Boarded by Love (Bellevue Bullies 1)

Claire: LOL! No…Jesus, get ur head out of the gutter.

Me: Hard to do when it comes to u.

Claire: Haha. Anyway, I’ve decided that when people say ur name to me, I’m gonna ignore them. Act like I don’t even hear them.

Me: Let me know how that goes.

Claire: Will do, but in the meantime, check out “Don’t Matter” by Akon. It’s our jam right now, I’ve decided.

Me: I’m downloading it now, are u on your way here?

Claire: Yeah, changing now.

Me: Which means you’re naked?

Claire: Bye, Jude.

Laughing, I tuck my phone in my pocket and open the door to the rink before heading to the gym where the girls usually practice. As I walk, I listen to the song and find myself grinning that she sent me a song about how we’re gonna ignore the haters and enjoy each other. It’s sweet and I decide that I’m going to look for a song to send her. I first find a spot outside the gym and drop down onto a bench before doing that. When I find a good one, I save it and decide to wait till later to send it to her since I know she’s on her way here. With nothing to do, I check my Facebook. I’m deleting messages from, you guessed it, girls who want to yell at me since I won’t answer their phone calls, when

a shadow appears in front of me. Looking up, I find that Rachael is looking down at me, her hands on her hips.

“Can’t answer my text?”

I shrug. “Phone isn’t in service.”

“Forgot to pay your bill?” she asks sarcastically.

“Yeah and decided not to hook it back up,” I answer, matching her tone.

“You’re such an ass. What’s up with you? And what’s this crap about you dating Claire Anderson?”

I shrug again and decide to do what Claire said she’s gonna do. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

She glares and then shakes her head. “Fine, be an asshole.”

She walks away and I look back down at my phone to continue deleting messages. Just as I’m finishing, a text comes in from Jayden.

Bro: Wanna play some pickup at the tennis courts?

Me: Yeah, I answer back. Give me 10.

Bro: I’ll grab your bag.

“Texting someone special?”

I look up to find Claire grinning down at me. Her hair is in a braid down her shoulder with a black bow clip thing holding her bangs out of her face. She’s wearing short black shorts, her legs so long and delicious. She also wears a thin white Beatles tee that hangs off her shoulder; underneath it I can see her black sports bra, and my fingers itch to be on her. Standing, I tuck my phone in my pocket, wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her in close. Without answering her, I capture her mouth with mine, kissing her slowly and seductively, showing her how much I’ve missed the feel of her lips against mine.

Running her hands up my arms, she snakes them behind my neck, taking a step forward, molding her body to mine. Texting her all day has been freaking awesome, but feeling her, touching her, and just breathing the same air as her is the ultimate high. Everything Matt said before is completely gone. Nothing matters but her and me, and I know that I am in a good place. That I made the right choice. She’s the girl I’m supposed to give up everything for, and I’m fine with that.

Parting, I kiss her lips again softly before pulling back to look at her. “I’m holding my someone special.”

“Such a smooth talker,” she says with a wink, and I smile.

Not letting her go, I say, “It was my brother. We’re playing pickup.”

“Sounds like fun.”

“You should come play one time.”