11. Cody
Cody
Though I spend most of the night talking to my siblings, I keep an ear out for anything Jude or Sloan say. I don’t understand what Jude’s deal is. He’s been nothing but rude and demanding when it comes to Sloan. I couldn’t imagine dating someone like that.
I feel bad for Sloan. I can tell she’s annoyed and doesn’t want to deal with him or his obsession with Jax, but I don’t know how to fix it. I can’t stop him from coming to games. I can’t push him away from us because that could push Sloan away too.
As much as I keep telling Jax I don’t want to date Sloan and to stop pushing her towards me, I’d love nothing more than to see if there’s still a spark between us. I want to see if what we shared was just a crush or if it was something more.
As soon as the bill comes, Jax slaps down his credit card and hands it back to the waiter. I'm shocked he’s willingly paying for Jude, but I'm not surprised he covered the rest of the check. Jax is always generous when it comes to the people he loves.
“Jude, you can send me money for your tab.” Jax flashes him a smile and Jude’s jaw drops slightly. He definitely wasn’t expecting that.
He holds up his phone with the code for him to send him money. When Jude doesn’t move immediately, Jax shakes his phone.
With a frown and a big sigh, Jude scans the code and sends Jax whatever amount he requested. He doesn’t look happy about it though. I guess he assumed we’d just treat him to an expensive dinner.
My siblings and I take turns paying when we go out. We’re more than happy to treat each other and we don’t care how much we spend. We just enjoy spending time together.
Once we’ve exited the restaurant, we stand outside and chitchat for a few more minutes.
“Do you guys want to come back to our house?” Sophia glances at Jax and me.
“Wow, you don’t invite your favorite brother over?” Wyatt tsks.
“Oh, please. You’re my brother-in-law. You’re his brother.” She points to Peck. “And we both know you don’t need an invite. You’ll come over whenever you want to, even if we don’t invite you.” She rolls her eyes.
“Wait a second… Peck and Wyatt are siblings?” Jude’s brows draw together as he stares at them.
“Biologically.” Peck shrugs.
Sloan’s gaze snaps to me and I know she’s wondering what they’re talking about.
“I’ll explain it later,” I say softly.
“But aren’t Charlie and Sophia sisters?” Jude asks.
“Actually, no.” Charlie doesn’t offer up any further information and I won't help Jude figure it out.
Sloan already knows the ins and outs of my family. She knows technically Charlie’s my cousin, but I’ve only ever known her as my sister.
Aunt Kasey died before I was born and Mom adopted Charlie and raised her as her own daughter. Though we all know Charlie isn’t biologically our sister, we never cared. We were raised to believe family is thicker than blood.
“But will you two come?” Sophia stares at us with pleading eyes.
“Of course. We’re off tomorrow so we don’t need to be up early.” Jax wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her close.
“Maybe we’ll just crash at your house.” I wiggle my brows.
“Yes! Oh my gosh! I’d love that!” Sophia bounces around like she’s still a little kid.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine her being a mom, but I know she’ll be the most amazing mom ever. She has so much love in her heart, but she’s also one of the most fun people I’ve ever met. Any children she has are going to be so lucky.
“Alright, let’s go pick up your cars, then we’ll head home.” I tug my keys out of my pocket and turn towards the car.
“Hey, Cody?” Sloan asks softly.
“Yeah?” I toss Wyatt the keys and let him go ahead with Peck and the girls. Jude is talking Jax’s ear off about something and my twin looks like he’s about to lose his mind.
“Do you think you could drop me off at my place after you take everyone to get their cars?” She glances down at her feet and refuses to meet my gaze.
“I’m happy to take you home… Is there a reason you don’t want to go with him?” I lower my voice as I nod towards Jude.
“Can we talk about it in the car? When we’re alone?” She nibbles on her bottom lip uncomfortably.
“Yes. Go get in the car while he’s still busy with Jax.” I nudge her towards my SUV and as soon as she’s closed inside the back, I slap Jax on the back. “C’mon, bro. It’s time to go.”
Jax jumps at the chance to leave and as I pull out of the parking lot, Jude is spinning in a circle looking for Sloan. Wyatt, Peck, and Jax are laughing as I wave and pull onto the street.
“Man, Sloan, you could do so much better than that guy,” Jax groans.
“Jax,” I growl, warning him to shut his mouth.
“He’s not wrong,” Sophia singsongs. “Sloan’s a catch and Jude…”
“Isn’t?” Charlie snorts with laughter, making everyone chuckle.
“Dang, you know he’s bad if even Charlie is dissing him.” Jax shakes his head and glances over his shoulder at Sloan.
I can’t see her since she’s sitting behind me, but I wish I knew what was going through her mind right now.
“Has he called or texted you since we left? He seemed like he had no clue where you went,” Peck says softly.
He’s such a good guy and he’s fantastic at dealing with Soph. I love my sister dearly, but she’s a handful on a good day. I'm not sure I could handle a wife like her.
“He just texted me,” she whispers.
“Well, what’d he say?” Jax spins to face her again.
“Jax, drop it.” I keep my tone quiet but firm. He meets my gaze and nods his head. He knows when he’s pushing too hard and needs to back off.
As soon as I get back to the stadium and drop everyone off at their cars, I turn towards Jax.
“Can you go with Soph? I’ll meet you at her house.”
“Yeah… Sloan, you’re welcome to come to Soph’s house too.” Jax’s gaze softens when he stares at Sloan.
“Thanks, I'm not sure that’s a good idea tonight.”
He nods his head and exits my car. A moment later Sophia’s and Charlie’s cars pull out of the parking lot.
“Can you come sit up front? I don’t like feeling like a chauffeur.”
She climbs over the center console instead of getting out of the car and I can’t help but smile. She used to always do that when we were younger.
“I’ll take you home, but do you want to talk about what happened?” I turn towards her, giving her my full attention.
“You mean other than how I'm dating a jerk?” She shakes her head, but I don’t miss the tears forming in her eyes.
“How long have you been together?”
“Around six months.” She’s staring at her hands and as much as I want to look into her eyes, I'm not going to force her. It’s probably easier to talk if she isn’t looking at me.
“Has he always been like this?” I don’t mean to sound like a jerk, but I'm genuinely curious if this is new or the normal with him.
“No,” she whispers and shakes her head. “He was a great boyfriend until a few nights ago. It was like a switch flipped when he found out I knew the amazing ‘Robinson twins’.” She rolls her eyes.
“Ouch, I could feel that eye roll in my soul.” I place my hand over my chest like she physically hurt me.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Cody. I'm sorry. You and Jax are amazing, you always were, but this is like next level crap. He instantly became like this crazy stalker. Nothing matters except seeing Jax and hanging out with him. It’s like I'm only good for getting him closer to Jax now.”
“That’s insane. Jax won't put up with it, you know that.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and let my fingers trail down her neck. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Not unless we can go back in time to before the game where I saw you.” She lets out a deep sigh.
My heart squeezes uncomfortably in my chest. It’s a physical pain and reminder I'm not what she wants. She wants to go back to before we saw each other because she still wants nothing to do with me.
“What’s your address?” I ask as I straighten in my seat and focus my attention out the front window.
I need to remember who I am to Sloan. I'm just an ex-boyfriend she had no interest in seeing again. I have to stop letting myself get swept up in her and imagining she actually loves me again. Nothing but a broken heart will come from Sloan Weathers.