his life, but then decided to give him a chance. So I cleaned myself up and became me.”

I nod, processing the information. “Can I ask why your uncle took custody?”

“Sure,” she says before sipping a little of the iced tea she ordered. Clearing her throat, she looks back up at me. “My mom was a strung-out stripper who got herself killed over her next fix.”

“Oh shit, I’m sorry,” I say, sucking in a quick breath.

But Claire shrugs. “You know, I miss her, but I miss the her before the drugs took over. I am glad that the person who cared more about drugs than me is gone because going to Phillip and Reese really changed my life. I’m happy now and I’m healthy, and yeah, I broke my celibacy, but I think I chose a good person to break it with.”

I grin, taking her lips with mine, drawing the kisses out of her slowly. I love kissing her – I can’t get enough – and when we part, I follow her mouth again, going in for another kiss that turns into another.

“Jeez, Sinclair! Get a room!”

Claire smiles against my lips, and unlike any other girl, she deepens the kiss, running her hand up my face to tangle in my hair. My body hardens and I want to take her on the table, but I know that the good employees of Waffle House would not appreciate that.

“Damn, get it, Sinclair!”