Page 9 of Play With Me

“No,” Jude said, his voice taut with anger.

“Why not, Dad? She’s my mom!”

Jude ran a hand over his face and turned away. He was going to freak out.

“Hey, Cap?” I asked, gently interrupting. “Do you think I could talk to your dad for a bit? I’ll make sure he answers all your questions about your mom, okay? But I think he still needs to get mad first—not at you—but at other stuff, and I don’t want you to have to feel sad about it.”

Cap blinked, then looked back at his dad, who’d turned back around, looking…betrayed. And wounded. And slightly devastated.

But then Cap rushed to his dad, throwing his arms around him. His hug was hard and fierce. Despite his anger, his dad was still number one. My throat went tight. They had each other, no matter what.

Jude picked him up, his arms holding his boy tight. “You go see Grandpa, okay? I’ll be there soon.”

While they hugged, I texted Chelsea and asked if she’d be okay to take Cap with them to the restaurant—we’d meet her there. She texted back with a thumbs-up just as Cap wriggled to get out of his dad’s arms. I let him know what the change of plans were, and Cap ran back to his aunts and uncles.

For a moment, we both watched him go, seeing Chelsea in the distance, separating from the others to meet him.

Then Jude turned on me. “Why didn’t you back me up?”

I struggled to get out of the bush. Any other time, Jude would have laughed at me, then helped me out. But not this time. He was furious.

“Because you’re being bull-headed about this!” I said, unable to find a branch to grab that wasn’t too spindly. Little leaves fluttered all over me.

Jude took my hand and lifted me out with one swift pull, so fast I nearly stumbled when my feet hit the ground. Sometimes, I forgot about how strong Jude was. He wasn’t huge like his brother Griff, or even their other brother, Eli. But he was tall. Hard. An athlete through and through.

For a moment, we stood with our hands still clasped. Then I tugged mine away, shoving it in my coat pocket as I mumbled a thanks.

“I don’t want to see her,” Jude said. His anger appeared to have cracked, just a little. “Our life is good now. Everything is perfect.”

“No,” I said. “It’s not.”

Jude frowned.

“Didn’t you hear him? Cap wants a mom, Jude. And hehasone who wants to see him.”

He scoffed. “He doesn’t.”

“But they both want each other. Besides, you told me about her parents—how controlling they’d been. I bet they’re the reason she’s not in Cap’s life.” My chest hurt, saying all this, but I wasn’t going back now. Not when this was the best course of action for all of us.

Jude frowned. “Even if that’s true, she could have just ignored them.”

“You said yourself she was a young, naïve girl back then.”

Jude grimaced. I knew I’d triggered his guilt again about what had happened. How he and Cap had happened. But this wasn’t about protecting his feelings.

“Jude…” My throat felt choked now. “There’s no reason why you shouldn’t find someone new. Why can’t it be her?”

Jude studied me for a moment with an incredulous expression on his face. Behind him, his family was piling into their cars with Cap.

“Since when do you care who I choose to be with, anyway?”

“You never choose to be with anyone,” I threw back, my voice tight. But I hated this. I didn’t want to fight with him. I took a breath. “I’m your best friend, Jude. I care if you’re happy.”

“I just told you, Iamhappy! You’ve never mentioned this before. Is this what you wanted to talk about? Did you…did you have something to do with her calling?”

“What?” I reared back. “Do you really think I’d do something like that behind your back?”

“I don’t know. Apparently, there’s a lot I don’t know about you.”

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