Clipped by Love (Bellevue Bullies #2) Read online

  “She can speak for herself,” Jace says.

  “And she said no,” Jayden informs him with a stern look. “Don’t peer pressure her.”

  “Whatever,” he says, doing his shot then mine. “You guys suck.”

  Before either of us can say anything, they both run off with the bottle and glasses in hand. Looking over at Jayden, I grin.

  “Aw, my knight in shining armor,” I tease, feigning as if I’m passing out.

  He rolls his eyes. “Fine, drink with them, then.”

  “No, thank you,” I say with all seriousness. “Really, you rock.”

  Giving me a suggestive grin, his eyes travel down my body. “You look hot, babe.”

  Knocking my shoulder into his, my face burns as I look around. “Shh, Jay, people are around.”

  “So? I don’t care,” he says, rolling his eyes. “If I want to tell you you’re hot, I’m gonna do it.”

  When his unruly gaze burns into mine, I shake my head. “You rebel, you.”

  Licking his lips, he holds my gaze before leaning closer. “You have two hours to hang before I steal you away and tear that toga off,” he says in a rough, sexy way. “With my teeth.”

  Breathless, I look away. “You’re gonna make me wait two hours? That’s rude.”

  “Okay, maybe one.”

  “Better,” I decide, and then I look over his back as he turns to say hi to a friend. The detail is insane on his back, and I don’t know why I’ve never really asked him about his tattoos before.

  Oh. Probably because when he has his shirt off, we are doing it.

  When he turns back to me, I ask, “Does the tattoo on your back mean anything?”

  He nods, taking a pull of his beer. “I’m the ship, and no matter what, nothing can take me down.”

  “That’s sick as hell. I got the front one, supercool, by the way. I need something badass like that. Maybe a tiger ripping the head off a gazelle, and above it, it says don’t mess with the tiger,” I say very dramatically, making hand gestures.

  Jayden laughs as he says, “How very 80s of you, but um, no.”

  I giggle as I take a pull of my beer. “I need to get something. I’m itching for one.”

  “We’ll go then, and you can talk to my dude.”

  “Sounds good to me. Date night,” I say with a grin.

  Grinning at me, he says, “I like the whole notion of date night outside of the bedroom.”

  I nod. “The mere thought of it is very stimulating, but by the end of it, we’ll be in the bedroom.”

  “So you mean I’ll get laid?” he asks, very silly-like, a huge grin on his face.

  I nod. “For sure, Sinclair.”

  I doubt anyone hears our goofy banter, but I love it so much. It’s us. When he stands erect before downing his beer and then grabbing another one, he looks over at me. “Gotta piss, I’ll find you.”

  He hands me his beer and off he goes. Turning, I lean against the counter just as Markus stops in front of me.

  “I need you.”

  “Okay?”

  “Beer pong, let’s go,” he says, and he doesn’t give me a chance to answer before he’s dragging me to the table. Handing me a ball, he says, “Shoot.”

  Looking across the table at McMinn and Archer, I shrug. “Okay.”

  But I wish I hadn’t because then I’m in such an intense game of beer pong, and I’m beyond obsessed with winning that I don’t notice what’s going on around me. All that matters is that McMinn and Archer are going down. Usually I’d be looking for Jayden, or even just hanging out with him, but at this moment, it’s time to kick ass with my main boy, Markus.

  The party is loud, but I don’t let anything distract me as I throw my ball in their last cup.

  “Attagirl!” Markus yells as he lines up, but he misses, which means they get the balls back. As they drink their cup of beer and, I guess, talk strategy, Markus leans over to me. “So, um, truth,” he says, and I glance over at him. I’ll admit, I’m a little drunk. These two have been really good competition.

  “Truth? Huh?”

  “Tell me the truth.”

  “Okay?”

  Leaning in, his lips at my ear, he says, “Are you and Jayden like, really together, together?”

  He then leans back to look at me, and I just look at him. Do I admit it? I know Markus won’t say anything. We are friends; he cares for me. So I nod and he nods back. Which is not what I expected. I honestly expected him to jump up and down and say I knew it or something along those lines. But his face is as hard as stone as he looks over my shoulder.

  “Okay, well, I’m giving him five more minutes before I go over there and whoop his ass then.”

  “Say what?” I almost shriek, and he looks from over my shoulder to me.

  “He’s over there talking to Skylar, and they are too close for comfort.”

  Whipping around to where he was looking, I find Jayden standing in front of Skylar, his arm up on the wall above her as he nurses his beer. Now from here, it does look very suggestive, and I know if I move out a bit it wouldn’t, but that would be the rational, sober Baylor response. Ah, who am I kidding? I wouldn’t do that, I’d do what I am doing now.

  Glaring.

  “Son of a trucker,” I growl, but then I stop myself.

  They are just talking, no big deal.

  But then she wraps her arm around his neck, and all I see is red as he hugs her tightly.

  “Whoa, Baylor,” Markus says.

  “Damn, Baylor, who you… Oh shit,” McMinn says. “Why is Jayden talking to her?”

  “He’s a dumbass, that’s why,” Archer says. “Moore, erase your face. I’ve seen that chick fight, she’s insane.”

  Glaring over at Archer, I say, “Oh look, there went the fucks I had to give.”

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I glare as they laugh, except for Markus. He’s glaring with me. It’s taking everything out of me not to go over there, and I’m trying really hard to trust what he said, that he only sees me. But how can he when this bitch is basically humping his leg?

  “I’m gonna kick her ass,” I sneer.

  “Why? It isn’t like you guys are together,” Jace says out of nowhere, and I glower over at him, causing his eyes to go wide. Hiding behind Markus, he pleads, “Protect me, she’s a rabid bear.”

  “Shut up, Jace,” we both say, and when I look back over to where Jayden and Skylar are standing, she glances over at me and makes a face. A bitch face.

  “Aw shit, she’s looking over here,” Archer complains. “God, I hope you guys fight.”

  “Right? That would be so hot!” McMinn decides. “I got a hundred on Moore.”

  “No way, Skylar is a beast,” Archer says, and then they shake.

  “Dumbass,” Markus snaps before shaking his head.

  “Baylor, I’m warning you, if she hits you, you’re on your own! You can’t look at people like that, and I can’t hit her. My mom would kill me!” Jace adds.

  Glaring even more, her eyes challenge mine and I challenge right on back. Narrowing my gaze, I put my hands on my hips as Jayden looks over at me, his eyes going wide. She says something to Jayden and he tries to stop her, but then she is moving toward me.

  Bring it, bitch.

  When she stops before me, she looks me up and down before scoffing at me. “Is there a problem?”

  Shaking my head, I keep glaring at her. I ignore that she looks twenty times better than me, but then it has to be because her toga is basically hanging off her tits and her ass is hanging out. Yeah. That’s it.

  Matching her arrogance, I say, “Did I say there was?”

  “No, but your face sure does,” she snaps back, putting her hands on her hips. “And it seems like that happens every time I’m around Jayden, which is crazy to me since I know you two aren’t together.”

  She does that whole moving her head with each word thing, and I want to laugh in her face. She couldn’t hold a candle to me. Yeah, she’s pretty and she could pr