Hooked by Love
Page 143

That makes my brow rise. “Really? How’d that go?”
“Really good. He apologized and told me he’d failed me.”
I smile and go to tell her how great that is, when another voice joins our conversation. “He doesn’t mean it. Remember no one loves you, Avery.”
Looking to my left, Matty is standing there with the sickest, most sinister smile I’ve ever seen in my life. “Dude, what is your issue?” I bark, moving Avery behind me. But she doesn’t go easily, holding my arm to keep me from getting in his face. “She doesn’t want anything to do with you, so why do you keep messing with her? Are you really that jealous? That pathetic? Get a fucking life.”
“So you think you know her?” he asks, coming toe-to-toe with me.
Avery pulls me back. “Just stop. Go away, Matty.”
We both ignore her as I hold his gaze. “I know I know her, and I also know you are a poor excuse for a human being. I mean, shit, how can someone hold so much hatred for someone? Most of all, your own sister, your twin. Do you know how bad that makes you look?”
His smile remains as he shakes his head. “She’s nothing to me.”
My fist clenches and I see Markus and Gordon coming up, along with some of his teammates. Not that I care. I don’t need an audience or help to ruin this dude. “You know, it must be lonely being you. Hiding who you really are and spreading your hatred all over the world. How do you live with yourself? Is it ’cause you can’t say who you are?”
“Matty, just come on,” a taller guy says, thin and with a trendy haircut. I question his choice of his scarf. But really, I don’t care, because my eyes are pinned on Matty, waiting for him to make a move so I can pummel his face. I try to shake Avery off me, but she digs her nails into my arm.
“Please just stop,” she says, but I shake my head.
“Shut up, Graham,” Matty snaps, and Avery gasps with a quick intake of breath as a grin curves my lips.
“Graham? The Graham?” I ask, my eyes dancing as Matty glares.
“Shut your mouth.” He’s shaking, his eyes wild, and I really don’t get it.
I come closer, my face only inches from his as I whisper, “Man, why are you so angry? If you want to be that person, be him. Be you, be fucking happy, but stop trying to bring my wife down because you don’t want anyone to know who you really love or who you loved.” I shake my head, feeling so freaking sorry for this dude. “I had every intention of beating your ass, ruining you for hurting Avery, for touching her. But, dude, I can’t hit you when I feel so fucking sorry for you.”
“You know nothing,” he sneers, his eyes cutting into mine.
“I know that I’m happy ’cause I love who I love. I know that my career could end tomorrow and I would be okay with it because I have her and my baby. What do you have, Matty?” His jaw clenches and I back away, my palms facing him. “Nothing. But don’t worry, your sister, the one you hate so much, has everything. So really, what does that jealousy do? Nothing ’cause she’s still going to win in the end.”
I hadn’t realized that my mom or her parents were watching. No, I’m too disgusted and feeling so sorry for the man who isn’t even a man. He’s a fake. When Matty doesn’t say anything, I shake my head once more before I wrap my arm around Avery’s shoulders and kiss her temple. She looks up at me with tears in her eyes, and I smile. “You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”
“Matthew, what is he talking about?” I hear Thea ask, but before I can go any farther, Benedict is in front of me, his hand on my chest. His eyes burn into mine and all I can do is look up at him, unsure what is going on. When he gives me a curt nod, he clears his throat and then says, “You’re a good man, Jace.”
I smile, nodding my head. “Because of who I love.”
Benedict’s gaze cuts to Avery and he smiles. “Yeah, she’s a good girl, too.”
Avery’s cheeks redden as she looks up at me. “Thank you.”
He nods, cutting a look to Matty and shaking his head before looking back at Avery. “I’ll see you in March, then?”
My heart clenches at the way Avery’s face lights up. “Yeah, the fourth.”
“Seven o’clock. We’ll have to get lunch before.”
“I would love that.”
“Me too, honey,” he says, kissing her cheek before shaking my hand. “I’ll be in touch.”
When he’s gone, I look at Avery. “You aren’t going to tell them about Matty?”
She shakes her head. “Why? You know?”
I give her a look. “Because he’s a dick and he fucking deserves it.”
But she just smiles, her hands resting against my chest. “Yeah, but that will make me just as bad as he is, and I don’t want that. I’m too happy for that. He’s the one suffering. Not me. I’m blissfully in love with you, having a beautiful baby, and I’m me. Just me. You know?”
Falling for her once more, I smile, leaning my nose to hers. It’s crazy how I fall for her every single fucking day. It’s insane. But then, it’s supposed to be like this, I think. That’s what keeps loving marriages working. The man falling and the woman catching. And vice versa. Because as I lean my head into hers, my hand coming to rest on our child, she holds me, her eyes full of so much love that I’m breathless.
But still, even breathless and feeling like I’ve done twenty-seven overtimes, I whisper, “Yeah, baby, I got you.”
“Like always.”
I nod. “No, like forever.”
As the lights dim and the applause fades to silence, I move my hands down the strings of my guitar and I look out into the crowd.
The first person I see is him.
My biggest fan.
Jace.
Front row.
Center.
The biggest grin imaginable on his beautiful face.
Around him are our families. His mom, Lucy, Angie, Jayden, and Baylor. On the other side is my family, my mom and dad with Laurence. Seth wanted to come, but he had a game, like Jude, and couldn’t make it in. He made me promise that I’ll post a video on Facebook, and I still can’t believe how much has changed in the last three months. Not only has our little girl grown and is crazy active in my belly, but my relationship with my family has grown. I don’t talk to Laurence and Seth like Jace does with his family, but we talk, and that’s enough for me.