Hooked by Love (Bellevue Bullies #3) Read online

  Avery: Okay. Text me.

  Me: I will.

  When I hobble down the stairs and into my room, I know I have no other option but to call my brother. I don’t want to. Things are so good right now. I mean, we are finding our place while falling for each other more and more each day. She is starting to trust me. I mean, last night solidified that, and I don’t want anything to come between us. But then, why am I assuming it’s bad? It could be great! He loves Avery and wants nothing more than for me to be happy. But I know that isn’t Jude and I know this is bad. Which scares the living shit out of me. Sitting on Markus’s bed, I click on Jude’s name and wait.

  I don’t have to wait long.

  “Hey, bro.”

  “Hey,” I say wryly. “Calling you like you wanted.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Practice run late?”

  Shit, he’s stalling now.

  My stomach drops as I fall back into Markus’s pillows. “Yeah, Markus hit me with the puck on the side of the knee, so I was getting fixed up.”

  “You good?”

  “Yeah, it hurts like balls, but I just took some pain meds.”

  “Cool,” he says. “Stay off it.”

  “Yeah, I am.”

  “Okay,” he says and then lets out a long breath. “I guess I’ll get right to it, then.”

  But I don’t say anything, my heart jackhammering in my chest. “What’s up?”

  “So, you know how I play with Seth, Avery’s brother?”

  Damn it. I knew this wasn’t going to be good. I’ve learned that any of her brothers and her in a sentence doesn’t end well. “Yeah. They don’t talk.”

  “Yeah, I know, which is why I’m not sure how much stock I put in this, but I figure you need to know anyway.”

  “Okay?”

  “Okay, well, couple nights ago, we were out for drinks. And somehow, Seth and I were alone, which hardly ever happens, and I said, hey, my brother is dating your sister. He made a face and I laughed, saying that my brother is a good dude, he has nothing to worry about. Well, Seth makes another face and shakes his head, saying he isn’t worried about someone hurting Avery, but he’s worried about you. That she ruined some guy, Caleb’s, career when he broke up with her.”

  “What?” I croak out, and while I thought it was something bad, I really didn’t think it was this bad.

  She lied.

  I feel like I’m going to pass out.

  “Yeah, she went psycho apparently and tried to kill herself—”

  “What? No. Really?” I say, because she didn’t tell me that. She told me it ended with cutting. Nothing more.

  Fuck, she lied again.

  “Yeah, and her parents freaked, and her dad made sure he was undraftable.”

  Swallowing hard, I close my eyes as my teeth sink into my lip. “Wow,” is all I can say as I slowly shake my head.

  “You know, I didn’t know if I should believe it. She doesn’t seem like the type to do something like that, but he was really adamant about it. Told me to make sure to let you know to get out. That she’s psycho, and that in the end, you’ll lose everything.”

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I can’t believe this. “You believe him?”

  “I don’t know, bro. I mean, it’s odd. I only know how I interact with my family, and if something like this had happened to, say, Lucy, I wouldn’t be so candid about it. He acted as if it was no big deal, that Avery was nothing, which is why I kind of don’t believe him. But then, I googled Caleb and asked Jayden, and he confirmed that Caleb completely turned his back on hockey and Facebook told me he is touring Africa at the moment.”

  With my heart in my throat, making it hard to breathe, I shake my head. “She never told me anything like this. She told me Caleb was a douche and hurt her, but that was it. Not that she tried to kill herself.”

  “Well, do you believe that part? That’s the part I’m sort of on the fence about.”

  But I shake my head, knowing damn well she is capable. If she can cut herself, she can try to end it too, which just hurts me. Instead of being shitty to her, why didn’t her family help her? Fuck. But yet, I can’t tell my brother that. It isn’t his business.

  “I don’t know.”

  He sighs. “Well, Jace, the thing that worries me is that she didn’t tell you who her dad is either. I’m thinking maybe you should get out. You’ll never get the real story unless you go to Caleb, and I mean, then what? Why should you have to work so hard for a relationship with someone who has lied to you over and over again?”

  “She doesn’t lie; she holds back.”

  He hesitates, and I know he doesn’t want to hurt me. “So she told you her dad ruined Caleb’s chances in the draft?”

  I pause. “No, she said he just disappeared.”

  “Then she lied.”

  “But that could be a lie from Seth.”

  “True, but does it make sense? From what Jayden said, dude was good.”

  He was, I know this, but I’m grasping at straws here and I don’t know why. The proof is in the pudding. She lied to me and I should be angry. But I’m not. I’m hurt, because it’s not only that. Why didn’t she tell me about the suicide attempt too? Why didn’t I see it? Especially when she had told me about Caleb. I found it hard to believe he would give up hockey. But I was just so happy she was opening up to me, I didn’t question her.

  Fuck, now I’m pissed.

  “Yeah, but he was a douche. She told me this,” I say, and shit, am I making excuses for her?

  “Fine, but this is your career, Jace. Your livelihood, your dreams—you gotta figure out if it’s worth it.”

  Swallowing hard, I say with as much conviction as I can manage, “She is worth it.”

  “Worth losing it all? Really?”

  “Yes, ugh, no. I don’t know. I don’t want to lose my career, and I sure as hell don’t want to lose her either. I love her.”

  “I get that, dude. But it just seems like a lot of lies, a lot of hold-backs, and I don’t think you need that.”

  I don’t.

  So what does that mean?

  “I just don’t want to you to lose it all. You can get over heartbreak, Jace. But losing your career? Something we’ve worked so hard for. That’s not something you can get over. Be smart here. ”

  I nod. “Yeah, I am. But Jude, if I break it off with her now, which feels impossible, what keeps her dad from ruining everything?”

  He pauses at that, and I hold my breath. “Yeah, I have nothing. You’re screwed, dude.”

  “Wow, thanks.”

  “Sorry, bro.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” I snap and I feel like I’m drowning. Why does this day have to suck so badly? But most of all, why couldn’t she just be honest with me? Why couldn’t her family treat her right? Why couldn’t they love her the way my family loves me? Damn it!

  “Jace, don’t be like that. I’m trying to help because I love you.”

  “I know, and I appreciate it, I do. But now I don’t know what to do because I feel like I have to choose, and I can’t. I love them both, more than my own life, and I don’t want to pick. I want to have both of them, I want to be happy, but I just don’t know if I can. I feel like I have no choice, and that scares the living hell out of me.”

  “I hear you, but you’ve only been dating for, what, a month? Hockey has been a part of you for years.”

  “But she’s a part of me too,” I admit and he pauses.

  “I didn’t know it was that serious.”

  I close my eyes, swallowing past the lump in my throat. “It is.”

  “Fine, just talk to her, Jace. You don’t have to pick one or the other yet. I’m just saying you need to be smart. If you can get out unscathed, I’d suggest that. But I can hear it in your voice, she means something to you, and I want you to be happy. But I also won’t let you get hurt.”

  “I hear you,” I admit, even if it does hurt.

  I know he’s right.

  And I have no clue what to do.