Jude

by Lane Hart

  "Hey, Jude," Page says when she opens the door holding their Siberian Husky. She winces when she examines my swollen facial wounds. "For the first time since we've been together, Jax's gorgeous face looks like he's been in a fight. Go easier on him next time."

  I nod my agreement when I reach out to scratch the fluffy dog's head, but have to admit that I'm still glad I've done more damage to Jax for once.

  "I swear I didn't tell him," she says softly to me when we walk to the living room.

  "I know."

  I find my nephew and give him a plane ride around the house, chasing Boo while we wait for the food to finish cooking. Xavier named the little dog using a word from his limited vocabulary. It was either Boo or Poo, so Page deemed it the former. The whole time we play Jax just sits with his arms crossed over this chest, jaw clenched, stewing in his recliner, refusing to speak to me.

  "All right, guys, dinner's ready," Page calls out, so I put Xavier in his high chair before fixing a plate of grilled chicken and vegetables.

  "So, Jax, didn't you want to apologize to Jude?" Page asks him when we're almost finished eating.

  "No."

  "Jax!" she exclaims, then turns to me. "He's just pissed because I took your side on this instead of his."

  "Go ahead, get it out of your system," I tell him. "What's your problem, Jax?"

  "She's really young-"

  I cringe because his words are meant to imply that I've made the same mistake as our mother. "She's eighteen!" I yell. The little guy jumped after I raised my voice so I reach over to ruffle his tiny jet black faux hawk. "Sorry, X man”

  "Three or four years is not that big of an age difference. Elliot was seven years older than me," Page says, making Jax growl at the mention of her ex-fiancé.

  "That's not helping," he mutters with a clenched jaw. "And she's Coach’s daughter. He'd kill you-"

  "That's why you better keep your mouth shut," I warn him. "Remember that time you were screwing your attorney and you yelled at me to keep it a secret? Well, now it's your turn."

  That's how Page and Jax had ended up together. She had represented him during his falsely accused rape trial.

  "I won't say anything, but you need to tell him the truth," Jax replies.

  "No."

  "Honestly, Jax, you should be happy for your brother," Page tells him. "He finally found a girl to give his innocence, too."

  "He shouldn't have taken hers," he mutters.

  "I didn't, not that it's any of your business."

  "Oh," he says, blinking in surprise. "Well, that does makes me feel better."

  "She's not a little girl. I know what you think about her, because it's the same thing I thought until Saturday night."

  "Is she leaving for college in August?" Page asks me.

  "I don't know. Probably." And fuck if that doesn't blow.

  "What happens then?" she asks.

  I shrug. "I don't know."

  "I just don't want you to get hurt," she says with a half-smile.

  "You're afraid an eighteen-year-old girl will break his heart?" Jax laughs.

  Page throws a roll at him across the table, nearly hitting him in the face. Xavier giggles then starts throwing pieces of his food at all of us. The puppy dances around his highchair, making out like a bandit from the dropped shrapnel.

  "Nice, Page. Like he needed any help being messier," Jax grumbles.

  "Lighten up, grouch. I think you're just mad that Jude beat you today."

  "Twice," I add with a smile.

  "He lucked up."

  "Both times?” I ask. “Bullshit."

  "Jude is a man now, honey-" Page starts.

  "Hey!" I scoff indignantly.

  "Maybe that's it," Jax agrees with a shrug. "I know I fight better after a few good fu-"

  "Language," Page interrupts.

  "Really?" I ask in all seriousness.

  "Yeah," he answers. "You always said women were a distraction, but for me I need to blow my load-"

  "Jax!" Page exclaims, laughing as she grabs up Xavier and takes him to the bathroom to clean him up.

  "It improves my reflexes. I react quicker without thinking about the next move."

  "So you're saying I've lost fights because I've been...wound too tight?"

  "Fighting and fucking are both about instincts. Primal urges men do without thinking. Maybe it's like this, after we fuck a woman, the fight on a subconscious level isn't just about us anymore but it's about providing protection. Fighting for someone other than ourselves is a better motivator to kick someone else's ass."

  I consider his words, and am starting to believe he might be on to something. "Like when I didn't even think before I socked you in the jaw after you insulted Sadie?"

  "Exactly."

  I raise an eyebrow and wait.

  "Fine. I'm sorry about the shit I said."

  "I accept your reluctant apology."

  "I still think you're a jackass," he adds with a smirk.

  "I learned from the best. You up for a rematch tomorrow?"

  "Hell yes, and this time you're going down."

  …

  Sadie

  Today sucked. Not just because I had to go to school, but then I didn't even get to see Jude. He'd already left by the time I stopped by the gym this afternoon.

  It's a few minutes after nine o'clock and I've given up hope of hearing from him. Other than a few texts Sunday night, I haven't heard a peep out of him all day which is disappointing. So, when my phone suddenly starts ringing I scramble to grab it off the charger beside my bed.

  "Hello?" I answer with a smile, seeing Jude's name on the screen.

  "Hey."

  "Hey."

  "How've you been feeling?" he asks.

  "Good. Just a little queasy. I made a doctor's appointment for the Friday before graduation, just to make sure. Oh, and they called in a prescription for me to start taking birth control pills."

  "Good," he says with an exhale. "How was school?"

  "Same old crap. How was the gym?"

  "I beat Jax. Twice," he tells me, and I can hear his smile.

  "Wow, that's awesome! I bet he was pissed." I laugh because Jax never loses.

  "Oh yeah. We're gonna have a rematch tomorrow."

  "Ooh. I'd like to see that. Can you wait until after I get out of school?"

  "All right, I will," he agrees. "So how many more days until we leave for the beach?"

  "Twelve."

  "Too many," he replies. "Can you make up a lie about hanging out with friends or something tomorrow night, so I can see you?"

  "Um, probably, but we can't...I mean...time of the month and all," I say, and my face flushes in embarrassment. Thank goodness he can't see it.

  "I just want to see you, Sadie."

  "Oh," I say in surprise. I thought he just wanted to fuck since that's basically all we did Saturday night and Sunday. "What do you want to do?"

  "I don't know. What do people do on dates? Go out to dinner?" he asks.

  "I guess. That and movies are what most guys ask me to do with them."

  "What guys?" he asks quickly.

  "Just some at school that think because they heard I fucked you Saturday night that they have a snowball's chance in hell of getting in my panties."

  "And? What did you tell them?" he asks gruffly.

  "That I have a feeling you don't like to share."

  "Fuck no I don't!" he responds, making me laugh. "Now that's all I'm going to be able to think about, assholes hitting on you all day long."

  "I'd rather you think about me and you...at the beach...with our own bedroom."

  He groans. "Damn, Sadie. I don't think that helps."

  "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Sex might be out of the question, but I can still give him some relief.

  ...

  The next afternoon, as soon as my dad leaves the gym, I convince Jude to "help me" in the laundry room. It isn't until I shut and lock the door that he figures out what I'm up to.

>   "What the...no, Sadie. You said we couldn't-"

  I drop to my knees and yank his nylon shorts and boxer-briefs down, making him curse to the ceiling.

  "Oh, hell yes," he groans when I suck his length until he's hard as steel and has doubled in size. He gasps and moans, his hips thrusting, fists tangled in my hair like he desperately wants to take control and fuck my mouth faster and harder. Probably deeper, too, so I try to accommodate him by doing all three. It takes a little while to get him off, but I enjoy pleasuring him with my mouth, making him crazy.

  When I stand up, Jude spins us around, putting my back to the wall and wrapping my legs around his naked waist. His tongue seeks mine while his palm cups my mound through my jean shorts, rubbing the right spot until he has me coming with all my clothes still on, during the time of the month.

  "Wow," I whisper against his lips, still trying to catch my breath in his arms.

  "I know the feeling," he replies, pulling back to give me a dimpled smile. "Now let's go see if I can kick some ass again today."

  I laugh and agree, so he puts my feet back down on the ground and pulls his boxers and shorts back up. After peeking out into the hallway, Jude goes straight to the locker room to tape up and cup up for the fight. I actually stay behind and do the laundry before eventually following him back out to the gym floor.

  When I get back, everyone is too distracted with Jax and Jude to notice that I've been missing or that my lips are swollen. And the two are something to see. From a distance they look almost identical, but moving closer it's obvious that Jax is a little broader through the shoulders, and thicker all over with longer hair. Jude's leaner and faster, easily dancing out of Jax's reach. He's still shirtless, fighting in just his shorts, like usual, and so fucking sexy.

  The other fighters have all stopped what they're doing to gather around the cage, cheering them on and yelling out moves. These two are the best fighters my dad's ever trained facing off. They go at each other brutally, not holding back just because they're siblings.

  Jax gets the drop on Jude, grabbing him from behind. But then Jude somehow uses his momentum to maneuver an impressive hip toss, flipping Jax, so that he lands with a loud whomp when his back hits the canvas. Sounds of appreciation ripple through the observers when Jude is able to get his stunned brother in a headlock.

  Jax flips over to his stomach, relieving some of the pressure of Jude's arm over his neck. He tries to buck Jude off, but he doesn't budge. Jude mounts Jax's back, legs wrapped around his waist, an arm around his neck, pulling it back with his other hand in a choke hold that finally has his older brother tapping out.

  Either Jax is slipping or Jude's getting better. I'm pretty sure it's the latter. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll whoop Linc Abrams's ass in July.

  When Jude stands up he curls his fingers around the metal links of the cage recovering while everyone congratulates him then goes back to what they were doing. When his midnight eyes find mine he smiles and winks, making my heart forget how to beat. His incredibly defined body from years of hard work is slick with sweat, and his broad chest heaves with his deep breaths, exactly how he looks whenever the two of us are alone together.

  Good God almighty.

  How did I luck up and get to sleep with him? Knowing I'm the only woman to ever get fucked senseless by such a perfect, incredible man makes me feel like I'm ten feet tall and bulletproof.

  "Sadie?" The sound of my name penetrates through the erotic film festival playing in my dirty mind.

  "Oh, hey, Matt," I say when I realize one of our other welterweight guys is standing beside me with his hip resting against the front check-in counter.

  "I didn't recognize you. You look...different," he remarks, shamelessly flicking his hazel eyes up and down my body.

  My new blonde hair is still straight and shiny, thanks to Jessica at The Cutting Edge salon, and I've been wearing my contacts since it's hard to give blow jobs or get laid trying to keep my glasses on. I'm farsighted so I can't see shit without them. Since we're having an unusual May heat wave, it's eighty-five degrees outside which is why I've forgone my uniform of jeans, a plain Havoc t-shirt, and Chucks for a pair of Daisy Duke’s, a tight fitting purple tank top and beige wedge sandals. Jude's sudden rapt attention makes me feel sexy for the first time in my life, and I want to be more girly and pretty for him. Apparently my more feminine look is also catching the attention of guys at school, and here, too.

  "You mean I actually look like a girl?" I ask with a smile. The sweaty brown-haired fighter flashes his own cute grin and nods.

  "Yeah, but not just any girl. You're hot as fuck," he says softly. When his eyes drop to my breasts, or more specifically to my nipples standing at full attention thanks to my carnal thoughts about Jude, I have to fight the urge to cover them with my arms.

  "Thanks, I guess."

  My cheeks burn knowing he's very obviously checking me out, which is why I always dressed so conservatively before. I only just realized that when guys started staring at me after puberty, it was because they were interested, not because they were disgusted by me. It had been a surprising revelation, and one I'm still trying to figure out what to do with.

  "Graduation's coming up, right?" he asks.

  Out of the corner of my eye I see Jude moving closer to us, grabbing a bottle of water from our refrigerator next to the counter and pouring it down his throat.

  "Uh-huh. Next Saturday." Matt also attended Landon, my current private school, and graduated two years ago.

  "Maybe we can hang out some this summer," he says, and is it my imagination or is he flexing the muscles in his naked upper body? I swear I saw his pecs bounce.

  "Yeah, I'm sure we will," I respond. "I'll be here working most days."

  There, I hadn't turned him down, but I didn't lead him on, either.

  "No, I meant maybe we could go out one night. Like on a date."

  I hear the loud crunch of Jude's plastic bottle and see his tense posture in my peripheral vision. So he'd heard that, huh? Is he jealous? If so he's crazy, since I'd have to be a blind and dumb idiot to want anyone but him. He probably has no idea that I've been crushing on him ever since the first time I saw him. He was only fifteen when he and Jax started training here with my dad. Jude was definitely leaner back then, but so damn gorgeous, he didn't seem real to my eleven-year-old self.

  "Oh. Well, I um, actually just started seeing someone, so I hope I'll be spending most of my free time with him this summer."

  "Too bad," Matt replies, already retreating backwards but still cocky when he says, "Let me know if there's anything I can do to change your mind."

  I nod and he heads down the hall toward the locker room. After a few seconds, Jude comes over and leans his forearms on the counter across from me. "I think I'm gonna ask Matt to spar with me tomorrow," he snarls with a clenched jaw, making me laugh.

  "That won't be a fair fight," I reply.

  "We're in the same weight class."

  "Yeah, but you're about to become the Welterweight Champion of the World, and he's only been fighting for three years."

  That makes Jude smile, easing his hostility. "You think I'll win?"

  "I'd bet on you. You've been beating Jax and he's a helluva lot tougher than Linc Abrams."

  “Thanks,” he says with a chuckle. “So, do you want to meet me at River House Tavern at seven tonight?” he asks softly, “Or do you already have plans with one of these other dickheads?”

  I smile and shake my head. “Nope, no other plans. I’ll see you there.”

  Chapter Eight

  Jude

  I feel like I could take on King Kong’s fat ass and I’d stomp him into the ground. It's an awesome feeling, and I know Sadie has everything to do with it. Being with her gives me a bizarre high I've never felt before. Whenever I'm away from her now I'm constantly jonesing for more. I want to talk to her, see her, and have her underneath me. And as badass as I feel, there's also this nagging edge of desperation or...depen
dence that I can't shake, and I'm not sure I want to. For the first time in my life, I wake up and go to bed looking forward to something incredible in my life other than fighting. Like tonight.

  It'll be like my first official date with a woman. I don't just want to get in Sadie's pants. I want to spend time with her, make her smile and hear her laugh. Ever since we made plans last night, I've been eager to just get to know more about the girl I've seen every day for seven years but never really talked to before.

  After my shower I’m in such a good mood that I have to fight the insane urge to enthusiastically moonwalk to my locker. It’s impossible to ignore overhearing snippets of the other guys gossiping like chicks, only more X-rated. Pretty much the usual around here.

  “… see her ass hanging out of those shorts when she bent over? Goddamn!” Jimmy exclaims while I'm pulling on my clothes.

  “That’s nothing. Yesterday she had on this low V-neck dress with no fucking bra. Leaning forward on the counter, her tits were spilling out of it, just begging to be devoured,” Matt responds.

  “I don’t know when the fuck she got so hot, but now she’s got every bastard in this place walking around with a raging boner. She's so goddamn distracting I can't look away even when I try.”

  Whoa. That comment grabs my attention. Sadie's the only female who hangs around the gym other than the occasional girlfriend or mother who randomly stops by. Surely they’re not talking about her…But then Matt says, “Yeah, too bad she said she’s seeing someone. I’d give my left nut to be the first one to hit that. You know her untouched pussy will be tight as fuck. I'd make her scream like a banshee when I pop her cherry.”

  I have my forearm over Matt’s neck, pressing him against the lockers before I even know what I'm doing or that I’ve moved. “Who the fuck are you talking about?” I snarl in his startled face before it's replaced with fear. He should be scared of me because right now my self-control is MIA.

  When Matt doesn’t answer or can’t because I'm choking him to death, I glare over my shoulder at Jimmy, my enraged expression warning him he's next if he doesn't tell me.