The Sudden Love (Hudson Brothers #3)

by Emma Vikes

  I made a face, but felt my heart skip a beat. I swear I had no idea where all these kinds of reactions were coming from. Clearing my throat and pretending as if his last statement didn’t bother me, I looked at Wang pointedly. “So, where’s Everett?”

  “Waiting for you outside. He brought his car.”

  The statement surprised me and I rushed outside to see a classic Ford Mustang idling in front of the police department. Everett was inside, looking as dishevelled as he always did. He motioned for me to get in and I did, in awe at the beauty of his car. “I thought you were a Prius kind of guy.”

  Everett chuckled, his hand caressing the steering wheel of his car. “I rarely let this baby out, but I thought I’d make an exception.”

  But I thought I’d make an exception.

  And what did that mean?

  Before I could ask him what he meant, he suddenly leaned over to my side. My eyes widened, alarm bells going off in my head. Other than the conversation we had at the café, there wasn’t really anything that had happened between us throughout the day. So, what was he doing?

  My eyes fluttered close when I felt his hot breath on my face and I only opened them when I heard a click. I stared at Everett who was trying to stifle a smile as he shrugged. “The seatbelt kind of acts out sometimes, so I thought I’d do it for you.”

  I swallowed, trying my best to sound calm and nonchalant, but my heart was racing like crazy. “Oh.”

  Oh.

  Was that all I could think of saying?

  Oh, dear god, Alexa! When did you lose the capacity to speak full sentences? I mentally chastised myself.

  Beside me, Everett pulled the car away from the driveway and stopped at a red light, and I still hadn’t recovered from earlier. God, I swear I could still smell his scent- a mixture of formalin and a bunch of other chemicals from back at the lab.

  Shit, why can’t I stop thinking about him right now?

  I made the mistake of turning to look at him and he had a small smile on his face, the dimple on his cheek showing.

  Shit. Shit. Why did he have to be this cute?

  “I’ve handled way too many car accidents because passengers never wore their seatbelts. Better to be safe.”

  Jesus Christ.

  Did he have to wink after he said that?

  5

  Alexa

  Olivia wouldn’t stop staring at Everett, as he drove us to the restaurant. We had picked her up from her apartment, and Everett was courteous enough to open the door for her- also because his car was a restored classic and there were some minor kinks that only he knew how to handle- and Olivia had been staring at him ever since. It’s like she had noticed that there was a cute guy beneath the thick frame glasses and the messy hair.

  Everett parked the car and then got out, making his way to my side of the car to open the door and help Olivia out. Behind me, Olivia hissed. “Lexi! He’s cute!”

  I shot her a deadpanned look, but my heart betrayed me by skipping a beat when I saw Everett through the windshield. The wind was a tad bit strong and it had mussed up his hair even more. “Aren’t you supposed to be heartbroken?”

  Before Olivia could answer, Everett had opened the door and then pushed the back of my seat down so Olivia could get out. She smiled at him, batting her lashes, the way she always did when she wanted to flirt with someone. I couldn’t help but shake my head.

  I was also weirdly trying to resist the urge to yell ‘back off’ at her, which didn’t really make any sense. Because hello? Rule number one, Alexa, dating a co-worker is a strict no-no.

  “I’m hungry,” Everett announced, and then shrugged when Olivia and I both looked at him. The three of us made our way to the restaurant that Olivia had made a reservation at. It seemed like the sort of restaurant where teenage boys would bring their dates to leave an impression. “The bread sticks here are to die for.”

  I looked at Everett weirdly. “What did you just say?”

  He shrugged, smiling sheepishly. “My brothers used to bring their dates here. When Julian was fifteen, he would beg me to drive him and his date here and Mom would give me money to buy food while I waited for Julian’s date to finish.”

  Olivia was listening in on the conversation. “Didn’t your brother feel awkward, having you wait outside?”

  He shook his head. “He wanted me to wait. Said that if the date went the other way, he had the perfect excuse to leave.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle, amused at the thought of Everett sitting alone while waiting for his brother. Olivia butted in, asking the question that I had wanted to ask. “What about you? Never brought dates here?”

  Everett made a face. “I was too busy for dates. I had science competitions and clubs to attend to. Girls…”, He shrugged and continued, “In my mind, I was in high school and I was supposed to be making sure that I got to have a good shot at the future I wanted, which at that time was an Ivy League university.”

  Olivia and I were both stunned to hear that, and before I could process my words, I just blurted it out. “You’re not gay, right?”

  Oh god damn it, Alexa!

  My eyes widened the moment the words came out of my mouth and I clamped my mouth shut. Beside me, Olivia was clearly stifling her giggles at the rudeness of the question. I looked at Everett to gauge his reaction, but I couldn’t really make out anything; and as the seconds ticked by, my heart just slowly sank when he didn’t say anything.

  Finally, Everett let out a long breath, flashed me a tight-lipped smile and replied. “I’m not gay, Alexa.”

  Olivia let out a low whistle. “Well, this has certainly become awkward, so why don’t we just go have dinner!”

  Throughout dinner Everett seemed to have lost whatever intention he had to enjoy, and it was most probably because of me. I felt really bad, and so I didn’t push to make conversation either. But it was a good thing that as soon as we took our seats, Olivia launched into her story about Sean and how the breakup happened and what happened pre-breakup, which ultimately led to the end of their relationship.

  She was straight out crying by the time we finished eating, and was hiccupping in front of us, probably because of the three glasses of wine that she had had. Beside me, Everett seemed to be busy on his phone. He had been busy on his phone since we had sat down. He seemed to be reading email after email and replying to texts, from what I could see.

  “And then there are these notes! He still keeps sending them! It doesn’t make any sense, Lexi! Why would he keep sending me love notes when he claims that he was never in love with me!”

  At the mention of the notes, both Everett and I looked at her. I felt Everett glance at me but my eyes focused on Olivia. “Did you bring them?”

  Sniffling, Olivia nodded her head and then pulled out the notes from her bag. Unlike the notes I found in the house of the victim, her notes were written on little green papers. Everett took one of them and I took another.

  I love you still, dear Olivia, I always will.

  The notes were all the same, repeated professions of love. But the handwriting was different from the notes I had found at the victims. They had the same content, professions of love, but the penmanship wasn’t the same. I knew that Everett would tell me to just drop it because it wouldn’t really help the case, especially since the case had already been ruled as a suicide.

  “Sean claims he never wrote me any of these notes but who else would send me them to. He is the last guy I was with!”

  “What about the guy before him?” Everett asked and Olivia stared at him for a moment, as if only remembering that he was with us, even if they had been sitting across from each other. Couldn’t blame her. He’d been too focused on his phone to even be a part of our conversation.

  But just as Olivia was about to respond, she sputtered, her eyes widening and focusing on something else. Both Everett and I exchanged glances, and then turned around.

  I cringed, because standing right there was Sean, the guy that Olivia had
just broken up with. He was with another girl, and they seemed to be into each other. Like really into each other. More than he had been with Olivia when they had first met a couple of weeks ago.

  Olivia waved at a waiter and ordered another bottle of wine. Everett leaned over to me. “I don’t think we’re going to end up at a club tonight.”

  I winced and nodded. The waiter came back with a bottle and Olivia started drinking straight out of the bottle without even pausing, until she had drunk half of it. My mouth dropped open in shock. I knew my friend had the tendency to be a little bit extra every time a guy broke up with her. But it had been years since I’d been there to comfort her in person, and I had no idea that she had gotten this bad. At least if things got worse, I had Everett to help me.

  Suddenly Everett’s phone rang and he cussed, looking at me apologetically. “It’s Wang. He was just briefing me about a case, and I told him to call if I’m needed.”

  I pursed my lips and watched as he stood up, about to leave the room. All of a sudden Olivia stood up too, and before I could react or even register what was happening, she marched to where Sean and the girl was and started screaming at them. I was shocked at the sudden turn of events, but Everett was quick to react. He grabbed Sean before he could lay a hand on Olivia, and then turned and pulled Olivia away from there. I called the waiter and paid for the food, rushing out of the restaurant behind them.

  “I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to take you both home,” Everett said, breathing hard since he had just dragged a kicking girl out of the restaurant.

  “No. No. You have that thing with Wang. I can call a cab for the both of us. Besides, I don’t know where her apartment is so she’s going to have to stay at mine.” I looked at Olivia- who was already in the backseat of Everett’s car and weeping. I sighed, feeling bad for her now. I knew that whatever she had with Sean was not a substantial relationship, but I knew her well enough to know how much she was willing to give her entire heart to a stranger in the hopes that he would take good care of it.

  Everett held up a hand to tell me to give him a moment, and I awkwardly stood in front of him as he made a call. “Wang, hey. Look, I’m sorry but I can’t make it. Something just came up, and you did say that it’s something you could handle.” He paused and then looked at me, the corner of his lips twitching into a small and amused smile. “No. It’s not what you’re thinking. But yes, I’ll take good care of her.”

  I’ll take good care of her.

  I tugged at my ear, feeling heat rise to my face at the words that he had just said. He stood shyly in front of me and shrugged, smiling slightly; the dimple on his cheek was showing again. “Wang doesn’t really need me that much. With the state that Olivia’s in, I don’t think that you can handle her alone. I guess I’ll drive you to your apartment?”

  He had his hands stuffed in his pockets, and I didn’t really know how I was supposed to react so I simply nodded my head. Everett opened the door for me and before he shut it close, he lingered for a moment and I wondered if he was going to say anything but he shook his head and then shut the door close. I exhaled a shaky breath, trying to calm myself because I had no idea what was going on with my system. I felt like I badly needed a reboot so I that could think straight when Everett was around.

  I typed in my address into the GPS, and he drove us to my apartment. He was aware that I lived close to the department and the coffee shop we frequented. All throughout the ride, Everett didn’t say anything. When he reached the apartment, he parked his car in the parking space of the building and the two of us got out, and this time I didn’t wait for him to open the door for me.

  Everett pushed my seat forward. Olivia was already asleep by now and with my help, the two of us managed to get her out the cramped backseat of his car. She smelled of wine, and her makeup was smudged all over her face. I locked Everett’s car for him, since Olivia was in his arms, and we made our way inside the building.

  “You need help?” I asked, glancing at Olivia who was in his arms.

  Everett shook his head, carrying Olivia with ease. “Nah. I’m fine. Let’s just get her to your place.”

  My flat was on the fifth floor and by the time we reached it, Olivia was slowly waking up and thrashing in Everett’s arm. He put her down when we reached my door and I tried to grab hold of Olivia to steady her but she was still hysterical, repeating over and over again that she couldn’t believe Sean already had another girlfriend.

  “Woah,” Everett said, grabbing hold of Olivia, who sauntered into the flat, and almost crashed into my shoe rock. “Steady now.”

  But Olivia swatted his hand away. “No, no, no. I’m fine. I’m fi- -ne. Don’t mind me! I’m fine-,”

  And then she vomited, straight onto Everett, who had held her by the shoulders to stop her from toppling over. His eyes widened as he realized that she had just vomited on his clothes. I winced as I pried her away. Olivia began to apologize but I was already dragging her to bed. I had set up a divider in the apartment so that I could have a makeshift bedroom. I pointed Everett to the bathroom that was near the door. But Everett didn’t heed my silent instruction. Instead, he helped me drag Olivia to the makeshift bedroom and then headed for the bathroom.

  Just as I finished changing Olivia, I heard the bathroom door open, and when I turned around, Everett was standing by the bathroom door, shirtless. He looked around and scratched the back of his neck, refusing to meet my gaze. “Do you have a mop? There’s some vomit here and I should clean it up.”

  “No. It’s fine. I’ll do it,” I said, trying to avoid landing my gaze on his naked upper body. But Everett shook his head and then crossed the room. It was then that I noticed that he was barefoot too and I realized that he was only in his jeans right now and just like me, he was trying to avoid my gaze and spare both of us the awkwardness. “Everett, I can do it.”

  “Is it here?” He asked, opening a spare door in the room where the washing machine was. I did stash the mop in there, which he pulled out and began to clean the rest of the vomit without a word. He also managed not to get his jeans soiled while doing so. “And it’s done.”

  I tried to divert myself from the sight that was Everett Hudson. I could feel a faint blush heating my cheeks. Of all the things, I did not expect this nerd to have a body like this. He had mentioned that he liked to run every morning. But boy, I did not expect him to have such a shining shimmering six-pack, which was begging to be licked…

  Oh, dear god Alexa, don’t even go there!

  I turned my back on him, pretending that I was looking for something, and then I spotted Olivia’s clothes; so, I began to gather them and scrunched my nose at the stench. “Where’s your shirt? I should wash them along with Liv’s.”

  When I turned around, Everett was still standing where he was- in all his topless glory- and running a hand through his hair, mussing it up even more. What I’d do to have my fingers run through those dark locks.

  “I can wash it on my own, Lexi,” and then he looked at me with a small smile. As I watched him slowly bite his lower lip, I knew that he was teasing me.

  At that moment, I prayed, real hard, to have this temptation taken away, because I could not think rationally right now.

  I shook my head to clear my thoughts- and then looked at him pointedly, making sure that the coiling desire in the pit of my stomach did not show on my face. “Nonsense. I can do it.”

  My eyes darted to the still open bathroom door, and I tried to push past him; but he wouldn’t budge, blocking the entrance. I pressed my hands on his firm chest and my heart raced as I did so, realizing what I had just done. My eyes flickered to his face and the intensity in his eyes made me breathe harder. His jaw was locked as he stared at me and I couldn’t really read what he was thinking.

  Without thinking, my left hand grazed his body, and I felt him take a sharp breath as I did so. My hand splayed flat on the hard planes of his stomach. Everett’s eyes fluttered close and I bit my lower lip, care
ssing the smooth skin. “Alexa.”

  I swallowed and dared to look at Everett’s gray eyes, which looked so dark that it was almost black, luring me in. “Alexa…”

  “Sorry, I’m having trouble understanding.”

  We sprang apart at that. My heart thumped wildly in my chest as I realized that it was only Alexa, the Amazon Echo speaker that I had in the apartment. I clenched my hand into a fist, trying to still my racing heartbeat. Everett cleared his throat and then stepped inside the bathroom, throwing his shirt into the sink nearby. “Do you have anything I can wear?”

  A part of me was slightly dismayed, but putting a shirt on him was probably the best idea. It would make things less awkward because the air was filled with sexual tension. It took me a minute to get my head together, then I headed to the makeshift bedroom and pulled out an oversized hoodie and tossed it to him. I avoided his gaze as I made my way to the sink to start washing their soiled shirts.

  “Is she always like that?”

  I let out a small giggle and nodded. “Liv has the tendency of being boy crazy. She was like that in high school too. I think she just likes attention from men because her father never gave it to her. Sadly, she has tried too hard to get it from every guy she dated.”

  “Hmmm,” Everett hummed, leaning his head on the wall as he watched me. “Can’t say I’ve never heard that before.”

  I smiled and then walked past him, heading for the cabinet that had the washing machine and dryer as well as the other cleaning supplies and then threw their clothes in the dryer. I could feel Everett watching my every move.

  “So, what are you going to do about the notes? They’re not the same.”

  I had completely forgotten about that. It was the whole reason Everett had come with us for dinner. I sighed and then sat down on the floor, leaning against the transparent window-like divider I had. Olivia was fast asleep on the bed, oblivious of my conversation with Everett.