I placed my palm against his chest and pulled my eyes away from his.
“What’s the matter,” he asked quietly.
“Please, Jude, don’t make me choose. If things had been going better out there, I’d find a way to be alone with you. But your sister told me to hurry back. I need to get back there— for her.”
“And me?”
No one had a right to look that tired, that dirty, that hurt— and that appealing.
“Please, Jude, don’t do this.” My throat burned with the words.
His arms dropped. His disappointment was palpable as I walked away from him. I fanned my face to keep from crying. Finley looked up over the back of the couch as she heard me return.
“Is Jude coming down after he showers?” she asked.
I shrugged certain that if I spoke I might cry.
Finley knew something was wrong right away. She got up. “I need to go talk to Jude a second,” she said. “Cole, let’s move this into the theater. But no horror and no giant boob show either. Something decent.”
I stopped her as she passed me. “Don’t, Finley. Please.” My eyes watered, and I could have kicked myself for allowing it. “It’s fine and he’s tired.”
She peered up at me through her long bangs, and she seemed to be assessing if I was truly all right or if she still needed to have a chat with Jude.
“Really, Finley. It’s no big deal.”
“If you’re sure.”
I was definitely sure. The last thing I wanted was for Finley to get involved. Jude would probably cave just because he didn’t want to upset her and then I would have to live with the bitter truth that he‘d been forced into sitting through a movie with me.
Finley took my hand and we headed to the elevator. “We should have just eaten all those friggin’ cookies ourselves,” she sighed. “We would have had way more fun without everyone else.”
I swiped away the few tears that had escaped. “Totally agree with you there.”
Max and Cole argued about movies for awhile and then settled on one of the many Batman movies. Cole pulled Teresa into the third row, and she giggled wildly about it. Finley and I rolled our eyes for the hundredth time. She and Max sat up front in the corner, and I sat in the back by myself. I probably could have easily left to find Jude, but I wasn’t going to run to him. He’d put me in a really bad spot and I wanted him to know it.
I sank down in my chair. The air conditioner seemed to be plowing through the vent right above my head, and I got up to move over when a hand brushed mine. I looked back. Jude’s face was apologetic, and even in the dark, I could see that he looked as down as I felt. He motioned to the furthest pair of seats in the darkest, deepest corner of the room. I sat and he pushed up the arm rest and pulled me against him.
He reached up and tucked the hair back behind my ear. He lowered his mouth to my ear, and a pleasant shiver cascaded through me as he spoke. “I’m sorry, Eden. I don’t know what got into me. It’s just I’ve never wanted anyone as badly as I want you.”
My eyes burned again. There was so much feeling behind his words, my heart ached for him, and I realized, that once again, I’d passed that point of no return. But this time it was emotional instead of physical, a much more frightening reality. This guy owned me, heart and soul, and there were only two ways out now— happily ever after or complete and utter heartbreak.
Chapter 20
When an evening goes badly the wisest choice is to end it as quickly as possible, but someone had the brilliant idea of doing tequila shots, and everyone had reluctantly agreed. Once the movie ended, we tromped back to the kitchen area and sat in front of the big television with small shot glasses. The cookies had been enough gluttony for me and I was sure a few shots would bring it all up like a volcano. Jude took a few shots, pulled me into his arms, and closed his eyes. He was tired and I knew he wanted the evening to end as much as I did. But I stuck it out for Finley.
Finley threw back a shot and made the same contorted face I’d made when I’d tasted the expensive scotch in the pool house. Max and Cole were trying to outdo each other, but Teresa was putting them all to shame.
Max relaxed back and dropped his arm around Finley. She looked pleased but slightly uncomfortable.
“You know what we should all do next weekend?” Max said. “We should all take a road trip to Las Vegas.”
Silence sucked the air from the room, and I could feel Jude’s muscles tense beneath me. I took a furtive peek toward Finley. Her face looked tight as she stared down at her wrist and twirled her bracelets. Cole said nothing. He always seemed to deal with the problem by distancing himself and pretending it wasn’t any big deal. It was the complete opposite of how Jude dealt with it.
Teresa popped up though and with plenty to say. “That’s not very nice, Max.”
Max wrinkled his brow. “Why is that mean?”
Finley crossed her arms tightly around her, and Jude released me and sat forward. “Cole, Teresa’s had too much to drink. Call her a cab. We’ve got to get up early for work.” Jude’s brave attempt at thwarting a scene failed as Teresa blathered on unabated.
“Because Finley wouldn’t be able to go along,” Teresa said cheerily, and my stomach twisted into a knot.
Cole finally intervened. He stood abruptly. “Come on, Teresa, I’ll drive you home myself.”
Max looked down at Finley who was slowly shrinking in on herself. “Why can’t you go, Finley?”
“She hates Vegas. I mean, who can blame her? The place sucks,” I said hastily. But it was another failed attempt, and Teresa, who was either completely oblivious or horribly evil, continued.
“No, that’s not it. Don’t you know, Max? Finley is afraid to leave the house.” Teresa flopped back, drunk and completely satisfied with herself.
Finley flew off the couch and ran out of the room. Jude raced after her and I followed.
By the time we’d reached her room, Finley had already crawled under her quilt. She was tucked into a tight ball making her look impossibly tiny in the giant bed. Her white-blonde crown of hair peeked out from the comforter.
Jude stretched out on the bed next to her looking weary and as if this was the last thing he needed tonight. I sat on a chair in the room in case they needed me, but with Jude, she was in the most capable hands of all.
“Come on, Doolittle,” he said, “who gives a shit about any of those people. And if Max can’t deal with it then fuck him.”
Her thin arm and petite hand popped up out of the quilt, and she waved him silently away.
A faint smile crossed his face, and I realized that I was falling harder for the guy every minute. “You want me to leave, Fin Fin?”
She put her thumb up in the air and then pulled her arm back under the quilt. Even though she was mostly hidden, the humorous gestures of her hand seemed reassuring. The adrenaline drained from my body. It seemed that she was handling the rotten end to an otherwise crappy evening with poise, and I was relieved. Jude looked equally relieved.
He lifted the end of her quilt and slid beneath the cover. “Are you still alive under here?”
Finley giggled. “This is a definite invasion of space.”
I tiptoed out of the door and was thrilled to get to my room. It had been such a long evening, and it’d nearly ended in disaster. I closed the door behind me and walked to the bathroom to wash my face and get ready for bed.
The pretty blue dressed sparkled back at me in the mirror. It was easily the nicest dress I’d ever worn, but it had been wasted on a less than successful evening. I swept my long hair up into a ponytail and started the faucet just as a light knock sounded on my door.
“Valley, it’s me,” Jude said quietly.
I walked to the door and opened it. The strain of the entire evening showed on his face. He stepped inside, shut the door, and walked over to the chair. He sat down hard, slumped back, and stretched his long legs out in front of him.