Page 35 of Floored

Jude's jaw was all but unhinged by the time I finished. "That's not a family, that's a bloody army."

I laughed. "It's ... chaos. I love it."

"Do they know?" he asked quietly.

The laughter dried up in my throat, an ache welling immediately behind my chest, like he'd turned on a faucet with his words. "Just Claire. I wanted to talk to you first."

"I'm so sorry I reacted the way I did, Lia." He leaned forward and pinned me with those green eyes. So green that I felt that same swirly feeling in my belly that I did when I met him. When he started kissing me in his kitchen before his stupid mouth and my stupid temper ruined the moment. "It's not an excuse, but it was one of those moments where—because I'd never even given it much thought, having kids, you know—my reaction caught even me off guard. If that makes sense," he added.

"It does. I think I suffered from the same problem." I covered my hot cheeks. "I've never told anyone to get fucked in my entire life."

He laughed, a large, booming sound born from somewhere deep in his broad chest. Oh, that sound set off a series of sparks that should have worried me. Lack of chemistry was not our problem.

It was part of why I reacted the way I did in his kitchen, I came to realize later. The flame between us had simmered the entire time I was separate from Jude. All it took was being in the same room, and my skin went incendiary. It's a terribly helpless feeling, if you think about it. When someone has the power to make you feel that way simply by existing, it's deeply unsettling at first. And my reaction to it—that tidal wave crashing over my head—was to draw my weapons as quickly as he'd drawn his.

He folded his big hands on the table. "What do you want to do next, Lia? Where can I help?"

What I wanted to do next was ask him not to say my name like that, all British and hot. Despite all odds, and some patchy birth control taking, he'd impregnated me with his super sperm, so hearing my name on his lips made me feel like warm putty.

"I guess ... I guess I need to know if you want to help. If you want to be in this with me."

It was the last thing I wanted to ask, but parental abandonment issues were a bit of a hot spot for me. For all my sisters.

Our dad, much older than our mom, died of a heart attack when we were young. I hardly remembered him; other than pictures I'd seen. But our mom decided one day that being a single parent of four after her golden meal ticket was gone just wasn't something she wanted anymore. Brooke had dumped us on Logan's front porch, and in truth, it was the best thing she could have done for me and my sisters. Logan, and later, his wife, Paige, gave us the family we had now. They were my people—the small army, as Jude had put it—who would always have my back.

And just like me, they'd never allow for a child—my child—to be treated as a prop for someone's vanity.

So, if Jude didn't want to play Daddy, he better speak the hell up now before this kid came out.

"I do want to be in this," he said. "I reckon I've got time to wrap my head around it, eh?"

I gave him a smile. "Yeah."

Neither of us brought up the fact that my life was on the opposite side of the world. Or that we'd need legal agreements up the wazoo, due to the nature of his job. That someday, we'd need custody agreements and child support discussions.

All the thoughts made my stomach seize up uncomfortably.

With two hands, I mentally shoved all that shit down.

"Do you need to see a doctor?" he asked.

I blinked. "I don't know, actually. I did some googling, but I can't tell if I qualify for the NHS free coverage since I'm only visiting for a semester."

"I'll make a call."

His calm assurance was enough to steady my stomach and bubbling nerves at all the unknowns. And when we said our goodbyes outside of Sheila's cafe, he walked me back to the Tube station with a promise that someone would contact me.

It set the precedent, a small step in the right direction of how the next couple of weeks unfolded. I didn't see him because his game schedule was packed (apparently they had like ... forty different cup tournaments they played in outside of regular league play. Don't even ask me because I was still trying to understand).

Me: Okay, I'll concede that penalty shootouts are exciting. WAY better than a tie. You have to admit those are stupid.

Me: Nice goal, BTW. I like how you faked out the goalie.

Jude: Those are the rules, love. That's why the points matter.

Me: Yeah, what's up with that too? You can like, get DEMOTED. Y'all are savage.

Jude: That's what makes it exciting. I'll convert you yet.