“He has something to say to you, don’t you, Allen?”

I look over to find that Jude is standing beside me. “Why are you still here?”

He flashes me a quick grin, but when he looks back at Allen, his look could kill. “’Cause I want to make sure he does what he needs to.”

“Are you his dad?” I ask, my face all scrunched up.

Looking back at me, his grin is back. “Nope, his captain.”

He says it like that explains it all, but it doesn’t. Confused, I look back at Allen as he says, “I’m sorry, Claire. I was wrong for messing around on you behind your back.”

My brow comes up before I glance back to Jude. “Did you threaten to beat him up or something?”

He’s still grinning as he shrugs. “If that’s what you want, I will, but no, I didn’t. Laps are my punishment for hurting you.”

Why does that make me giddy?

“It seems like he doesn’t mean it,” I say and Jude laughs.

“Yeah, I agree. Want me to beat him up?”

I glance over at Allen, who is glaring, and I shrug. “He has crabs, that’s punishment enough. But now I wish I wouldn’t have taken down those signs since I’m pretty sure you’re not sorry you cheated on me, but rather sorry you got caught. Don’t worry, I’m not the least bit upset about it. I might even move on pretty quickly, so don’t worry about me,” I say, then to show him he means nothing to me, I reach for Jude and place my lips against his.

It was supposed to be a quick kiss, but soon my lips are moving with his in a very, very slow and sexy way. His lips are soft and full, and God, he tastes good. Donuts. He must be carbing up. When his hands slide down my back, resting against my hips, I arch into him, deepening the kiss. People holler and the catcalls are ridiculous, but I don’t care. I’m too lost in his lips and the feel of his chest under my hands to care. He’s so hard and thick, oh sweet Lord, his body is a wonderland that I want to discover. When his fingers trail up my neck, that’s when something snaps inside me, reminding me that I shouldn’t be doing this. I pull away but he follows me, his teeth nibbling on my bottom lip before his lips assault me once more. You know, everyone always talks about sparks and fireworks when they kiss a guy – I hadn’t ever felt that before, but I do now. But sparks and fireworks really don’t do the way he kisses justice. It’s more like a bomb, a nuclear one, because when I pull back, I’m actually dizzy.

What the hell did he do to me?

Setting him with a look, I back away, smacking away his grabby hands that are trying to pull me back in.

“Hey, come here. I’m nowhere near done with that sweet mouth of yours,” he says, but I continue to smack his hands away before pointing at him.

“Trouble, pure freaking trouble is what you are!” Then I turn to look at Allen, and I wonder why he stayed to watch that, but whatever. “And you are an asshole. But no need to apologize, ’cause I want nothing to do with you.”

Glaring at both of them, I stomp away, mad that I considered having sex with a cheating bastard, a crab-infested asshole, and then mad that I allowed Hey Jude to kiss the living stuffing out of me and make me want to have sex with him in the middle of the courtyard. There is something dangerous about him, and if I’m not careful, Hey Jude will have me naked and on top of him within seconds. The only thing is I’m not sure I want that. I mean, yeah, I want him, but I’m not sure if I only want him once. I may not know him, but I like him a little too much, and that scares me. I’ve never been in love, never felt those so-called butterflies, but as I’m walking away, those butterflies are going insane in my stomach. Which means one thing:

Jude Sinclair is undeniably trouble.

So when Skylar said that the dance girls were bitches, she wasn’t kidding.

Before we even did the group choreographed part, Rachael, the captain, cut nine girls based on their body type and looks. It was rude and disgusting. I felt horrible for this one girl who started crying, and I was two seconds from walking out, but then I saw Reese was in the bleachers, watching. I couldn’t walk out when she had come to watch, so I decided to stay in. After learning the dance, which I’m sure my nine-year-olds from the dance studio came up with, Skylar and I murdered it and were passed through to the second round. We started with forty girls and now were at twelve. They were only taking five, though. I was confident in us, but still nerves settled in my stomach.

“Okay, so we have to wait for the guys to get here. They’ll be here in like two–” Before Rachael could even finish her sentence, the door was thrown open and in came a group of hot hockey guys. All of them were thick and big, and goodness, where the hell have I been? I have gone to the Bullies’ games, but I never noticed how sexy the team was. I looked for Jude, hating how excited I am to see him, but I don’t actually see him. Finally though, he brings up the rear, looking down at his phone and not really paying attention.

“So nice of y’all to be on time,” Rachael says and Jude laughs.

“You’re lucky we graced you with our presences, Rachael,” Jude says, looking up from his phone.

“I can do without it.”

“That’s not what you said last night,” he teases, and my stomach recoils at the thought of him with her as everyone laughs, causing Rachael’s face to turn red.

“Whatever.”

He rolls his eyes and I know he’s lying. He wasn’t with her. He doesn’t even like her. “But really, I apologize, ladies. I told Rachael we’d be late. We had practice.”

Everyone smiles and giggles as he flashes them a lady-killing smile before tucking his phone in his pocket. Rachael then snaps, “Whatever, come on, hurry up.”

He sticks his tongue out at her before looking out at us, and it seems everyone stands a bit taller, even I do the same. When his eyes lock with mine, he grins, and I swear I’m on fire. My belly does a weird flip-floppy thing, and suddenly the day before, the feel of his lips on mine, washes over me, and I want nothing more than to have a repeat show. I know he’s feeling the same thing because his eyes darken and are hooded as he holds my gaze. His mouth turns up at the side as he slowly lowers himself onto the bleachers, his eyes still not leaving mine as he grabs the paddle from someone, probably Rachael.

“Okay, so,” Rachael says, and I cringe as I move my eyes from his. She has a nasally, annoying voice that makes me was to claw out my eardrums. “I’m gonna go through everyone’s apps, and then we will decide the order for the solos. Everyone has two minutes to impress us and the guys. We take the guys’ scores and what we think, and then tomorrow we will post the five new members. You are lucky you made it this far. Bring your A game or get the hell out.”