Hooked by Love (Bellevue Bullies #3) Read online

  “Good, huh?” I say, feeding her a bite of pumpkin pie.

  She takes the bite and nods. “Not like your mom’s.”

  “Nothing is like my mom’s,” I remind her as I look up to see her parents watching us. They both look pained, as if they were hoping I was a dirtbag or something.

  Clearing her throat, Thea says, “Avery, honey, why don’t we go look in the gift shop?”

  Avery looks at her, confused. “Why?”

  “I want to peek and I wanted to get some stuff for the road.”

  Or she wants to leave so that Benedict can talk to me.

  Avery knows this too because she looks at me and I shrug. “It’s fine.”

  She takes in a breath and shakes her head before getting out of the booth and walking with her mom toward the gift shop. Looking over at Benedict, I take a long pull of my tea and smile.

  “I’m ready.”

  He smiles. “Yeah?”

  “Yup, hit me with what you got.”

  Benedict nods as he laughs. “I guess that means there will be no chance of me talking you into letting her go, then? Letting her come home and relieving you of all your duties to her?”

  I scoff. “Not a snowball’s chance in hell.”

  “It’s a big responsibility, especially for a rookie player. You sure you want that?”

  “I’m never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  “She isn’t well, mentally. She struggles.”

  “I know and I’ve got her.”

  “It’s a lot for a nineteen-year-old boy.”

  “Man,” I correct with a grin. “I’m almost twenty. And I don’t care how much work it is, because there is no me without that girl right there,” I say, pointing to where Avery is looking at silver spoons. “I get it. You don’t like me, don’t trust me. But I can promise you, that girl has never been happier. And she will continue to be happy as long as I’m there loving her.”

  He nods slowly, bringing his gaze from Avery to me. “Very sure of yourself.”

  “Damn right, and I’m sure that she and I will work. Trust and believe that.”

  Sucking on his teeth, he swallows hard and then pins me with a look. “Can’t blame me for trying.”

  “No, sir, ’cause I would do the same for my daughter who got knocked up by some rookie,” I say with a grin and he smiles. “I respect you, Mr. Haverbrooke, I do. But I love that girl, and I’m not letting her go.”

  He eyes me. “It’s not easy to love her—”

  “It is for me.”

  “It is for me too,” he says slowly. “But I messed up somewhere. I put her brothers before her, and she holds a certain kind of animosity toward me for that. Not that I don’t deserve it.”

  “You do.”

  He nods sadly. “Yeah. I know you think I don’t like you, and it isn’t that. It’s that I don’t think anyone is good enough for her. I fully expected to walk into a shitshow, but you’re different.”

  “Thank you,” I say, my eyes locked in his gaze. “I love her. All of her.”

  “So you know the whole deal, her past?”

  “Yes, sir, everything.”

  “It doesn’t scare you?”

  “Not even a little bit.”

  He nods. “Scares the shit out of me. Want to know why?”

  “Sure.”

  “Because I’m pretty sure I could have prevented it, and I didn’t.”

  The remorse, the pain is apparent on his face, and I feel for the guy. I don’t like that he hurt Avery, wasn’t there for her. But he regrets that and hopefully he’ll make it better. Leaning back, I nod. “I really think you should give her a chance to tell you the whole story.”

  His face twists in confusion as he holds my gaze. “The whole story?”

  “Yeah, the whole thing, because I’m sure it’s more than what you know. And I feel you need to know.”

  Before he can say anything else, Avery slides in beside me and shoots me a grin before glancing at her dad. Looking back at me, she asks, “He try to talk you into leaving?”

  I laugh as I nod. “Yeah, but it’s cool. I would do it for my daughter too.”

  She smiles. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. But don’t worry, I told him no.” I add in a wink and she feigns relief.

  “Oh, thank God!” she gasps before leaning into me, her hand pressed to her forehead. “I was nervous for a second there,” she jokes and I laugh.

  “Sure, you were.”

  “Eh, maybe not. I would have chased you down.”

  “I wouldn’t get far,” I say with another wink, and when I glance at her parents, they are smiling too.

  “He’s great, really,” Avery says and I kiss her temple as her mom nods.

  “We are seeing that,” her dad admits.

  “Yeah, maybe I was wrong,” Thea says.

  Looking up at me, Avery widens her eyes as she hooks a thumb at her mother. “My mom just admitted she might be wrong for thinking you’re a rookie punk.”

  My eyes widen too, faking hurt and shock as I look over at my mother-in-law. “You called me a rookie punk?”

  “I did.”

  “Eh, now I gotta keep proving her wrong.”

  That pleases her parents, and when I look at my wife, her face is bright and happy.

  I feel good about this.

  I feel good about them.

  And maybe, just maybe, this will work out.

  “My parents should be here in a second. I think they are gonna sit with us instead of on the visitors’ side,” I say to Autumn and Lucy. I’m met with concerned stares.

  Eyeing me, Lucy asks, “They’re invited to sit with us?”

  I shrug, a grin pulling at my lips. “Yeah.”

  “So we like them?” Autumn asks, and it’s so weird calling her that. I feel like I should still be calling her Mrs. Sinclair, but she gets on me when I do. She really wants me to call her Mom, but I’m working up to it.

  I laugh. “They’ve actually been really great the last two days,” I say and they both smile. I didn’t think I’d ever say that, but it’s true. Dinner was good, and Jace said my dad wasn’t even a dick to him. Only spoke with him about his concerns, and Jace promised it went well. Yesterday, they took us shopping for our baby, which again was really nice. I know they don’t like it and probably wish I were older, but they are trying to be supportive. Something else I thought would never happen.

  While everything seems good, I’m still dreading Jace being on the ice with Matty. I haven’t seen him, but my mom said they went out to dinner with him last night. They invited us, but I said no. For obvious reasons.

  “That’s wonderful, honey,” Autumn says, hugging my neck. “I know that means a lot to you.”

  I smile as I nod. “They are being supportive.”

  “Good, that’s what they are supposed to do. No matter how much we want something different, we are to love our children, no matter what.”

  Lucy grins. “She loves me more, though.”

  I laugh as Autumn shakes her head. “I love you all the same.”

  I love that each of her children thinks they are her favorite. It’s funny and sweet and speaks volumes of Autumn, too. She loves big, and I love her for it. Grinning at her, I say, “It’s okay, Autumn. It’s just us two. You can admit I’m your favorite daughter-in-law.”

  She laughs before squeezing me tightly. “Of course, my love.”

  Lucy laughs and shakes her head. “She told Baylor that last week, and I think Claire this morning.”

  Smacking Lucy, Autumn laughs. “She’s a liar.”

  That has us all laughing just as someone calls my name. Looking in the direction it’s coming from, I see my dad waving at me as they climb the many stairs to the top. It’s where Autumn and Lucy always sit, right under Jace’s banner.

  “Hey!” I call, and I can’t believe I’m excited to see them. It’s odd, but also something I truly need. I want them in my life, I do, as long as they keep acting like this. It do