by Emma Vikes
Alexa
Maybe this is me finding the courage to do what makes my heart flutter, even when I know it’s just for the moment.
Right after Everett said that, he swayed me once more in complete silence and then kissed me gently on the forehead, held my hand and pulled me back to where everyone else were. The moment we stepped inside, he told me that he was going to hang out with Julian at the bar, and left me to wander by myself. Then Megan took me under her wing and saved me from having to stand alone.
“Everett’s been drinking more than usual,” Megan mused as we both watched Julian pour Everett another glass of scotch and the two of them clinked glasses while chuckling. They weren’t drunk yet but Megan was right, Everett was drinking more than usual. In the short span of time that I’d known him, he always opted out of drinking, claiming that he had to be the designated driver most of the time. Right now, it didn’t seem as if that was weighing on his mind though.
Biting my bottom lip in worry and tugging at my ear, I looked at Megan. “Does this happen often?”
Megan shook her head as she adjusted Atlas in her arms. “Actually, no. He’s always been a little detached though. One time he mentioned that it was because he wasn’t always too comfortable with having too many people around so he needs to take a step back. I thought he only did that because he felt lonely, but now he has you and he still needed a breather.”
“He was drinking outside too when I went out to see him,” I informed Megan, my eyes still fixed on Everett who was nursing the glass that Julian had poured him. The cloud of worry continued to form in the pit of my stomach as I watched him.
“Auntie Lexi!” Violet squealed as she ran up to me, Max following closely behind. I just met the little girl but she was too adorable not to warm my heart in an instant, the same way that Max and Atlas had when I met them too. She clung to my arm and tugged. “Will you sleep at the penthouse too? Auntie Elle and Max are! We’re going to have a big slumber party!”
Her excitement was contagious and I hated to burst her bubble. “Oh, I’m sorry, Vi, but I don’t think I’ll be able to. I don’t have anything to change into...”
“You could borrow some of my clothes!” Megan suggested, cutting me off, beaming. “Oh, please, Alexa. It’ll be our chance to bond before the wedding! We’re going to have to leave the day after the wedding since Vi still has school. And besides, we’re having a family lunch tomorrow at the penthouse. It’s like our own intimate rehearsal lunch, since that was what Elle and Leo had originally planned.”
I began to shake my head and plaster a smile on my face to politely decline her offer. Sleeping over at the penthouse meant that I would be sleeping in Everett’s room and although we could have some sort of a sleeping arrangement, I wasn’t really sure if we were ready to sleep in the same room again after the last time.
But just as I was about to decline, Everett suddenly arrived. “Or you could just borrow mine.”
When I turned to look at Everett, soft gray eyes stared back at me and I couldn’t see any signs of pleading. He was waiting for me to make a decision and wasn’t forcing me to say yes. Despite what he had told me earlier outside, he still respected the fact that I had drawn a line and didn’t want me to do anything that made me uncomfortable.
But his family was a different story.
The kids were looking up at me expectantly, and I really didn’t have it in me to disappoint them and break their hearts. Obviously, both Megan and Everett had presented an answer to the issue that I intended to use as a reason to decline the offer, and now I only had one. “But I still won’t have anything to wear for the lunch.”
“You and Everett can go get clothes at your apartment tomorrow morning. C’mon, Lexi, just spend the night with us!” Megan was looking at me with bright and hopeful eyes. “And besides, somebody needs to drive this one home since he’s been having more alcohol than usual.”
Megan had a point and I looked at Everett who wasn’t looking at me anymore. Instead, he had his head bowed down and I sighed, knowing that I had to take care of him. It was what a girlfriend would do and to be honest, I was worried for his sake. “Alright. When are we leaving?”
“Now,” Everett answered with a light shrug. “The restaurant’s about to close down and we’re actually the only ones left.”
I had seen guests leaving in the last hour and Everett was right, the only ones left were immediate family of the couple. He handed me his keys without a word and I waved goodbye at Megan and the kids who were awfully excited at the thought that I was going to sleep over at the penthouse. But I had a feeling that they would be asleep by the time they got back to the house.
“I could tell them that there was an emergency at your apartment so you had to change your mind at the last minute,” Everett said as soon as I slipped into the driver’s seat and put on my seatbelt. I paused for a moment, my hands hovering at the ignition as I looked at him. His eyes were slightly glassy but he wasn’t slurring as he spoke. He didn’t sound drunk, at least not yet.
“It’s okay. I can sleep on the floor or something. Besides, you don’t look too good.”
He rolled his eyes but leaned his head against the window. “I’m fine, Lexi. Just because I don’t drink too often doesn’t mean I can’t hold my liquor. I am an Hudson.”
I pursed my lips and didn’t bother to comment on that. Everett may be a nerd and didn’t seem to have the same tenacity as his brothers did when it came to women, but he had the same features as them still and there were quirks that his brothers had that I’d seen in him too. And despite his suggestion that I could just drop him off at the penthouse and drive myself back to my apartment, I drove us to his place and then helped him out.
“I told you that it’s okay if you went home,” Everett said, an edge of surprise in his voice.
I shrugged lightly. “It’s okay. I don’t want to disappoint the kids.”
“They’ll be asleep by the time they get here.”
Everett wasn’t wrong and I had predicted it correctly. When we arrived at the penthouse, Megan informed me that Max and Violet had fallen asleep on the ride home, and apologized since the kids were the ones who really wanted me to come over. Everett and I made our way to his room where he didn’t hesitate on taking off his clothes the moment we got inside.
I had to turn away and face the wall and I heard him chuckle behind me. “You act like you’ve never seen me naked.”
Blushing profusely, I faced him but still tried my best to look away. It was surprising for him to be so incredibly fit when he always acted like he was so busy with work that he never had time for anything else. But he surprisingly found the time to work out still, because no one got to have such a body by being stuck at a desk all day.
“That doesn’t mean you can just strip in front of me so casually,” I hissed, lowering my voice in case somebody passed by his room.
“Alexa,” Everett’s voice was suddenly incredibly husky and the deep tone reverberated right through my core and I could feel my heart dropping to my stomach, desire seeping through my bones. I stood there, stunned, because Everett seemed like a different person at the moment. He was being more dominant than I was used to, which kept me rooted in my spot, waiting for him to continue, completely compelled by whatever spell he had cast on me.
“Strip.”
And as if I was his puppet and he was my puppeteer, I didn’t hesitate. I stood in front of Everett and then began to reach for the zipper on my back but Everett took a step forward, and sauntered to where I was. His cool fingers brushed against my skin and my eyes fluttered close, my heart lurching. A shiver went down my spine as his knuckles brushed against my sensitive skin, goose bumps rising where his touch had been.
His hands seemed to follow the dress as it flowed down to my knees. I turned around and faced him, my bare chest against his naked one and he sucked in a breath. Everett reached out for the band that tied my hair and then slowly pulled it out and let my hair fall on to my
back in loose curls. His hand moved down, from touching the side of my neck to leaving fleeting touches on my collarbone, as if his hand was memorizing every detail of my body, as if it could.
I stood in front of him, only in my underwear, and I watched as his eyes darkened and he swallowed and reached out a hand to touch me only to stop midway, when a knock came through the door. “Hey, everyone’s waiting for the two of you in the balcony.”
And just like that we were snapped back into reality and Everett let out a shaky breath. “We’re coming.”
He crossed the room and opened his closet, and tossed me an oversized sweater. I took it and then turned around, quickly slipping it on. Neither of us said a word to each other as Everett changed. My heart continued to race inside my chest and it felt as if it was going to thump out of my rib cage any minute now. But just as I was about to head out, Everett grabbed my wrist and then pushed me against the door. He was breathing hard, his forehead resting against mine.
And when he looked at me, I could see how pained his eyes were, as he desperately tried to reign himself in. “I’m sorry.”
Just like that, I felt all my defences lower down as he said those two words. No matter how much I could see the struggle in his eyes, the sincerity in them was clear too. I reached out to touch his face and then smiled at him lightly, kissing the other side. “Let’s go before they think we’re fooling around.”
I was ready to drag him by the hand but Everett dropped my wrist and then wrapped an arm around my shoulders, as we stepped outside. The familiar warmth that he brought was comforting and we joined in on the others who were already lounging around in the balcony. Julian was the only one without a partner but he didn’t seem to mind since Julio was curled by his legs and he was busy scratching the mini bull terrier by the ear, while he nursed his ice-cold beer.
“Glad you two could finally join us,” Milo said, standing up and handing us two beers. I drank the whole bottle the moment we sat down beside Eleanor and Leo, to calm my raging storm of emotions. The sudden shift in Everett’s mood was disorienting and I just needed something to settle my feelings.
“Oh, come on, Miles, it’s not like you and Megan were never late to hang out with us because you both were too busy making out,” Leo piped up with a smirk, his head resting on Eleanor’s shoulder. “Nothing like squeezing in a quickie before you hang out with family.”
At his last statement, Eleanor jabbed him with her elbow and he sputtered, coughing. He glared at his bride who glared back at him. It was always fun to watch their dynamic. Eleanor seemed reserved and sophisticated, with an aura of elegance surrounding her, while Leo was carefree, always goofy and giving off sexual innuendos at the most inappropriate times. But they seemed to balance each other out surprisingly well, and Eleanor was great at keeping Leo in check. Everett had mentioned it dozens of times but it was different when you saw it in person, especially the way that Elle did it.
“Speaking of making out, I heard you’re back on the rumor mill, Jules,” Megan stated, looking at the youngest Hudson. Out of all the brothers, Julian was the one that I couldn’t figure out. Milo wasn’t too easy to read either but it was clear that he gave first priority to his family, his brothers and mother included. Leo was fun and outgoing, carefree and approachable. And then there was Julian who loved music, and was loved by many people in the world for it. But there was still something about him that made him more mysterious than even Everett.
“It’s a silly rumor,” Julian replied with a light shrug of his shoulders. He ran a hand through his curls, the same curls that Leo had, “and I don’t mind. They paint me as a playboy but girls are still running after me. I guess the allure of changing the Casanova is hard to resist.”
“Well, it is an Hudson thing,” Leo added with a grin and then he faced Everett who was quiet beside me, already on his third bottle of beer. I hadn’t even noticed the bucket next to him, “I wonder if this Hudson is the same.”
All eyes fell on me and I could feel the intrigue in their gazes. Out of the four brothers, Everett was considered the most serious and silent. Finding out that he had a girlfriend had been such a big deal and during the time that I’d spent with Eleanor and Megan, they’d quizzed me a lot about our relationship. And I had to lie so many times.
I was ready to come to Everett’s defence with a well-thought out lie. But I heard Everett put his bottle down and when I looked at him, there was an unfamiliar glint in his eyes and a sly smirk. “Why don’t I just prove it?”
Before I could even process his words, he faced me and grabbed me with both hands, and crashed his lips against mine roughly. Involuntarily, I moaned at the urgency of his kiss, my mouth opening slightly and he took the opportunity to shove his tongue inside. His tongue explored every area of my mouth and I could feel my toes curl in delight when I felt him run his tongue along my teeth. And then he suddenly stopped and I could feel his mouth on the side of my lips, on my jaw, on my neck and he went lower and lower. I couldn’t breathe at the sudden tenacity that Everett was showing, and I felt like I would combust at any point if he kept going.
But then Julio barked and my eyes snapped open and I abruptly pulled away from a dazed and clearly intoxicated Everett.
“You know, I’m not really sure if that’s the alcohol’s effect on him or if it’s Alexa.”
Eleanor was the one who had made the comment and I could feel my face heat up in embarrassment. Everett buried his face in my neck, breathing heavily. Five pairs of eyes were staring at me in amusement as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
“I umm, I think it’s best if we, you know, …”
“Well, after that hot and heavy session, by all means, get a room,” Julian commented smirking, as I helped Everett up.
Finally, we reached his room and I pushed him on to his bed because he was beginning to get heavy. I locked the door behind me and then began fanning myself. That kiss had made me feel hot and had gotten me wet; and it seemed as if it had reverberated to my core. All I wanted to do was strip Everett naked and straddle him.
But you drew the line, Alexa.
Sighing, I sat on the edge of his bed and stared at him. He was wearing sweatpants and a white round-neck shirt, and his thick rimmed glasses.
I was about to grab a couple of pillows and look for another blanket so I could sleep on the floor when I felt Everett’s hand grab my wrist gently and tug at me. I fell on top of him and he wrapped his arms around my waist. He had suddenly shifted into a gentler version of himself, the one that I was more acquainted to.
He buried his head on my shoulder and I could feel his light breaths. “They make it seem so easy.”
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion but I stayed where I was, falling in love with the warmth that Everett was radiating beneath me. I rested my head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart. “What do you mean?”
Everett sighed and it felt as if his heartbeat intensified in my ear, as he hugged me tighter. “They make love look so easy and you make falling into it even easier. But it just makes it difficult to breathe.”
16
Everett
I could hardly remember what had gone down after the rehearsal dinner. All I could remember was that Alexa and I had almost slept together again, me apologizing to her, and then drinking a lot because of it. I had quickly downed four beers in the short amount of time that we’d spent with my brothers and their wives. I remembered Leo asking if I had the Hudson tenacity when it came to women and I proved myself by giving Alexa a hot kiss that left both of us breathless.
But after Alexa brought me back to my room, all I could remember was pulling her until she fell on top of me. If I had said anything after that, I couldn’t remember, but I had a feeling I did. Because there were moments that I would catch Alexa staring at me and there was this look of confusion in her eyes that made me wonder what the hell she was trying to figure out.
And I didn’t really have the time to worry about what had ha
ppened after Alexa and I had come back to my room. Because after I drove Alexa home from the wedding reception, it would be the end of our arrangement. No one at work was aware of what we had been doing. Eleanor and Leo would soon be off to Iceland for their honeymoon. Max would be with my mother and Imogen - they’d set a schedule for him so there wouldn’t be an issue. Milo and Megan would be going back to Chicago with the kids, and Julian would be flying first thing next week to LA to record a new album. There was no longer any reason for us to pretend that we were in a relationship, and by the time my family got together again, I could easily tell them that things hadn’t worked out between Alexa and me.
The end of our fake relationship was supposed to feel like a burden that had been lifted off of my shoulders. But it felt as if there was a gloomy cloud following me all day and I couldn’t stop thinking about reasons to extend the fake relationship that I had with her.
“You know for attending a wedding, you look like someone just died,” Julian told me as he stood beside me. The wedding hadn’t started yet but the wedding planner wanted us to be in line. Alexa had been whisked away by Megan, to help her with Violet’s dress.
I looked at Julian pointedly. “You make it sound like I’m not happy for Leo.”
“If you suddenly stop the wedding in the middle of the ceremony, that would be the plot twist of the century,” Julian said with a playful grin and I scoffed, shaking my head at him. Sometimes Julian was hard to understand. He could be immature one second and then sound like the wisest person in the next.
“This isn’t a movie, Jules,” I replied, sighing and shaking my head as I tried to fix my tie for the umpteenth time. I felt more jittery than Leo did, and I couldn’t stop glancing at Alexa who was standing across from me. I wanted to cross the short distance and wrap my arms around her until she dissolved into me and then she could be mine. All I knew was that my stomach felt weird and my heart felt as if it was beating irregularly and my hands felt clammy.
