Hooked by Love (Bellevue Bullies 3)

“Aw, he’s trying to holler. Like a big boy,” Jude mocks, and I love my sister-in-law extra hard when she smacks his chest.

Before she can say anything, though, Jayden is right behind him. “Dude couldn’t get laid if he tried.”

“And Lord knows he tries,” my sister-in-law Baylor laughs, her eyes dancing with amusement.

“I screwed your best friend, thank you,” I shoot back at her before glaring at Markus. “And it took maybe three minutes to talk to this girl, unlike your forty-minute hairdo!”

“Because you have no game what-so-ever,” Lucy sings as she leans on the chair, crossing her legs.

“Hey, when you look this good, you have to make sure your hair matches,” Markus yells back at me, and then he points at me. “And it took more than three minutes. You stood there and just stared at her for like ten.”

“I did not!”

“Yes, you did! Like a love-sick little kid.” He laughs as Baylor wraps her arms around his shoulders. He hugs her tightly and I glare.

“I was not. I was inviting her to a party.”

“How’d that go? She turn you down?” Jayden laughs, leaning against the wall, his green eyes taunting me.

“Probably, he has no game. She was probably scared of him, all stalkerish and shit.” Lucy shakes her head in horror. “You’d think y’all would have taught him better.”

“Hey, it isn’t my fault you dropped him on his head and it messed up the ‘how to work a girl’ part of his brain,” Jude says back to her as Claire snickers.

I did like her before.

“Um, no. You dropped him.” Lucy is serious, standing as she points. “Or was it Jayden?”

“No, it was Jude,” Jayden proclaims before I cry out in frustration.

“You guys are dicks. I have game! She’s going.”

You know, when you have a best friend, you expect them to stand by you.

But my best friend isn’t like that.

Like the dick he is, Markus chuckles. “She was already coming.”

“Asshole,” I sneer as my family breaks out in gut-busting laughter.

Still smiling, Jude comes toward me, tears in his eyes from laughing so hard before he wraps his arms around me in a big bear hug. He then picks me up off the ground a good inch as he hugs me tightly. I don’t hug him back on the principle of the matter. But I don’t last, and soon, I’m hugging him back. I haven’t seen him since the beginning of summer when he came home for a weekend before he and Claire went back to Vegas so Claire could work at her burlesque club. I’ve missed him terribly and I hate that he couldn’t spend the summer with us, but he’s a married man.

But still, it’s hard growing up with a solid unit, a loving, close-knit family, and then not having it anymore.

First, it was my parents’ divorce that rocked this family to the core. I don’t think anyone is over the betrayal and hurt my father caused us yet. I think I’m the only one who still speaks to him without lawyers. No one else wants anything to do with him and I don’t blame them, but I still yearn for my dad’s attention. I don’t know why, but I do, and that’s my own personal demon to deal with. I don’t understand my siblings. I don’t ever want to tell anyone my dad and I are still in touch or ask for guidance because I know it would upset my mom—and possibly piss off my older siblings.

After the divorce, it seemed like everything was in fast-forward. Jude moved to California slash Vegas with Claire; they’re married and happy, and we only see them maybe five times a year. It’s been an adjustment and it sucks. Jude may get on my nerves, but I look up to him. Hell, I’ve wanted to be him for as long as I can remember. I’m more like him than Jayden. Jude always wanted to play first and think later, but Jayden wasn’t like that. He thinks everything out, and he is constantly worried about everyone. Don’t get me wrong, I worry about the people I love, but I’m not selfless like he is. He’s also always wanted that person to complete him. Jude didn’t, and I’m the same way. Well, Jude didn’t until Claire came along.

Make no mistake, I love my sisters-in-law, both of them, but I miss my family. Even though Jayden is still living in Nashville with Baylor, I hardly ever see him. He’s too busy being married and shit, which is cool, I get it. I know it’s a part of life, but I miss my brothers. I love Lucy but there is a six-year difference between us, and I think she’s always been annoyed by me. She’s also way past my maturity level. She’s been married, divorced, and has a kid of her own. She doesn’t have time for drama or anything along those lines. She’s got too much to worry about, and I don’t want to add to that. Plus, she suffers from a serious case of resting bitch face, so it can be hard to talk to her. Thankfully though, I know she loves me or I would be worried.

It just sucks because I remember when everyone was happy and good—together. Now, Mom is lonely, Dad is marrying the chick he cheated on my mom with—which has everyone in an uproar—Lucy hates life, minus her daughter, Angie, Jude and Jayden have found happiness somewhere else… And then there is me. Trying to find my way and make my dreams come true.

But before I can fully dwell on the feeling of loss, Jude is laughing, stealing my attention.

“Do you need me to teach you game?” he teases as he puts me down, and I flip him off.

“I have game.”

“And you lost your game—you’re married,” Claire says from the side, but Jude doesn’t pay her any mind. His eyes are teasing as Jayden wraps his arm around my neck, squeezing me tight.