“Hey, Jude,” Reese says, and I feel horrible that I didn’t see her standing beside Phillip. He takes up the whole room, though.

“Hey, Reese, these are for you,” I say, handing her the flowers. “Thank you for having me.”

“Oh, thank you, these are gorgeous,” she says happily and I smile.

“Phillip–” Claire starts to say, but he interrupts her.

“What the hell are you wearing?”

She looks down at her jacket and then back up at him “My riding jacket.”

His eyes cut back to me and he says, “So you ride a motorcycle?”

I smile. “I do, a sweet Star Bolt. Wanna go check it out?” I say, my voice cracking a bit.

Somehow he glares more and says, “No.” He then looks at Claire. “I don’t like him. At all.”

With that, he turns, and Reese says, “He doesn’t mean that.”

Claire throws her hands up and chases after him as she yells, “But you haven’t even given him a chance!”

Well, this is going to be fun.

Phillip is being positively impossible!

“Phillip! I’m talking to you! Hello?!” I yell as I chase him through the halls of the home in which I spent my teenage years. I loved this house when it was just Phillip and me even though it was more a bachelor pad than a home, but I didn’t care. I mean, I lived in a car for over a year; his house was beautiful to me, but once Reese moved in, it was like a home makeover show. She went to work, hiring people to make Phillip’s house a home for our little family, and nothing has changed since I left.

As we make our way through the gourmet kitchen that Reese said we needed, I know he’s heading to his man cave where he will sit and wallow in the news that I am dating. He’s being so childish! He knows I date, he knows I have sex, I’m nineteen damn years old!

“Phillip, Phillip!” I yell just as he reaches the door. I rush to him, standing in his way, and he glares down at me.

“Move.”

“No! We’re talking about this! You didn’t even give him a chance! He is great! Superawesome!” I plead, but Phillip doesn’t look like he gives a shit at all.

“I don’t care.”

Just as I thought.

“Please,” I say as he tries to reach for the door handle.

“No,” he says firmly, getting his hand on the handle even though I’m pushing my hip into it.

“Phillip! That was just rude!” Reese yells, and he looks back at her.

“Stay out of this,” he says just as I trap his hand between my hip and the wall, causing him to yell out.

“Damn it, Claire! That hurt!”

“Oh, hush and stop being a big baby! I want you to meet my boyfriend!”

“I met him and didn’t like him!” he yells, his face red with anger.

“You didn’t even give him a chance!” Reese and I both yell, and he glares even more.

“I don’t want to get to know him. Now move! You and Reese can fuss over him, but I won’t!”

“That’s not fair!” I say, stomping my foot on the ground like a five-year-old. “Please, he really is special to me.”

“If she cares for him, you should give him a chance!” Reese yells and Phillip cuts her a look that could kill. I don’t think it scares her much because she gives him one right back.

“I don’t care. Move,” he says, trying to push me out of the way, but it’s obvious he’s not trying hard since I’m not moving much. He probably doesn’t want to hurt me, but I don’t think he realizes that he is by not giving Jude a chance.

“Please, Phillip,” I basically whisper. “Please give him a chance,” I say hoping that if I ask nicely enough and bat my eyes at him, it will work.

Looking at me, his eyes locking with mine, and I think I have him, but he says, “No.”

He then pushes me hard to the side, knocking me out of the way, and he throws the door open without even giving me a side glance. As he steps through, I yell, “But Daddy, I love him!”

He pauses mid-step and looks over his shoulder at me as Jude goes, “I knew you were my little mermaid.”

I hadn’t realized he was there, and while I would love to grin at him since I am acting like a very dramatic Ariel, my eyes stay locked with Phillip’s. Taking a deep breath in, I say, “I love him, Phillip, like, a lot. If you love me, then please give the guy I love a chance. He means a lot to me, and I think that you’d actually like him.”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, only turns and places his hands on his hips. “You love him?”

I nod. “Yeah, I do.”

He looks at Reese and she shrugs her shoulders. “She’s right. If you love her, you have to give the guy she loves a chance, Phillip. It’s only fair.”

“I don’t give a shit what’s fair. The guy is a delinquent.”

“Actually I’m not,” Jude says then. “I’m really pretty awesome.”

“And cocky obviously,” Phillip says and I smile.

“Yes, very, but I love him,” I say, hoping to God that he gives Jude a chance. Phillip means the world to me, and I can’t have him not like Jude the way I do. I’m not saying he has to pick flowers and paint hearts with him, but I’d really like it if he would at least be in the same room with him.

Shaking his head, he asks, “How long have you been with this guy?”

“Almost a month,” I answer.

“And you love him? Do you even know what love is?” he asks incredulously.

“Yeah, I do. I learned from you and Reese.”

I knew that would get him, but maybe I’m wrong because he’s still glaring at me. I’m holding my breath, my heart pounding, and I don’t know how this is going to go. Taking in a deep breath, I let it out as Phillip starts to shake his head. Then his eyes cut to where Jude stands and Jude quickly stands up straighter, his hands coming out of his pockets and dangling to his sides awkwardly.

He wants Phillip to like him, and I find that incredibly sweet.

“Fine, what’s your name again?” Phillip barks at him.

“Jude Sinclair.”

Phillip steps up to him, holding out his hand. “I’d like to say it’s nice to meet you, but I’m still on the fence about that.”