Still not looking at me, she shakes her head. “You should be with me.”

This time I’m shaking my head. “No, Rachael, I’m meant to be with her, and as my friend, I hope that you remember that I love her and she is special to me, and you won’t cause any more problems.”

She doesn’t say anything and I almost walk away since I don’t know what else to say. But then she looks up at me, her lip wobbling, and she says, “I have to let you go completely, don’t I? Nothing will ever happen?”

Taking ahold of her hands, I squeeze them, willing her to listen to me. I don’t know any other way to tell this girl that nothing will ever happen. As much as it sucks to hurt her, I love Claire. She’s it.

“I can promise you that nothing will ever happen between us ever again. I love her. Let me go, Rachael.”

More tears fall and she wipes them away. “Fine, Jude.”

“Thank you.”

She doesn’t say anything else; instead she turns and leaves without even a glance back at me. While I know she’s still hurting, I like that this is fixed as much as it can be. She just needs time to get over me, and I hope that during that process, she won’t fuck with Claire and me. If she does, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna have to cut her completely out of my life, and I don’t want to do that. I enjoy her friendship; we’ve been friends since we were kids, but I will let that go for Claire.

“You’re acting like a fucking girl, dude,” Jayden calls from his bed, and I flip him the middle finger without looking at him as I pull clothes out of my closet.

“Shut up,” I say, reaching for a shirt, then putting it back. “Her uncle hates me and I want to dress nice to try to impress him a tad bit.”

“If he hates you, why does it matter?”

“’Cause I want him to like me, dumbass! I want her to marry me one day,” I say, glaring at him.

Jayden shakes his head and looks down at his books. “You’re weird.”

Turning, I say, “Why?”

“’Cause Jude, this is your first girlfriend, and you’re already thinking marriage?”

“I said one day, asshole. Open those ears.”

“Whatever. I see it in your eyes. If you could, you’d do it today.”

Maybe so, but there is no way I’m admitting that to this asshole. Reaching for a light blue collared shirt, I throw that on and look in the mirror to make sure it matches the charcoal pants I have on. Thankfully it does, but I look plain. Throwing on a black tie and then a black sweater, I push my sleeves up to my elbows and let out a breath. Moving my fingers through my hair, I wish I had gotten it cut. It’s a little long and falls in my eyes, giving me a troublemaker look. Which I guess is right, but still I don’t want Claire’s uncle thinking that. I probably should have shaved too, but Claire loves my beard and so do I.

I guess this will have to do.

Turning, I look at Jayden with my arms out. “How does this look?”

Looking up at me, bored, he rolls his eyes before holding his hand out. “Gorgeous, darling. Simply breathtaking.”

Throwing a pillow at him, I reach for my riding jacket and put it on as he laughs. I don’t know why he’s playing around when it obvious I’m nervous. I don’t ever get nervous, so I really don’t know what the hell my problem is. I got this. Phillip will love me before the night is over and everything will be fine. Instead, I am sitting here, freaking out, thinking that he’s going to make Claire break up with me. Even though that won’t happen since she’s a grown-ass woman and she loves me, she still values his opinion, and I really don’t want that to come between us. It will just be easier if he likes me, so fingers and toes crossed for that.

Reaching for the door, I go to leave but then Jayden says, “Don’t worry, dude. He’ll love you, and y’all will get married and have little Claires and Judes running around. Just don’t call me to babysit.”

A grin pulls at my lips as I shake my head. “I wouldn’t leave my kids with you, so don’t worry about that, but thanks.”

We share a smile and I leave feeling a little bit better.

When I arrive at Claire’s building, she’s standing out front, wrapped tightly in her jacket. When she spots me, she puts out a thumb and hikes up her skirt, making me grin under my helmet. Pulling up beside her, I turn the bike off and say, “Hey, sweetie, wanna go for a ride on my bike?”

She gives me a seductively naughty grin and asks, “Will it be nice and long?”

“Yes, very long and satisfying.”

“Mmm,” she murmurs in a suggestive way. “Maybe a little hard too?”

“You dirty girl, come on,” I say, not able to take it anymore. If we keep on, I know we won’t make it to dinner. Putting her helmet on, she gets on behind me, wrapping her arms around me before kissing my shoulder.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you more,” I answer and then turn the bike on. Pulling out, I follow the directions my GPS tells us from my Bluetooth. It’s a little bit of a long ride, but I don’t mind it. I worry about Claire though, she’s only wearing tights under her skirt, and I hope she isn’t too cold. When we pull up to a big stone house, I stop my bike by the curb and turn the bike off since Siri is telling me I’ve reached my destination.

“You all right back there?” I ask as I remove my helmet, then my body off the bike.

She pulls hers off and shrugs her shoulders. “My legs are frozen. I forgot to put my sweats on when I was teasing you.”

“Sorry about that,” I say as she comes off the bike, handing me her helmet as she fixes her hair.

“It’s my fault. Come on, we’re late.”

“Hold on,” I say, reaching into my saddlebag for the flowers I got. “For Reese.”

“That’s so sweet. She’ll love them. Gerbera daisies are her favorite,” she says, her face beaming as we head to the house. I don’t know what Gerbera daisies are, but I am glad that she will like the flowers. Reaching the door, Claire puts her hand on the handle and says, “I hope you still love me after this circus.”

I laugh as I nod. “I will.”

Letting out a long breath, she throws open the door and the first thing I see is a very big Phillip Anderson. He’s huge on the ice but in person he’s bigger, and with one look at him, I know I need to hit the gym some more or I’m going to get killed in the NHL. His blazing blue gaze locks on me and his brows meet as he glares.