Page 37 of Dirty Like Jude
11:52am.
I arrived at Brody’s place, headed straight into his office. Endured his stare-down, aimed at the damage on my face. It wasn’t that bad. Just a small bruise and scrape on my left cheekbone from Taze’sfist.
“What happened?” he finally asked, flatly, like someone who didn’t really expect to get ananswer.
“Nothing you want toknow.”
I sat down on the couch, ready to go the fuck back to sleep. I was walking normal by now and I was no longer pissing blood, so that was something. Maybe a few hundred more hours of sleep and I’d be likenew.
There was a knock at the door, which was half-open, and Jessaappeared.
“Hey…” The smile fell right off her face when she saw me. “Jude! What happened?” She pushed the door open; baby Nick was snuggled in the crook of her arm, half-asleep.
Roni was right behindher.
Roni’s face fell when she saw me, too, though probably for an altogether differentreason.
“Nothing,” I said. “Had a little disagreement with adoor.”
“A door? You want me to believe you walked into a door, and it gave youthat?” Jessa frowned at the scrape on my cheek. Then her gaze flicked over to Brody, and her shoulders dropped. “Alright. Whatever.” She brought Nick over to me as I got to myfeet.
I ruffled his silky little tuft of hair with my fingertips and offered the obligatory, “Cuter every day,huh?”
“Yes,” she said proudly, kissing his head. “Your uncle Jude’s a badass,” she whispered to him in her super-sweet mommy voice, “and you are never, ever riding one of his motorcycles. No… you’renot.”
“His dad get a say in that?” I glanced atBrody.
Brody just rolled hiseyes.
“Nope,” Jessa said. “He’s not riding Daddy’s motorcycleseither.”
“Right,” Isaid.
Jessa flashed me her brattyface.
“Come in, Roni,” Brody said, gesturing for Roni to join us. She was standing way back, just inside the door, armscrossed.
“We’re not staying,” Jessa announced, heading for the door with Nick. “I need to feed Nicky.” She gave Roni a quick hug. “Don’t take no for an answer,” she told Roni, then she threw Brody a sharp look over her shoulder andleft.
I stared atRoni.
It was the first time I’d been this close to her since the meet-the-baby party a week ago, and my guard was way the fuck up. The ways I felt about this woman… were incredibly conflicted. That was never more obvious to me than when I was face-to-face withher.
I was definitely pissed about her choices. Taze, for one. And last night… whatever the fuck was going on withAsh.
But at least I wasn’t pissed about the pastanymore.
Mostly.
Either way, I’d definitely told myself I was never gonna be with her. Which pretty much meant never being in the same room with her,apparently.
Because as soon as me and Roni Webber were face-to-face, I couldfeelit… how the entire dynamic of our non-relationship shifted. Her relationship to me shifted—from someone I needed to stay the fuck away from, to someone Ihadto get closeto.
Fucking dangerous, thiswoman…
She looked at me, barely, as she took a couple more steps into theroom.
Her black hair was smoothed down past her shoulders, parted to one side. She wore it long all over, without the bangs she’d had as a teenager. She still had a preference for black eyeliner, just a lot less of it. Back then, she looked kinda like a doll. Now, she looked like a total sex kitten, even when she dressed forbusiness.
