“Of course,” I said.
“Do you realize how beautiful you are?” he asked.
“Wh-what?” I laughed nervously. He had his pick of millions of adoring fans and any number of highly available and undeniably gorgeous Hollywood actresses and here he was calling me beautiful.
“Seriously,” he continued. He raised his eyebrows, and I knew he was being serious. “Like I don’t think you have any idea how gorgeous you are.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think about my looks much.”
“And I love that,” he said. “You’re like a breath of fresh air compared to every living, breathing female I’ve ever met.”
“Thanks?” I replied in the form of a question. “I think?”
“There’s just something really refreshing about you,” he said. “I can’t put my finger on it exactly. You’re just so wholesome, so pretty, so innocent. I just want to pack you up in my suit case and take you back to L.A. with me.”
I laughed at the vision he’d just put in my head, but I was flattered. I couldn’t believe he was saying those things.
“Have you ever thought about leaving Rock River?” Hudson asked. “There’s a life outside those four roads, you know.”
“I guess I haven’t thought about it much,” I said. “I just figured I’d marry a nice guy and we’d live the farming life outside of town and that would be that.”
Hudson scrunched his face. “You’re so much better than this place.”
I twisted my face in response, confused. “What do you mean by that?”
“You’re selling yourself short,” he said. “You can’t stay here forever. You’re twenty-three and your life goal is to marry a farmer and live here forever? How awful is that?”
“It just feels safe, I guess,” I replied. “Comfortable. It’s what people do around here.”
“It’s awful,” he repeated himself. “You need to see what else is out there.”
“If I left Rock River, I wouldn’t come back to the same place,” I said. “Everyone either stays or goes. No one leaves and comes back. I’d lose everything I have.”
“Would that really be so bad?” he asked with a smirk. “What do you have here? Your job at the diner. Your Friday night ritual of hanging out at the bar with your friends? What else?”
He had summed up my life in a nutshell. There was no arguing with him about that.
“I’m just saying, it’s not so bad to be a little adventurous,” he continued. “To think outside the box.”
I was pretty sure it was mostly due to the alcohol, but I suddenly felt my eyes burning hot with tears. I knew Hudson had good points, but a life outside of Rock River and a life without Luke in it scared me to no end.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he sat up. He reached over and rubbed my arm the way you’d comfort a good friend.
“You’re making me think about things I’ve never had to think about before,” I said as I smiled through the tears. It had to be the alcohol.
“That’s a good thing, right?” he replied, still rubbing my arm.
I nodded as I wiped away my tears, my eyes suddenly drying up.
“Don’t you want more, Brynn? More than this?” he asked.
“When you don’t grow up with much, you don’t grow up expecting much,” I said as I looked him square in the eyes. “My dad died when I was young, and it was just me and my mom. She was an alcoholic, still is, and all I had were my good grades, my friends, and my homecoming queen crown.”
Hudson smiled endearingly. “You can’t hold onto those things forever.”
“I’m starting to realize that now,” I said as I rolled my eyes at myself for being so silly. “I can’t believe you got me all worked up like this.”
I swatted his arm playfully, but he reached up and grabbed it, holding onto it as he locked eyes with me again. His hand against mine sent my heart pounding into overdrive. Everything I thought mattered before suddenly didn’t matter as much anymore.
“Do you believe in fate?” he asked.
“I guess I’d never really thought about it before,” I said. “Sure. I guess.”
“I just feel like there’s a reason we met,” he said. “I can’t imagine leaving this place and never seeing you or talking to you again.”
“What’s so special about me?” I poo-pooed him.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I just feel like I owe it to you to show you the world a little bit. To show you there’s more to life than this.”
I heard heavy breathing and soon realized it was my own. Then, as if some sort of animal had taken over me, I found myself lunging for Hudson Smith. My lips, my hands, and my body covered his. There was no stopping me.
“What’s this?” he said as he came up for air.
“I don’t know,” I replied, gasping. I wasn’t stopping.
His hands worked up the back of my shirt, unhooking my bra, and I slipped off my t-shirt, flinging it across the room. My fingers wrangled the buttons of his jeans as I worked to loosen his pants.
I straddled him as he cupped each of my breasts in his soft hands and then reached his hands around to cup my ass. Below me, I could feel his member begin to engorge. He steadied his hands on my hips and flipped me over to my back before sliding his pants off the rest of the way. He tugged at my jeans and pulled them off, then slipped a finger under the waistband of my panties, teasing me.
I lay, breathless, anticipating his next move. The tables had suddenly turned and he was in control. I was under him. He was dominating me. There was something so sensual about being with someone who wasn’t afraid to take control, someone who knew what they were doing.
With one swift move, he ripped my panties off and threw them across the room. I tossed my head back and ran my fingertips across my pert nipples. He ran his fingers down my inner thighs before spreading them wide and positioning himself at my hot and waiting lady kingdom.
His warm breath tickled me down below and soon I felt the swirling wetness of his tongue circling my clit. He slipped a soft finger inside me and began tickling my g-spot as his tongue worked the kind of magic I never knew existed.
Moans and sighs slipped out of my mouth as I made sounds I’d never made before. My hands reached down to my sides, gripping the comforter below me as I clung on for dear life. One of his hands reached up and massaged my left breast as his mouth stayed below. It was more stimulation than I’d ever felt all at once in my life.
“Oh, my God,” I yelled out. My hands pounded the bed below me as I tried to fight off the waves of sheer ecstasy I felt about to wash over me.
Without any sort of warning, Hudson stopped.
“What are you doing?” I panted. “Don’t stop. Please. Don’t stop.”
He cracked a smile as he climbed off the bed. I watched as every muscle of his Greek God physique rippled and flexed while he reached down to grab something from his pants pocket. He pulled out a shiny gold square and ripped the tin packaging with his perfect teeth. It was a condom. I hadn’t seen one of those in a long time.
He rolled it onto his full erection and kneeled into position on top of me. With one hand gripping himself, he teased me with his cock, slapping my clit and rubbing it up and down between my lips.
“Please,” I sighed. I wasn’t sure how much teasing I could take.
With one fell thrust, he was deep inside me, filling my insides and expanding every muscle. I slipped my hands under his arms and held onto his hips as he thrusted deep inside me over and over again.
As his bare chest rubbed against my breasts and his cock rubbed against my clit, it was all I could do to fight off the orgasm that was headed my way. Little moans escaped my lips with every plunge, and I never wanted it to end.
“Look at me, Brynn,” he said. I’d realized I’d been squeezing my eyes tight the entire time. I opened my eyes, almost afraid to face the reality before me, and saw him staring deep into mine. “Be with me. Be present.”
I nodded as I bit my lip
and stared back into his intense, chocolate eyes. He leaned down and kissed my lips, slipping his tongue around mine, and it was all over from there. I suddenly lost it. I couldn’t fight it anymore. Waves of pleasure took over as I let the most intense orgasm of my life wash over me.
CHAPTER 3
My sweet, sweet slumber was disturbed Tuesday morning by the sound of a phone vibrating on the nightstand next to me. For a second, I’d forgotten that I wasn’t at home in my apartment. I wasn’t in my own bed. I was sleeping next to Hudson Smith. And I wasn’t just sleeping next to him; I was lying in his arms, naked, under the covers.
“Hudson,” I whispered. “Your phone.”
His pried his eyes open and pulled his arm out from underneath me, turning towards the nightstand to grab his phone.
“Yeah,” he answered. “Really? Oh, okay. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
I pulled the covers up over my naked breasts, suddenly feeling insecure about what I’d done, and backed up a bit.
“I guess filming is resuming today,” he said. “They got the permit stuff figured out, so they need me as soon as possible.”
I couldn’t hide the disappointment on my face. I said nothing in fear of him getting a single whiff of my not-so-delicate morning breath.
He climbed out from under the covers, his gorgeous bare ass taking center stage as he stood up and stretched.
“If you want to stick around and sleep in a bit, feel free,” he said.
I couldn’t peel my eyes off his ass.
“Get some more sleep, shower if you want, take your time,” he added. He turned around, leaned down, and kissed my forehead before heading to the bathroom to shower. I laid my head back down on the pillow and settled in for a little more rest. Hudson had worn me out last night and I needed all the sleep I could get.
“Okay, I’m out of here,” he said a few minutes later.
“That was a fast shower,” I replied as I peeked up at him through my half-closed eyes.
He shrugged and smiled. His hair was still soaking wet, and I could smell his cologne permeating off his still damp skin. I looked him up and down. He was in jeans and a t-shirt, but they hugged him in all the right places. I was sure he was professionally styled but damn. He looked like he’d just stepped off the pages of a magazine.
“I’ll catch up with you later, okay?” he said as he turned and shoved his keys and wallet into his jeans pockets. With that, he was gone and I was all alone in Hudson Smith’s hotel room.
When the reality of what had happened hit me, I was instantly awake. I couldn’t sleep any longer. I wanted to think about it. I wanted to relive it. I wanted to replay every hot, steamy second of our sexual tryst in my head over and over again.
In two more days, he would leave Rock River forever and all that would remain would be memories. I climbed out of bed and sauntered to the shower. Thinking about Hudson and the things he did to me were getting me so worked up, I needed to cool down.
I stepped under the running water of the showerhead and let the beads trickle down my hair and back. Lined up in the corner of the shower was an arsenal of high end bath and body products, most of which I’d never even heard of before. One by one, I flipped their caps and smelled them. They were mostly masculine and earthy and organic smelling, but they all smelled like him.
I squeezed a small handful of some sort of mossy shampoo into my palm and began lathering up my thick, dark hair. I followed with a handful of some sort of minty conditioner before rubbing a bar of French milled soap all over every crevice of my body. Breathing in the cocktail of Hudson’s scents, the kinds of scents I never knew existed, further reiterated to me that there was life outside Rock River.
That life of predictability and isolation that had once sounded so safe and secure now made me feel sick to my stomach. I couldn’t help but wonder what else was out there.
As I stepped out of the shower and toweled off, I spotted another arsenal of moisturizers and lotions and eye creams stacked along the bathroom sink. These were the kinds of things guys around here would never touch with a ten-foot pole, but looking good was Hudson’s job. He had a lot of competition, and I loved that he took care of himself.
I opened a couple jars of some sort of facial cream and tested them out on my face. They glided on like whipped cream and settled deep into my skin, bringing out some sort of surreal glow. I thought about making a note as to what these products were, but I knew they were probably way out of my price range anyway.
As much as I hated to leave Hudson’s hotel, I knew I had no choice. I couldn’t stick around forever, and in just a few hours, my shift at the diner was going to start. I slipped on my clothes from the night before and braced myself for my walk of shame.
I trekked down the hall, rode down the elevator, and hung my head as I walked through the lobby, praying that I wouldn’t see anyone I knew. The last thing I needed was for this to get back to Luke. Once I made it to my car unseen, I pulled out my phone to check it out of habit.
I half hoped to have a missed call from Luke or at the very least a text message with a question mark. We were going on four days now of nothing. No contact between us. We’d never gone more than a day or so without talking before. Panic immediately spread throughout my body as I wondered if he’d driven by and seen my car parked at the hotel. Suddenly the high I was floating on propelled me back down to earth as the magnitude of what I’d just done hit me.
I’d slept with Hudson, and I’d potentially ruined the sliver of a chance I had with Luke.
My mouth went dry and my face went numb. I wanted to throw up. How could I have let myself get so caught up? Hudson was a movie star. He was an actor. He could’ve been feeding me lines. He always seemed to know what to say. How could I have been so stupid? Luke was my best friend. The man I loved and pined after for the last seven years.
I started my car and headed straight to the local coffee shop to talk to Piper.
***
“Piper,” I said as I walked into the empty coffee shop north of the square.
“Well, look who it is,” she said with one hand cocked on her hip. She shot me a curious look, like she knew something was up.
Piper had been my best friend since we were in kindergarten. She knew me better than anyone else, even Luke, and I her. She was like a sister to me even though we couldn’t have looked any more different. I had a tan skin, golden hazel eyes, and long, dark hair. She was as pale as the moon with natural, platinum blonde hair, a sprinkling of freckles, and the biggest baby blues this side of Rock River.
“I’m so glad this place is empty because I have a lot to tell you,” I said excitedly as I took a seat up at the counter.
“Want something to drink?” she asked. “On the house.”
“Iced mocha,” I replied. “Nonfat.”
She began whipping up my gratis drink, like the good friend she was, as I tried to figure out where to begin.
“If I tell you this, you cannot repeat it to anyone,” I prefaced my information. “I mean it, Piper.”
She glanced up at me from the other side of the counter; hungry for the information I was about to spill. A curious smile cracked over her lips.
“I swear,” she said. “What is it?”
“Hudson Smith showed up at the diner last night at the end of my shift,” I said as I bit my lip and waited for her reaction.
“Oh, my god,” she said as she sat my iced mocha in front of me and threw a straw down. “Continue.”
“He wanted to hang out,” I said. “We drove around Rock River. I gave him a little tour. Then we went back to his hotel room.”
Piper slapped her hand down on the counter before covering her mouth. “Don’t tell me you…”
“You cannot tell anyone, Piper,” I said before I gave her my full answer.
“I won’t, I won’t,” she promised.
“Yes, we slept together,” I said. I hung my head in shame, though on the inside I was still happily reeling. �
�It wasn’t planned, it just sort of happened.”
“Wow,” she said. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Luke has been your world for a long time,” she said. “It’s just weird hearing you talk about someone else like that.”
“I know, I know,” I said as I buried my face in my hands and sighed. “That’s why I need to talk to you.”
“Okay?”
“Hudson thinks I need to experience other people,” I continued. “Or at least a life outside of Rock River.”
“Why would you ever want to leave Rock River?” Piper asked. She was just as accustomed to this life in a bubble as I was.
“He just said a lot of things that made me think,” I said. “And they all sounded good at the time. They made sense. But now I just think maybe I made a mistake.”
“Why do you think you made a mistake exactly?”
“Hudson is a freaking movie star. I’m a nobody from the middle of nowhere,” I explained. “This thing with him just isn’t realistic. My feelings for Luke, those are real. I can’t throw away a potential future with Luke all for some fantasy.”
Piper leaned over on the counter and sighed before hanging her head down.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” she said. “Except that I think you should come clean to Luke. I’ve never seen him so upset. He really didn’t want you going to Hudson’s hotel room.”
“Then he should’ve said something,” I argued, though the argument wasn’t between Piper and me.
“You know how he is,” she said. “I think you should be honest with him. Tell him what happened.”
“I was afraid you’d say that,” I said with a sigh.
“Give him a chance to tell you how he really feels,” Piper replied. “Maybe this will finally get him to admit how he really feels?”
“Do you know something I don’t? Have you talked to him?” I asked.
“Oh, no,” she said. “Not like in depth or anything.”
“When did you talk to him?” I asked. I knew we were all friends, but I never knew those two to talk to each other without me around. I was sort of the glue that held the group together. Piper and Luke were like oil and water sometimes.
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