Shaking off my thoughts, I pulled my big girl panties on and eased back out into the street, driving the few yards down the road to J.D’s Garage. Why’d I have to go and make up such a stupid excuse? Not only did I now have to see Jude, but once he looked at my car, he’d find nothing wrong with it and probably think I had lost it. Can anyone say stalker?

“So fucking stupid. Let’s see if I can talk my way around this one.” My voiced ramblings kept my mind from truly embracing what I was about to do. I was going to see Jude. After all this time. Damn it all to hell.

I rushed out the front of the garage breathing a sigh of relief. Jude wasn’t there. I’d walked in and come face to face with his new mechanic Rhet. Rhet was quiet yet rough around the edges, around my age with sandy blond hair and almost as many tattoos as Trip. I’d dropped my keys with him and asked for a full service on my car before hightailing it out of there as fast as my Jimmy Choo’s could take me. Just a few steps to go and I’d be free and clear. Suddenly, large hands circled my waist as I plowed straight into a wall of human.

“Shit.” A grunt sounded as my hands flew up looking for purchase. Just my luck I’d run smack bang into the one person I didn’t want to see. Unconsciously, I inhaled deeply, catching his signature smell of aftershave and grease. My eyes drifted shut and my legs began to shake.

I can’t lose it now. I was so close to getting away unscathed.

“Sorry,” he whispered, his hands gripping me tightly so I didn’t land on my ass. That one word bought back a rush of emotion and a memory I tried hard to block out.

“Don’t do this, Jude,” I croaked out. “Don’t leave.”

“I… we can’t, Haven. I can’t betray them like this,” he told me apologetically.

“They don’t understand it. They can’t, but don’t let them drive us apart. I need you.” I gripped his arm stopping him from turning way. He looked down at me, his soft green eyes set with determination and vehemence.

“I’m sorry.” He steeled himself, let me go and turned his back on me, walking away like it was the easiest thing in the world. I remained fixed on the spot and looking on. I didn’t want to believe he could. He’d come back. I knew it. I’d get him back. He was all I needed.

“Haven.” Jude raised his voice just above a whisper.

“Get your fucking hands off her.” Trip’s booming voice behind me had my back going ramrod straight.

Spinning around, I pinned Trip with a glare and snapped, “Give it a rest, Trip. You sent me here! “

“I didn’t send you here for Jude to put his goddamn hands on you,” Trip snarled back, not even looking at me, just glowering at Jude over my head.

“I dropped my car off and ran into him on the way out. Literally. He was stopping me from falling on my ass, you dipshit.” With those words, I stepped around Trip and stomped off down the road to Scarlett’s parlor, cussing and grumbling under my breath the whole time.

A few minutes later, I walked in the front doors of Needle’s Kiss and flopped down on the sofa, throwing my purse in the corner.

“Whoa now, sparky,” Scarlett greeted from where she sat behind the front counter. The smell of antiseptic and sounds of the tattoo guns buzzing were oddly calming. “Who pissed in your Cheerios this morning?” She pushed away from the counter and came to the sofa, sliding in beside me.

“Stupid boys and their stunted displays of testosterone,” I grumbled.

“Explain.” She chuckled.

“I’m not a baby. Why do those boys keep acting like I can’t make decisions on my own?” I took a deep breath and continued my rant. “It’s like I’m five years old all over again and not allowed to walk to school. I can’t do anything for myself. I’m not a damn kid!”

Scar’s laughter cut through my words and pulled me up short. I stared at her with confusion. “The fuck?” I shot at her.

“You.” She laughed harder. “You just walked in here stomping your feet like a petulant child. Now you’ve got your arms crossed over your chest and you’re pouting and throwing a tantrum like a toddler, yet you want to be taken seriously?”

My face flushed when I realized she was right. I was acting like a little brat but I was pissed the fuck off. Who were they all to tell me what I could do and who I could do it with? Jude was no different. What a pussy. Not standing up to my brothers and fighting for us. Clearly, I meant very little to him if they came first. Fine. They could do whatever they wanted. So would I!

I went to stand up and add a nice finale to my tantrum when Scarlett put her hand on my arm and stopped me. Her face conveyed her seriousness as she pointedly told me, “You want them to stop treating you like a little brat? Stop being one. Grow up and do something about it.”

My defenses spiked and I huffed at her. “And pray tell how the fuck am I supposed to have them take me seriously?”

“Look around you. Take a look in the mirror Haven and ask yourself what you want. Then damn well take it!”

“And how do you suggest I just take it?” I snapped back.

“They’re just boys, honey,” she implored. “Boys are essentially idiots.”

I must have shown my complete confusion because she chuckled and bestowed her wisdom on me. “Boys think with their egos and penises ninety percent of the time. You can always count on that, and the fact they’ll do anything to protect their sister or the woman they love. Stupid shit, the dumbest and most irritating things you’ve ever seen. They’ll do it. Never fail. “