Clipped by Love (Bellevue Bullies #2)

by Toni Aleo

  The Bellevue Bullies Series

  Boarded by Love

  Clipped by Love

  Hooked by Love (Fall 2015)

  The Assassins Series

  Taking Shots

  Trying to Score

  Empty Net

  Falling for the Backup

  Blue Lines

  Breaking Away

  Laces and Lace

  A Very Merry Hockey Holiday

  Overtime (Summer 2015)

  Standalone

  Let it be Me

  Taking Risks Series

  The Whiskey Prince

  Becoming the Whiskey Princess

  It is said to surround yourself with people who have dreams, desires, and ambition, for they’ll be the ones to help push you to realize your own.

  For the last year, I have gone on the very difficult and trying journey of weight loss. The only reason I have even gotten to where I am is because of the friends I surround myself with, along with my loving and amazing husband. Love you, Mr. Aleo. And to my best friend, love you, Bobbie!!

  I am blessed and very thankful that the good Lord above has given me the following women, so this book is for my gym unicorns (we aren’t rats):

  Nortis, Kristen, Beth, Angela, Jess, Becca, Jacki, Kiki, Lenise, Stephanie S., Stephanie M., & Suzanne.

  This book is about fighting for your dreams and believing in yourself. Because of these women, I fight every day to be a healthier me for my family. And I believe in myself because they believe in me.

  So thank you, ladies.

  I love you.

  “Bro, look! Those girls look like they are DTF!”

  Glancing over at my little brother as I dig my toes into the sand, I roll my eyes. Surely I just heard him wrong because who says DTF anymore? The sun is warming my face, and I really don’t want to process my moronic brother’s exclamation. But he’s smacking me to get my attention, not allowing me to soak in the rays like I want. I’m supposed to be on vacation. Relaxing. But instead, my brother is driving me insane.

  “Jayden, look.”

  “Jace, I know you did not just say that. Who says that anymore?” I ask, but when I look up at him, I know I didn’t hear him wrong. Standing a little shorter than my six-foot-three frame, his light brown hair is flapping in the wind, and for some reason, I can hear my mom saying he needs a haircut. He does—we all probably do—but according to Jace, he’s going for that carefree, surfer look. Dork. His shorts are hanging low in a way he assumes will attract some girls, and as he licks his lips toward the group of girls that are giggling as they check him out, he’s rubbing some lotion with that hungry, horny teenage look in his eyes.

  Douche canoe.

  “Everyone does! Shut up and get up. Let’s go get some tail since Jude can’t,” he says, running the lotion along his belly button. I guess he won’t burn there; everywhere else is fair game though.

  Is it wrong that I hope he does burn?

  Looking over at my older brother Jude, I glare. I blame Jace’s stupidity on him. I’m a smart, respectful guy, not a horndog, but Jude was the epitome of a horndog before Claire came along. Now, he’s so far up her ass, it’s kinda gross. But then again, what do I expect? They are made for each other. Two peas in a pod, and I have to admit, she’s great. She’s back in Nevada, rocking the socks of Vegas folks with her awesome burlesque show, and she does make my brother happy. So of course, I love her. She is good for him, but still their relationship is so sticky sweet that it causes us mere humans to gag.

  As I watch him text on his phone—to Claire, of course—I can’t help but shake my head. So much for this “guys” trip that he planned for us. It’s probably our last chance to hang out together since he is about to start in the NHL and propose to Claire—as soon as her uncle agrees to it—and Jace and I are about to go back to school. This trip has consisted of Jace and me hanging out, which really means I listen to Jace want to fuck every single girl on the beach while Jude sits on his phone.

  Texting her.

  It’s pitiful.

  But I have to admit, I’m impressed by the battery life of his phone.

  I punch him in the shoulder, and Jude jumps before glancing over at me, but he’s still looking at his phone as he types. “What?”

  Ever the multitasker.

  “Your younger brother is turning into a douche. He gets that shit from you,” I inform him, and I hate how irritated I am with Jace. He’s a kid, I should let it go, but man, he reminds me so much of my dad that it honestly sets my teeth on edge.

  When Jude’s brows come together, he looks over at me as his phone falls into his lap. We favor each other a lot more than we do Jace. He looks more like our older sister Lucy, with the same soft features. We’ve made fun of Jace for years for looking like a girl, but he’s starting to harden out. We don’t tell him that though. Jude and I look like men, and we could pass for twins, both with thick jaws and strong shoulders, the only difference being our hair. While his is a light brown, mine is dark, but all of us still have the green eyes that run in our family.

  We are basically some sexy mofos, in my opinion.

  “How does he get that from me? I’m not a douche.”

  “You used to be,” I challenge, and he grins a half-crooked grin before shrugging.

  “He’ll grow out of it.”

  Rolling my eyes, I say, “Not everyone finds a Claire.”

  His grin grows more. “Yeah, but there is someone for everyone, and when he finds her, she’ll calm him down.”

  “I hope so,” I say, letting out a breath. “He’s getting on my nerves with his cocky attitude.”

  “I’m right here,” Jace complains, but I just stare at him.

  “Good, stop being a douche.”

  “Whatever… Hey, girl!” he says, completely ignoring me to holler at some female.

  Jude laughs as he takes a pull of his Coke. Looking at him, I point my thumb at Jace and say, “See?”

  “He’s a kid, and so are you. Go do the same thing,” he says in a way that makes me want to punch him. He acts all superior to me, and I want to call him on his bullshit. I am more mature than he and Jace put together. He tries to act like the older brother, but we all know that it goes, mentally, at least: Lucy, me, Jude, and then Jace.

  Ignoring that, I say, “I’m not a douche.”

  “What makes chasing girls douchey?”

  “He said that a group of girls is DTF.”

  Scrunching his nose, he asks, “People still say that?”

  “Apparently,” I say, leaning back in my chair. “He’s killing me.”

  “Whatever, you’re just mad I have more game than you’ll ever have,” Jace says, hopping on the balls of his feet as he punches the air. “I got her number. Oh and hello, I’m about to go pull all three of these beauties over here.”

  Looking over my shoulder at the not-so-clean looking females, I say, “And get an STD while you’re at it.”

  “I always wear a condom,” Jace throws back at me and I laugh.

  “You haven’t even seen a real vagina yet!”

  “Whatever! I’ve slept with more girls than you could even dream of!”

  Looking at Jude, shocked, I say, “Can you believe this kid?”

  “He is mighty pretty,” Jude supplies, which makes me grin but pisses Jace off to no end.

  “I’m not fucking pretty,” he says, his green eyes blazing.

  “He’s so cute when he’s angry. Look at his pretty angry eyes,” I tease, which results in him flipping me off.

  “He has always been the pretty one; that’s why he did pageants.”

  “Yup, prettiest boy in Tennessee,” I add, and I am waiting for him to tac
kle us.

  “Only because Lucy wouldn’t do them!” he yells.

  Ignoring him, I say, “Thank God we made him be a goalie for us.”

  Jude agrees, “Yeah, or he might have been a model.”

  “And I’d still pull more tail than both of you!” he yells, and we both laugh.

  “I don’t disrespect girls like you, I actually appreciate them. Maybe you should try that,” I suggest, but Jace blows me off.

  “Whatever, you can’t pull a girl. It’s cool, and Jude’s leash is so tight, he can’t do anything but look up Claire’s asshole.”

  “Hey, don’t talk about her like that,” Jude snaps, and I want to laugh at how quickly Jace shuts up. Still glaring, Jude crosses his arms and shakes his head. “The girls I have pulled is some Jedi shit, okay? So I am basically Yoda,” he decides, and I can’t believe I am hearing this. “And you are my Luke. So a bit of advice, yes?” Jude says as I continue to laugh, while Jace crosses his arms over his chest and glares. “Rule of thumb, bro: don’t go for two girls. It may seem like a good idea at the time, but then there are so many tits, and you never know which vagina to go for, and girls are so bitchy and jealous if you don’t go for their vagina first. And the next thing you know, they are all feeling sorry for the girl you didn’t pick to put your dick in because you are an asshole for not providing them all with attention at the same damn time. Because, holy shit, you should have more than one dick. And yup, that’s it, you’re not getting laid,” Jude says before grabbing his phone.

  “Seems like you have experience in this?” I ask and Jude laughs.

  “Oh, yeah. So don’t do it. Take two, and get one for Jayden.”

  Jace laughs as I glare. “I don’t need help getting a girl.”

  “Sure,” Jude laughs as he leans back in his beach chair. “There are girls everywhere, all wanting to party before school. And instead of nailing some, you’ve basically been knitting a sweater while we’ve been here.”

  Why does that piss me off so much? And why do they both think I need to nail a bunch of chicks? Don’t they realize that I’ve been busy? Between working my ass off to keep my game solid and working to help our mom pay bills, I really don’t have time to have a life. This isn’t how it was before. Before my dad turned into the biggest asshole in the world of assholes, Jude and I tore it up. With Jace being two years behind me, he didn’t get to play the way we did. But, man, we fucked shit up. It was great, but with everything that happened, I can’t do it anymore. Not only because I don’t have Jude to do it with but because I have to be an adult. I have to help my mom.

  Yeah, this was supposed to be a vacation for all of us to cut loose, but maybe cutting loose isn’t what I want to do. I’m on Clearwater Beach, one of the most gorgeous beaches. I am here to clear my head. I’m here to rest and prepare for a hellish year ahead of me. Between working to continue helping my mom, keeping my grades up and my hockey game good so that hopefully I can go into the draft this year, I feel that relaxing is what I need to do right now.

  My agent, who is also Jude’s and Jace’s agent, didn’t want to put me in the draft last year with Jude, and it crushed me. Along with that and then my dad leaving, I was devastated and I thought my agent was an idiot. But now I realize I wasn’t ready. Playing hockey isn’t easy. It’s a hard sport that I love, but unfortunately it doesn’t come easy to me. Unlike my brothers, I have to work hard to be good, to make it look effortless. With that and the fact that my head wasn’t right, his choice of my waiting a year was smart. But I will be ready next year. I’m gonna be in the big leagues with my brother. I’m gonna be able to help support my sister and my mom the way Jude has been doing.

  Ever since my dad and mom divorced, things have been a little tense, and that’s not only money-wise. It’s hard when you live with someone for so long, look up to them, trust them to be the hero you thought they were, and then find out it was all a damn lie. I loved my dad—hell, I wish I could say I still did. But after all the hell he put us through, it’s hard. I want to forgive him, but how can I when he won’t even apologize? Instead, he is driving my mom crazy, leaving her scrambling for a way to make it, and not giving two shits about me and my siblings. Lucy is opening a design company, Jude is going to the NHL, Jace is going into college, and yeah, maybe I’m just working hard to get to the NHL, but still, he doesn’t care. We are an afterthought. It’s sad.

  Everything has changed, and I’m not gonna lie—I’m scared. Before, Jude and I had everything paid for and we rocked it, but now, it isn’t like that. We have to make our own money, and I refuse to take anything from Jude, minus this trip. Everything needs to go to my mom; she’s the one who raised us and loved us to the point of smothering us. Thankfully, Claire paid off the house, but there are still other bills that need to be paid. My mom is working, but it’s hard on her. She’s still trying to come back from being cheated on and learning to be a single adult. My sister is stressed because my mom is stressed. As much as Jace tries to act like it doesn’t affect him, I know it does. Jude is constantly worrying about my mom, and for some reason, I’m worrying about everyone. It’s fucking hard.

  So, yeah. Girls are the last thing on my fucking mind.

  Can you blame me?

  Glaring, I say, “First, I’m not in the mood to chase after some girls. I don’t know about you, but shit’s been sucking lately. I’m working two jobs right now while still doing my summer reading list and training my ass off. Shit, I want to relax. So please, excuse me if I don’t want to find a girl to fuck. I’m happy just sitting here hanging with my brothers… But, oh wait, I can’t because one is too busy trying to play hide and seek with his dick, and the other won’t do anything but text his girlfriend. Happy fucking vacation, guys.”

  Nothing is said for a moment; the only things I hear are the waves crashing and girls laughing. They are both staring at me like I just called them both fuckers, and after I replay my words in my head, I may have come off like a bit of an asshole.

  “Well, that escalated quickly,” Jace says, dropping down in the chair beside me and reaching for a Coke before popping the top. “Jeez.”

  “Sure did,” Jude agrees before typing something and then tucking his phone in his pocket. “Excuse me for missing my girlfriend.”

  “And excuse me for wanting to get laid,” Jace adds as they both look at me.

  “You’re excused,” I decide before pulling my teal and black Bellevue Bullies ball cap down over my eyes to hide the sun. “I’m just saying.”

  “No you aren’t saying anything; you’re bitching like a girl,” Jace says.

  “At least I don’t look like one,” I throw back.

  “He’s right about that,” Jude agrees with a grin. “But you’re right, I just miss her, okay? I’m sorry.”

  “I get it. She’s special.”

  “Yeah.” Jude grins. “I can’t wait to ask her to marry me.”

  “It’s going to be great,” Jace agrees. We all love Claire, but it’s hard not to be jealous. She steals all of Jude’s attention. I used to be his best friend, but Claire took that spot. I want to say that I’m okay with it, but it’s just another thing that’s changed.

  Everything is fucking changing.

  Looking over at Jace, I give him an expectant look and he gives me one back.

  “What? I’m not apologizing for wanting to get laid.”

  Rolling my eyes, I look over at Jude and say, “See, he’s turning into a douche.”

  “Yeah, maybe we should kick his ass?”

  Jace scoffs and I shrug. “Or we could throw him into the ocean and drown him.”

  “Mom might get mad. You know how much she loves the pretty boy,” Jude counters, and I nod as Jace glares.

  “Y’all are just mad because I’m better looking, and you two are ugly.”

  I scoff along with Jude as we both ignore him. “Yeah, but we can at least scare him out of his douchery.”

  “This is true.” Jude nods, slowly removing his ph
one. I do the same. “He’s kinda fast.”

  “I swear to God, I’ll kill you two,” Jace threatens, but we don’t hear him. It’s like old times.

  Us two against the world.

  “Yeah, but if you take his legs out, he can’t get far,” I suggest.

  Nodding, Jude leans back and stretches his arms. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Jace on the edge of his seat. He isn’t as stupid as I make him out to be. We are always ganging up on him. He’s just waiting for the cue to run, but we won’t give it to him. He’s a novice compared to us.

  “I don’t know. I’m kind of tired.” Jude yawns, crossing his arms.

  “Cause you’re an old fart!” Jace teases, laughing. “You couldn’t catch me anyway. You may have that big ol’ contract with the Kings, but you can’t touch this.”

  “Eh, he might be right,” I tease and Jude scoffs.

  Then out of nowhere, he lunges over me, tackling Jace to the sand. It takes us a few minutes, but soon we have him, Jude with his torso and me with his legs as we drag him to the ocean. While he screams and calls us every cuss word in the book, we laugh, and I can honestly say, I’m finally relaxing.

  My lungs are burning.

  My legs feel like Jell-O.

  Sweat is dripping in my eyes.

  And I ache, but I know if I want to go to Florida with my friends, I’m going to have to show my dad that I can take off for four days without any worries.

  “Again,” he yells from the little stool he sits on.

  His hazel eyes are trained on me as I suck in deep breaths. His brown hair is hidden under his green Baylor University hat that he’s had since I was born. He wore it the day I was born and always told me that’s why he decided to name me Baylor. That’s also the day my mom decided she didn’t want to be a mom and left. For some reason, that dumb hat of his always reminds me that she left me. I know it shouldn’t—it should remind me of the prestigious school I am named after, but it never does.

  It always reminds me that my mom didn’t want me.