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32. A Midnight Proposal
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Forever Jude 33. The Power Of Love
When I wake up in the morning, the bruise on my stomach is a mix of deep purple and black. It’s also a bit painful. I lay in bed for a while, letting everything from last night rush through my head.I look at the empty space next to me. Jude said he had an early morning, so I’m guessing he already left. I didn’t hear him get up, and I always do. It doesn’t matter what time he gets up, but I always end up awake at that time too. It’s like my body has a warning system to make sure I don’t miss him before he goes.I must have really been winded last night to miss him this morning.I drag myself out of bed and into the bathroom. After that, I head to the kitchen in search of caffeine and an ice pack.I stand still in our bedroom’s doorway when I see Jude sitting at the sparsely used dining table, holding a steaming cup in one hand and his phone in the other. He looks up when I show up.“Morning,” he says.I stare at him like he’s an alien invader for a few seconds. I thought he had left.
Forever Jude 34. Have You Ever Had a Threesome?
My day turns out to be nothing like I’d expected. First, Brent Harvey mentions that even though our current contract ends in a weeks’ time, he’d like to keep working with me. Which means, ladies and gentlemen, that I might have just landed myself a very enviable work opportunity. Landing such a huge sports star as my first client as a personal trainer is almost impossible, but it’s happening. The best part is that I can still work for a team or consider becoming a full-time personal trainer because having Brent Harvey on my portfolio is the biggest endorsement I could ever get. Second…I get the news that I have less than twenty four hours to hand in a pending research paper. Which was due for another week but my professor thought it was totally okay to bring the deadline forward by an entire week.So after my session with Brent, I head to the campus. I hole up in the library for the rest of the day, only taking a short thirty minute lunch break. By the time I finish the paper and l
Forever Jude 35. Interlude: A Safe Place
Jude’s POVCole yawns, rubs his eyes, and stretches his legs in front of him. “Hey, I think I’m gonna go–”“No.”He sighs and gives me a look loaded with annoyance. “Come on, she’s so much calmer now. She doesn’t need two pairs of eyes watching her.”“This is your fault,” I remind him. “You don’t go to sleep until she does.”“How is this my fault?”I raise my brow.“No, seriously. I did not offer her the cookies!”“There wouldn’t be any pot cookies in this house if it wasn’t for you.” And that’s just the top of the list. She also wouldn’t be going out at night to dangerous alleys, getting tattoos, or having run-ins with gangs. “I didn’t bring them here,” he claims innocence. “Marvel brought them. Was I supposed to tell her to take them back?”“Exactly.”“You had one too!”“Before I knew of their true nature.”He rolls his eyes. “Right, because Marv is the kind to bring random cookies when visiting. You knew!”I shake my head. “I didn’t.”He groans and throws his head back against the
Forever Jude 36. Cheesy, creamy?
Back to Jo’s POV“This means you are not working with him anymore, right?”I look up from the container I’m filling with leftover food and over at Jude, who’s standing in front of the TV holding the remote. “What?”He gestures to the screen with the remote. “Him.”My eyes rise to the screen, where footage of Brent Harvey from today’s game is playing. It was his first game back after his injury, and he performed quite well. “Um,” I mumble, switching my eyes back to the container. When I turn to stow it in the refrigerator, I say, “I might still be.”Might? I’ve already accepted the offer, it’s just that I’ve not signed a contract yet.And yes. I haven’t mentioned it to Jude yet. “What?” he asks, his voice full of confusion. “He’s fully recovered, right?”I turn back around to find him raising his brow at me. “Yes. But he offered me to become his full-time personal trainer.”That brow raises further. “What?”“I accepted.”“Why would you do that? You said you would only work with him f
Forever Jude 37. Good Enough
“Hey, have you see this boy around here?” Jude asks the owner of one of the only two stores still open at the local shopping centre.The man looks at the photo of Rico on Jude’s phone and shakes his head. “No.”Jude nods and puts his phone away. “Alright, thanks.”We move towards the exit of the shop and stop under the eave because it’s suddenly raining. As if this night couldn’t get any shittier. Where do we look next? Between us, the police, and a couple of Rico’s neighbours who volunteered, we’ve searched the entire neighbourhood. If Rico was anywhere nearby, someone should have spotted him by now. Jude sighs heavily, his breath condensing in the night air. “What, now?”I shove my hands in my jacket pockets and try to think of somewhere we should check but haven’t yet. Nothing comes to mind. We’ve been to every public place we could be. The only alternative now is to broaden the scope of our search area. When we started this search, I was optimistic that we would soon find Rico
Forever Jude 38. If You
“Jo, let me go.”I shake my head and squeeze my arms tighter around Jude’s middle, fighting against his attempt to remove them. “No.”“Do you want me to miss my flight?” he asks.“Yes. That’s exactly what I want,” I reply. “You are not going anywhere.”“I’m fine, I swear.”I shake my head. “You are not.”The last thing I expected when I woke up this morning was to find Jude getting ready to leave for work. He was in a daze when we got back to the condo last night. In bed, he tossed and turned all night. I was too worried to sleep, but the fatigue caught up with me around four in the morning. Thank heavens I woke up when I did because I would have lost my shit if he’d been gone.“I know what happened last night must have been scary,” he starts.I huff. “You think?”“But it’s perfectly normal,” he continues.Yeah, and he must be out of his mind.“I mean it was a perfectly normal reaction to that kind of thing rushing into my brain out of nowhere,” he adds. “It blindsided me. T-boned m
Forever Jude 39. Just Drive
Someone steps forward and offers to take Brent’s coat. I use the chance to look for an escape route. I spy a crowd of people milling around a room to the right. Other guests emerge or disappear through an opening to the left.“You look very beautiful tonight,” Brent’s voice draws my attention back to him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a dress before.”“Well, a tracksuit is hardly suitable for the occasion,” I say, forcing a smile onto my lips. I need someone to show up right now and steal his attention. I’m quite sure a lot of people will be all over him tonight, so can they hurry up?When I mentioned the invitation to Jude, he was worried about me running into Brent. But Brent took my job rejection well, and I did not think that would be an issue. Besides, we are in a house full of people. It’s the ideal setting to firmly turn him down if he brings it up.“No, it’s not,” he agrees, taking a step forward. He extends his hand, intending to touch me again. I step back just in ti
Forever Jude 40. The Wrong Woman
I want Cole to keep driving and driving until we are as far away from here as possible, but he pulls over barely a minute later.I can’t even tell him to keep going because I’m crying too hard to form words. He brings the car to a complete stop, which makes my sobs the only thing either of us can hear. I tried really hard to not cry, but once the tears started flowing, there was no going back. The little strength I was using to hold myself together turned out to be nothing compared to the emotions that hit me as soon as I was in the safe cocoon of the car.I’m hiding my face behind a tissue I plucked earlier, not wanting to face Cole.“Jo, what happened?” Cole asks, his voice tense and full of concern.I shake my head. There’s a throb at the back of my head from where I hit the floor earlier, and my cheek is stinging with pain. The hand he grabbed isn’t working too well either. I can’t squeeze it right when I try to blow my nose.I discard that tissue and press my palms to my face. C
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