The Sudden Love (Hudson Brothers #3)

by Emma Vikes

  I love you, Alexa Stone. I hadn’t realized the extent and magnitude of just how much I loved you. I had been falling and falling and falling for you from the start, from the day that I met you at the club, from that day that we bumped into each other again in the café, from when my lips first brushed against yours, from when my skin met yours and the electric current ignited my veins. You had set fire to my cold heart and I hadn’t realized it.

  I understand if you’re upset, a little bit mad, because I would be too if I was in your shoes. It must have been frustrating for you to meet this guy who showed interest, who seemed to be pursuing you and your heart, and then said things that were the exact opposite of what he did. I understand if you would want to crumple this letter in rage, because here is that guy again, toying with the heartstrings of your fragile heart.

  I understand if you’re scared to fully open your doors for me and believe what I just said. But I am scared too, scared that you will break my heart.

  But here’s the thing that I’ve also learned about love: heartbreak isn’t always written. I will love you more when you love me less and I hope that you will love me more when you feel like I’m loving you less.

  This is the first time that I am going to have a relationship if you give us a chance. We might end up being bad at it but know that I will put an effort every day. I’m not just saying it so you will give us a chance.

  When I was nine years old, I saw my parents dancing for the first time in our living room. It was at midnight, there was no music on, but my father was humming a tune, and they both looked very happy. From that moment onwards, I knew that this was the kind of relationship that I wanted. I had told myself that if it ever got to a point that I fell in love with someone, I wanted that person to be the only person that I would ever be in love with.

  And that’s you, Alexa. It’ll only be you and if you need time to consider, to think it all through, know that I’ll wait for you no matter how long it takes. You’re worth the wait, Alexa. You’re always going to be worth the wait. So here I am now, jumping off the ledge that I’ve been just sitting on for so damn long. My eyes are closed as I take the leap. I hope you will be there to catch me.

  I love you.

  Yours,

  Ev.

  PS: If you’re not as dense as I am, I’m waiting for you at the café. I have ordered your usual. I hope you come.

  “If I were you, I’d head to the café right now.”

  When I looked up, Ma was leaning against the wall of my room, amusement glinting in her eyes. “I saw him at the lobby earlier, staring at your mailbox. I think he was trying to gather the courage to put this letter in. It’s a good thing I found him though. He’s cute, I’ll give you that.”

  I let out a choked giggle and wiped away the tears that had fallen down my eyes. “Oh, you know he’s more than just cute, Ma.”

  Ma grinned and then sat down next to me and reached out a hand to wipe away my tears. “I had a chance to chat with him and I saw his sincerity, and I could hear it in his voice. He does mean well, Alexa. I know you’re scared but let me tell you, I was too when I went on my first date with your Dad. I was scared when we got married. I was scared when we had you.”

  Ma held my face in both of her hands, the same way she used to hold me when she was patiently telling me something when I was younger. “I love your father for many things and one of them is how much he loves you and Aaron, in a way that rivals my own love for the both of you.,” she laughed at that and then pinched my nose, “and that’s what has cancelled out my fear, Alexa. I hope you find it in Everett too. So, go and find out.”

  “I haven’t taken a shower yet,” I croaked and Ma laughed.

  I was only dressed in leggings and Everett’s jacket, the one that he had given me that first time we had met. My hair had been tied hastily on the top of my head and I was breathless by the time I had reached the café. But I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him standing outside, a cup of coffee in his hands. His thick glasses were perched on his nose and his other hand was buried in his coat. His dark locks were hidden beneath a beanie and he was looking around, slightly anxious.

  I stood there for a moment, simply staring at him, as he nervously switched the coffee he was holding to his other hand. I couldn’t help but smile and it felt like something was tugging at my heart. There was something so incredibly endearing with how he simply stood there, waiting for me patiently, nervously.

  I thought of all the things that I could tell him right at this moment. But just as he had said and just as Ma had told me, there weren’t enough words in the dictionary to fully justify the entirety of my love for him.

  But I knew one thing that would.

  “I’m pretty sure that coffee isn’t hot anymore.”

  At the sound of my voice, Everett looked up and I saw the way his eyes lit up and it made my heart do a somersault. He looked like a little boy who had just seen the Christmas lights go on in the park for the first time. “You came.”

  “I thought of making you wait until the sun went down but then I realized that would only give you time to run.”

  He pursed his lips, but was trying to fight back a smile. “I told you that I’d wait for you, no matter how long it took.”

  I moved forward and then placed my arms around his neck, my thumb gently caressing his skin. Everett immediately reacted to my touch and dropped the coffee on the ground. “Shit.”

  I couldn’t help but chuckle and then just as Everett turned to look at the spilled cup, I pulled his face to look at me. His eyes were wide with anxiety and a number of other emotions, but there was one that stood out clearly to me this time.

  I’d fought against my feelings for Everett since the first time he’d made it clear to me that he wasn’t looking to date. I’d fought against it even more when we got into the fake relationship because I didn’t want to risk my heart. I’d fought against it because I didn’t want to get my heartbroken when Everett realized what he was getting himself into by being with me.

  But he was right here, even when he knew the weight of the burden I carried on my shoulders. He was still here.

  “You’re not going to be my number one priority, you know that, right?” I asked him, biting my bottom lip as I did so.

  Everett chuckled. “Even when I’m your last or if I’m not even on the list, it doesn’t matter. What matters is you chose to still want to be with me despite the fears that you might have. But believe me when I say that it’ll be okay. I’ll let you shine and do whatever it is that you want as long as at the end of the day, I get to call you mine.”

  I blinked and tried to stop the tears from falling but I couldn’t and let them fall. Everett chuckled and wiped them away.

  “How are you so good at this?” I asked sobbing.

  “Milo told me to just say what’s in my heart and it worked well with the letter,” Everett’s smile turned into a cocky smirk. It made him look like his brothers even more, “and it seemed like it worked perfectly well on you. You’re here now.”

  I rolled my eyes and then slapped him playfully in the chest. “What now?”

  “Now would be the right time to tell me if you love me too.”

  I pouted. “Or maybe I should just let you feel it.”

  And my lips met his again in a slow and endearing kiss. I felt him pull me closer, his thumb tracing the outline of my jaw and also gently wiping away the tear that had fallen from my closed eyes. His touch sent a ripple through me and his kiss ignited my soul on fire. In that moment, my soul rejoiced again because the one that I loved was right here with me again. There would be no more pretending, no more lines being drawn, no more anxieties and fears that kept us apart.

  Maybe this was what it felt to truly dive into love.

  Maybe love truly sets our souls on fire.

  Because mine was blazing.

  Epilogue

  Everett

  “Alexa.” Saying her name alone gave me a thrill, as she arched her
back, a deep growl coming out of her throat. It was followed by a gasp, when I nibbled her ear, her breasts pressing against my chest. “Take your clothes off.”

  Alexa giggled and then fell on top of me. I pouted and then moved to look up at her, my chin resting against my hand as I watched her. “Oh come on, you did it last time!”

  She shook her head and laughed, moving to the other side of the bed and almost out of my reach. We were in the penthouse and it was Saturday night. We usually spent Saturdays and Fridays sleeping over at either one of our places. It had sort of become our thing. And it was fun to play house even if it was only for two nights. We’d done it so many times over the past seven months that I had a drawer filled with my clothes back at her place, and half of my closet was filled with her things. Some might say that it was all happening too fast, but it seemed like our pace was working for us.

  “Your fascination over that is amusing, Ev,” Alexa cooed, sitting up as she touched my face. We’d been making out for the past ten minutes, till I used the same voice that I used with the AI Alexa, ordering her to take her clothes off. We’d done it a couple of times and Alexa always complied. “But I’m all dirty and grimy and I told you that I want to take a shower but you pulled me into bed!”

  I pouted and then sat up, reaching for her and then wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her closer to me until her body hit my naked torso. “You know I don’t care if you reek, I just want to be inside of you.”

  Alexa shivered in my arms and I grinned wickedly, knowing that she would soon agree with what I wanted. But to my surprise, she squirmed in my grasp and then slipped away, grinning back at me teasingly. “As appealing as that is, a bath sounds better right now.”

  She dashed away from me before I could grab a hold of her. I pouted and then slammed back on to the bed, staring at the ceiling as Alexa started her shower. My dick was straining against my pants and just as I was about to relieve myself, I came up with an idea. I got up from the bed and then went to the bathroom and twisted the knob, smirking to myself on finding it open. Alexa locked the door each time she went in. Since she hadn’t, it probably meant that she had thought of the same thing as I did.

  “Took you long enough,” she said. The shower was running and I could see her outline in the glass door. Her arms were up on her head, as she applied shampoo. I moved the transparent glass door to the side and quickly stripped myself of my remaining clothes. My dick sprung upright and grew even harder at the sight of Alexa, naked and wet in front of me.

  Her back was against me but she knew I was right behind her as I took a step in. The hot shower immediately drenched me. I stepped closer to her and then tangled my fingers in her hair, massaging her as I rinsed the shampoo out. Alexa let out a low moan, bending her head to the side as she relished the feel of my fingers on her head.

  I then started to massage the rest of her body and I could feel her pulsing beneath my touch and when my hands cupped her ass, she let out a low primal growl. “Bend.”

  Alexa let out a small whimper of anticipation as she did, her palms flat against the wall, her ass pushed up against me. “Alexa…let me…”

  “Fuck me,” she murmured, her voice low and seductive, “as relentless as you can be, Everett.”

  She didn’t need to tell me twice. I placed a finger inside of her, testing and stretching it out. Alexa reacted to my touch, letting out another low moan as she pushed herself into my hand even more. “Just fuck me, Everett.”

  I couldn’t help but let out a deep throaty chuckle and in one swift motion, I pushed my throbbing dick inside her slick, wet pussy and both of us let out a moan of satisfaction. My right hand was on her shoulder for support as I rammed myself inside of her in steady thrusts, before I began to set a different, faster and more unrelenting pace.

  “Oh god, Everett, fuck, yes!” Alexa moaned, her hands flat against the wall, clawing at anything that she could grip. Her eyes were shut close, her head rolled back as I continued my unrelenting pace. “Oh my god!”

  I gripped her by the waist to hold her up as I felt her scream and climax. I pulled out of her, my dick still throbbing and begging me for my own release. Then my mouth collided with Alexa’s. She returned my kiss, her tongue roaming my mouth, as I carried her out of the bathroom and back into bed. I didn’t care that we were both wet, all I cared about was the woman in my arms and how I wanted to make love to her right now.

  “Everett…” she whispered my name softly, her hazel eyes boring into my gray ones with soft intensity. Her fingers twined into my hair, softly tugging at my curls. “I love you.”

  I smiled at her softly and then kissed her neck, her body arched in response. Her breasts were still wet from the shower, pressed against mine, and I shivered at the intimacy of it all. I kissed her neck and then her collarbone, my tongue grazing her sensitive flesh and Alexa sucked in a deep breath when she felt my tongue on her bare skin.

  My mouth moved to her stomach and then to her inner thighs, placing kisses on each side and then diving my tongue right into her core. “Everett!”

  I chuckled when she gasped my name, her voice breathless as my tongue licked her pussy. She squirmed and writhed above me, I stopped and crawled on top of her. I kissed her gently on the lips, before saying “I love you.”

  And I meant it. I meant every syllable of that statement because I’d never been in love like this and I would never love someone as much as I loved Alexa. I pushed myself inside of her and I listened as she gasped and whispered my name as I moved slowly, in and out, wanting her to feel every inch of me. Our breathing had turned harsher as the minutes ticked by, and I changed my pace and pushed into her a little faster.

  We were moulded as one in that moment, in the same way that our souls were now intertwined with each other. When she came beneath me, repeating my name over and over again, I was hit with the reality that this woman was mine to love with all that I was and all that I had. “I love you.”

  Alexa fell asleep soon after we made love and settled comfortably next to me. Despite how tired I was, I couldn’t sleep, so I slowly crept out of bed, and put on my clothes. I crawled back beside her and simply stared at her.

  I couldn’t believe that this was the girl that I was meant to fall in love with, and that I had found the courage to have done so. I never used to understand why Milo and Leo were willing to go to the ends of the earth for the women that they loved. Until I was the one who wanted to do the same thing in a heartbeat.

  I moved around the bed a little, trying to find a comfortable position. Then I remembered that Alexa had attempted to cook in the kitchen earlier, which had left us a little dirty because once again she failed in the kitchen. I needed to clean it all up before Julian came back, and the last time he saw the kitchen in shambles, it almost gave him a heart attack. I rushed downstairs only to find Julian sitting on the dining table, playing on his phone. I glanced at the kitchen and everything was cleaned and put back to place.

  “I’m sorry, Jules,” I said sheepishly and my younger brother looked up. I expected him to glare and snap at me but he didn’t. He seemed a little tired and he just shrugged and shook his head.

  “I wish you’d tell her to stop, but who am I to do that when I used to be the same as her when I was learning too?” Julian said as he placed the pans back in the cabinets where they were meant to. “I just wish you didn’t have to ruin my kitchen as she learns.”

  I chuckled and then helped him with the dishes. I started a cup of coffee for the both of us and then we sat down. Julian ran a hand through his curls. He had just finished his tour and I knew that he was preparing for the release of his new album, but there didn’t seem to be a trace of excitement in his eyes at the moment. I wondered if the success had worn him down but I knew my brother well enough to know that there must be something else bugging him. I handed him a cup of coffee.

  “Something bothering you?”

  Julian looked up at me and then sipped his cup. For a moment, he seem
ed to be considering something, but then shook his head. He nodded at the direction of the stairs. “Will you ever ask her to move in here? This house is too big for just you since I’m barely here. Besides, hers is small.”

  Moving in with Alexa was something that Julian always brought up when he had the chance. He liked having Alexa around, despite the fact that he hated it whenever she used his kitchen and he told me that since Alexa and I spend too much time together, it was only logical to move in. The penthouse was big enough for another person.

  “Sometimes you make me think that you look down on her apartment,” I snorted. I had taken him there once because he had wanted to go, and he hadn’t been the biggest fan of the cramped space, “It’s something on my mind but maybe it’s too early to do it now. I don’t want to rush things with Alexa. The relationship is all new to us.”

  “Why do you always do that?” Julian asked, looking at me curiously.

  “Do what?”

  “Sometimes you make me think that you’re walking on eggshells in your relationship. But your relationship is surprisingly going in the same direction as Milo’s and Leo’s. But you’re always too keen about not rushing into things,” Julian mused, shaking his head, “It makes me think that you’re not too serious about it, like you don’t want to take it all the way.”

  I looked at Julian and wondered if he was teasing me but I could see the seriousness in his eyes. So, I leaned closer to him. “It’s not that I’m not taking it seriously, because I am. But the thing is, Jules, we’re only twenty-six and there are bunch of things that Alexa wants to do and I want her to do it. I’m not going to stop her from pursuing what she wants to make out of her life and everything she wants to do for her family.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “What I’m saying is that I want Alexa to shine as brightly as she can,” I told Julian, trying to hide my smile as I did, “and I’m not rushing for her to move in with me or to put a ring on it because I’m not ever thinking of letting her go. I’m not afraid to lose her because I’m confident that I won’t. So, she can take all the time she needs until I know that she has done everything that she wants to before finally asking her to be mine.”