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When the door opens suddenly, we both turn to see Jude coming through on his phone. “Baby, I’m sorry. Yeah. I’m drunk. I know. This place is a fuckin
g madhouse and I can’t leave. No, I would never hook up with anyone but you. Be real. No, Claire. I love you. Only you.”
When he realizes we are in the room, he says to us, “Shit, sorry. Some dumbass is fucking in my bed.”
I don’t say anything, but when I glance at Jayden, he cocks his head in a get-the-hell-out motion. Jude then holds up his free hand before saying, “But I’ll find somewhere quiet to talk to my girlfriend.”
“Kick them out,” Jayden says with a shrug. “And lock your door. That’s what I did.”
“True, thanks, sorry again,” he says, and then he leaves as quickly as he came in.
Jayden looks over at me and I giggle as he grins sheepishly. “Sorry, he’s a dumbass,” he groans. “I swear I’m the smartest one out of all of us.”
I laugh and then that reminds me of something. “I have a question.”
“Sure,” he says looking right at me, his eyes so dark as they lock with mine. They were a lighter green earlier, but I find when he is emotional, or maybe it’s the alcohol, they darken a bit. It’s amazing to see. His eyes say so much more than his body does.
It’s beautiful.
Swallowing hard since it is taking everything in me to focus on anything but kissing this guy, I say, “You said you had a sister earlier.”
He nods. “Yeah, Lucy.”
“Why isn’t she a J name?”
He chuckles as he pushes up the wall, standing straighter. “What happened was, my mom is a huge Beatles fan. So Lucy, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” and then Jude, “Hey Jude,” but then when I was coming, I was supposed to be Maxwell, from “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” but my dad flipped and said he was tired of the Beatles names. So since me and Jude are so close in age, she decided to go with another J name and named me after my granddaddy. So, Jayden Mitchell the second right here.”
“Cool,” I say, and I like learning about his family. I didn’t have anyone but my dad growing up, and the whole aspect of siblings fascinates me. I mean, I had hockey brothers and sisters, but actual blood family that has to love you and not be jealous of you is so neat to me.
When his grin falls to a straight line, I’m surprised by his quick change in emotion. He was grinning just a second ago. It must be the alcohol, but then I realize it’s because of something else.
His dad.
“What?”
“The Jack has me feeling things I’ve done well to lock up the last couple months,” he says, pulling in a breath through his nose.
“Tell me,” I ask.
Working his lip, he shrugs before meeting my gaze. “I’m Jayden Mitchell, right? Well, Jude is Jude Marshall, but my dad, he could never get that right. He always got us confused, and it drove me insane. I mean, I understand that you get kid’s names confused, there are a lot of us. But for the longest time, he was convinced that I was Jayden Marshall. I don’t know. It didn’t matter to Jude ’cause he hates him either way, but me, it bothered me. Ya know?”
I nod. “It would bother me. He is your dad.”
“Right?”
“But at least he knows your name. My mom didn’t even name me.”
His face softens as he nods slowly. “That’s really fucked up.”
“Yeah, but I like that my dad named me Baylor. I think it’s a good name.”
“Pretty name for a beautiful girl,” he says without looking at me.
When he looks up at me, grinning, I look away quickly and ask, “Why did you kick Ju-de out? He could have stayed.”
When he starts to laugh, I look up, confused. “You really can’t take a compliment can you?” he asks me and I shrug.
“Shh, you,” I say, waving him off. I know that, yes, I can’t take a compliment. I love them, and they make me feel all special and shit, but usually people lie. But with Jayden, he isn’t lying, he’s talking from his heart and that scares me. In just the little time I’ve spent with him, I know that his little brother’s words are true. Jayden doesn’t talk unless there is meaning behind his words. So yeah, we need to change the subject here.
