you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by you again?”
Or
Me: “Did you know that your body is about 70% water? And fuck, am I thirsty!”
In my daydreams he’d loved my cheesy pickup line, he’d find me irresistible, tuck my hair behind my ear as he leaned in for a kiss and that’d be the beginning of our forever.
My plan with Brady was mostly to get him to get Christian here when we were all having a good time. Brady was going to get us at a table together and I was going to be cute, flirty, and irresistible for starters. He’d have no choice but to acknowledge my existence.
But, then he went and walked in and we had that moment and I messed the plan up by approaching him instead. I decided to go back to that plan. Once I got past Jenna.
***
“He’s perfect for me,” I told Jenna, who was still blocking the door.
“See… I don’t think he is, Jojo.” She was serious.
“How the hell would you know?” My back went arrow-straight.
“I’ve known him for forever. Ella and I lived next door to each other since kindergarten and he’s her cousin, so he was there a lot when we were kids. He was an absolute nightmare. Pranks. Cruel pranks and such an effing bully, not just with us but other kids, too. He made his little brother, who had a crush on our friend Stef, intentionally step in dog shit in front of all of us just to avoid Chris’s wrath and then he pants’d her to add insult to---”
“Uh, wasn’t this over a decade ago?”
“Injury. Yeah, but as an adult he probably isn’t much better. Think about where he comes from.”
“He’s related to Ella.”
“Yeah. And she hates him. He’s the demon spawn of Wild Will Forker who wanted to do disgusting things to Ella…”
“You thought Spency was an asshole but then you were all about him and Pippa getting together.”
“Yeah, but he’s not like Chris. Chris is…”
“Perfect for me.”
“How do you know that?”
“I don’t know it, but I suspect it and the only way to find out is to find out. He rescued Ella. He’s helped our club. He’s one of us now. He---”
“Jojo, why are you pursuing him? You’re gorgeous. Seriously gorgeous. You shouldn’t have to pursue a guy. They should be doing the chasing. You can’t have the upper hand at all if---”
“That’s ass backwards. If I want somethin’, I’m goin’ for it, Jenna. I want him. I wanna see if he wants me, too. You saw how he looked at me tonight and ---”
“Yeah, and your three brothers, your dad, and the rest of them will all have an effing coronary…”
“Knowing only a little about him but knowing as much as I do, he won’t let that deter him if he wants me. How many guys are going to be brave enough to go head-to-head with my family, the club…”
“The Jojo and Fork show was pretty interesting to watch,” she mused. She twisted her lips thoughtfully. “And if anyone has the balls…”
“Exactly! And he is gorgeous, Jenna.”
“Yeah, I’ve always said that.” She chewed on her thumbnail thoughtfully. “But you’ll have lots of roadblocks if you do.”
“I know. I’m prepared for it. But again… he won’t shy away, I don’t think.”
“No. Definitely not. I’d bet money he won’t.” She seemed pretty sure.
“You’ve known him a long time and you saw what I saw tonight when he saw me.”
“You know I did.”
“And?”
She looked thoughtful but didn’t answer me.
“I’ve been low key tryin’ to get his attention ever since he got patched over. It ain’t working. I need to go … what’s the word?”
The kitchen door must’ve opened, and music spilled in from the bar loudly.
The band was covering Boombastic by Shaggy. It wasn’t Chase singing; it was a deeper voice.
“Bombastic. Isn’t that the opposite of low-key?” I asked, smiling.
Jenna’s smile went wide. “Girl. I so got you. Let’s go dance. Follow my lead.”
Oh. Brilliant. Jenna was definitely my favorite future sis-in-law. Today, at least.
I grabbed her hand to halt her. “I want him to notice me, Jenna. To want me.”
“Let’s dance, put on a show, and I guarantee you that he will…”
She squeezed my hand and shoved the door open. We squealed in unison as we ran out to the dance floor and immediately the two of us were getting lost in the music, dancing together to the song, which was being sung by a band member with long dreadlocks who’d previously been