Boarded by Love
Page 53

“You look really good, babe,” I say, leaning in for a quick kiss. “Superhot.”
She giggles against my lips before parting to say, “So do you.”
She then turns to the ladies who are currently checking me out. I remember Reese, but everyone else I’m curious about. I feel like they are checking me out but also sizing me up the way Reese is. It makes me nervous, but thankfully, Claire introduces us.
“Okay, well, this is Jude. Jude, these are my aunts: Elli, you remember Reese, Piper, Fallon, Harper, and Audrey.”
“Nice to meet you fine ladies,” I say with my lady-killing smile and all of them blush a deeper red before saying the same.
“Okay, well, we’re gonna go,” Claire says, lacing her fingers with mine.
“Where to?” Reese asks.
“I’m meeting his family,” she says and everyone looks as if they want to throw a party.
“That’s wonderful!” One of them says, I think Elli, maybe? She looks superfamiliar. Not sure where I know her from, but I’m sure I know her from somewhere. “We should have you over for dinner with everyone, Jude. It will be fun!”
“Sure,” I say. “That would be great.”
I’m not sure how Claire feels about that, but soon I see that she does not agree.
“Hell no, I am not bringing him into a firing squad of hockey players. Knowing them, they’ll tie him up and shoot pucks at him! No way!”
“Huh?” I ask.
“I told you Phillip plays for the Assassins. Elli’s the owner and her husband is Shea Adler, and then the rest of them are all married to players, and no freaking way. I won’t subject you to that.”
That’s where I know her from! Holy crap, now I’m starstruck.
“Don’t listen to her. We’ll make the guys play nice, Jude. But maybe we’ll let Phillip at him before we bring in everyone else,” Reese suggests. “Make sure he makes it through that first.”
They all laugh and Claire lets out a sound of frustration. “I’m leaving, bye! Let’s go,” she says to me and I comply, walking with her to my bike.
“Nice meeting you all,” I call at them, but when we are far enough away, I lean into Claire. “I wasn’t the least bit scared to meet your family, but I’m rethinking that now.”
She laughs as I hand her the helmet I had ordered for her. “Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll make sure you are good and in love with me before I do that to you. By then you won’t run, hopefully.”
I smile and then pull her to me, pressing my lips to hers for a longer kiss. I know her aunts are probably watching us, but I really don’t care. I want to feel her lips against mine; I’ve missed them. When she pulls back, I smile against her lips and whisper, “I won’t ever run.”
“So you say, but that could change when the hockey sticks and tape come out.”
I eye her. “That sounds superkinky.”
“You freaking freak, hush. Get on the bike. Let’s go meet your normal family,” she says, her face turning redder with every passing second.
Laughing, I get on my bike and say, “Baby, my family is nowhere near normal.”
“I don’t doubt that, but mine is crazy!” she says loud enough for the five women to hear, but I don’t think they care because they just laugh. “Nuts, I tell ya,” she mutters as she pulls out a pair of sweats and slides them up her body, covering her legs.
I smile as she puts her helmet on and then ask, “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” she says, climbing on the back of the bike.
With one last wave to the ladies, we’re off, driving through downtown Nashville then onto the interstate to head to my family’s home. Nerves are eating me alive and I really don’t know why. I am confident my mom will love her. She is amazing. Even Lucy and Jace will like her, but knowing my dad will be there has my stomach in knots. The only reason I agreed to this was because he wasn’t supposed to be home until tomorrow. For some fucked-up reason he came home early, and now I’m as nervous as I would be playing in the college finals. I’m not excited about this at all, but when Claire’s arms hug me tightly and her thighs squeeze me, I can’t help but feel a little better.
With her by my side, I’m pretty sure I can do anything.
It’s a nice evening, and I hope that the temperature stays like this. I don’t want her freezing her ass off on the way home, but if need be, I’ll drive Jayden’s car back, and he can drive the bike home. He should already be there by now. I kind of wish we would have all ridden together, but then I would have missed out on feeling my girl’s body wrapped around mine.
Pulling into my family’s driveway, I head down the gravel drive, kicking up rocks, and I know that my mom will probably tear me apart once I’m inside. Never stopped me before, though. Pulling in beside Lucy’s car, I shut off the bike and then pull my helmet off, brushing my hair to the side with my fingers.
“Wow, this is a beautiful home,” she says as I get off.
“Yeah, my dad had it built for my mom when I was two.”
She smiles before handing me her helmet, and I help her off her bike. As I strap the helmets to the bike, she takes off her sweats and tucks them in her bag. When she goes to put the bag on her shoulder, I take it from her, putting it on my own and then lacing my fingers with hers.
“Nervous?” I ask and she shakes her head.
“Nope, I’m actually excited.”
I smile, but I know that it’s fake because I’m nervous and not the least bit excited. Though, when the door opens and my mom comes out, throwing the screen door back, I put a huge grin on my face before leading Claire up the stairs.
“Hey, Mom,” I say, kissing her cheek, and she hugs me tightly before kissing the side of my mouth.
“Hey, honey. Move, I want to see her,” she says, pushing me to the side and then holding out her hands. Claire takes her hands and smiles as my mom takes her in. “Stunning. You did good, honey.”
“She’ll do,” I say with a wink, and like I expect, Claire glares. But what I don’t expect is for my mom to basically punch me in the chest, knocking the air out of me.
“I don’t know where I got him from. You’d think he was raised in a barn,” she scolds, wrapping her arms around Claire and leading her inside.