Free Saint Jude: Los Angeles Bad Boys by Frankie Love

her just flounder for months on end. And yeah, it kinda pisses me off that you’re sleeping with Jude two weeks after Rachel leaves. And Jude, I think it’s kind of messed up that you’re even willing to go along with this.”
    “Go along with this?” Cat asks. “Are you kidding me right now? You know nothing about me. You’re judging me? Rachel left, but somehow I’m the villain in the story?”
    “I didn’t say you were the villain, I just said you were jumping Jude’s bones. And he’s just trying to survive right now. The timing is a little questionable.”
    “Questionable?” I ask, getting pretty pissed off at Evie’s tone with Cat. I’m not Cat’s boyfriend or anything, but she doesn’t deserve to be talked to this way. “Evie, you need to seriously back down. Cat is not doing anything wrong here. I invited her over to my house last night. I invited her out for coffee today. Me . So if you want to get pissed off at someone, get pissed off at me. But do not put your shit on Catalina.”
    I feel Cat’s eyes on me, and I know I said the right thing. Reading her body language, I can tell she’s ready to get the hell out of here and get back to my house.
    Baby , I think, I’ll take you there .
    “Sorry,” Evie says, stepping back. “I know I’m getting a little intense about all of this. And that’s not fair to you, Cat. Or you, Jude. I’m just worried about Rachel. And I’m worried about you, Jude. And Etta. When I needed help, you helped me—you got me a place to live with Holden, and you completely had my back with my dad. You’re the only family I have. I mean”—she looks up at Cassius, smiling softly—“mostly. But you are my only cousin. And I care about you. I hate seeing you hurt, I hate seeing your pattern—”
    “My pattern?” I ask.
    “Yeah, your pattern … with women. Rachel was always a mess, and the girls before that—Lindy, Julia, I don’t even know how many others. Just a long line of girls who all needed you to save them.”
    “I don’t need saving,” Cat says.
    But even I don’t believe her words. Even I know the truth: Cat does need someone to save her, to pull her out of whatever she’s stuck in. I just hate the way Evangeline is pointing it out so clearly. So publicly.
    “Okay, so you don’t need saving, Cat.” Evie shrugs, lacing her fingers through Cassius’s. “What do you need? Because all I see is a girl who is lost.”
    There’s not much to say to that. Evie clearly has no interest in tiptoeing around any conversation today, and in a lot of ways I appreciate that transparency, but not at the cost of Cat, who has tears brimming in her eyes. She swallows hard, and looks as if she’s drowning in her own story.
    “Evie,” Cash says, shaking his head ever so slightly. “I think that’s enough, babe.”
    I know Evie’s not trying to be a total bitch, that for some reason her instincts tell her to warn me, and I should be grateful to have family like that. Like her.
    But her truth doesn’t make my reality any easier.
    The four of us turn towards Etta, who’s now awake and kicking off her blanket and cooing happily.
    We say good-bye, and Cat and I begin walking back to my place silently, pushing the stroller. Feels like this hook-up just got hella heavy.
    Still, there’s not an ounce of me that wants it to end.

Chapter 14
    I know Jude and I talked all morning about the potential quickie later that day … but after we saw Evangeline and Cassius, the mood changed. Things feel heavy and intense, and I just need some time to think.
    And, to be completely honest, I don’t want to be a burden to Jude. That’s the last thing he needs right now.
    When we get back to his place, I tell him I’m going to head out.
    “Really?” he asks, unbuckling Etta from her stroller and carrying her inside.
    I trail behind them. “Yeah. It’s not personal, I swear. It’s just … after that conversation with Evie, even though I know she apologized … it stung.