“Don’t break my heart, Hudson.”
“Never. Now please open your eyes.”
Reluctantly, I open them. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, so I mentally prepare for the worst.
“I will always come back to you, Chloe. Nothing could ever keep me from you. You’re my girlfriend and I’m the luckiest guy in the world because you chose me.” He kisses me on the forehead and looks back into my eyes. “I love you and I’m never letting you go.”
My heart warms with so much happiness, I don’t even know how that’s possible. I stand there looking up into his eyes and I feel like I found my home. No matter where I go, as long as it’s with Hudson, I’ll be home.
“Babe, why are you crying?”
Am I? How is it possible to be crying and not even know it?
“I’m so incredibly happy right now. I know I have so much baggage in my life right now, but you’ve stuck by my side through all of it. I love you so much, Hudson. You’re healing me and have been since you walked into my life. Or at least since I let you in.”
He wraps me up into his arms and I never want to let go. I’m engulfed in a smell that can only be described as Hudson. I don’t know if it’s his soap or cologne, but he always has a very fresh woodsy smell with just a hint of citrus. He kisses me on top of my head and I relax into him even more. I think my new favorite place is in Hudson’s arms. If I could spend all day with his arms wrapped around me, I think I could die happy.
“I hate to do this now, but I have to go.”
“I know. Text me when you get there.”
“I’m going to be blowing up your phone with so many texts, you’re going to get sick of me.”
“Not even possible.”
Giving me one more kiss goodbye, he walks out the door, closing it behind him. Wrapping my arms around myself, I climb back into bed and cuddle up on his side of the bed. I hear my phone ding with a text message, so I grab it off the nightstand.
Hudson: I love you. And I’m already missing you like crazy.
Me: I love you too! <3
Hudson: Go back to bed. It’s early.
Me: I’m already way ahead of you.
Hudson: See you in two days.
This is going to be the longest two days of my life.
Chapter 18
Hudson
My parents mean well with this whole college visit thing. Yeah, they’re just looking out for my future, but this morning it was a major cock block. All I want to do is go back home and spend all day in bed with Chloe.
Even worse than that, they wanted to drive up here rather than fly. Being stuck in a car with your parents for any length of time sucks, but a road trip is the worst. Mom has to stop all the freakin’ time to pee and Dad likes to listen to news radio.
Who does that?
Luckily, I brought my earbuds with me and I have my newest playlist on repeat. If I can’t change my location, I can drown out everything around me and just get lost in the music. I’d like to say that has helped the trip fly by even faster, but no such luck. I feel like this entire day has just been one big waiting game.
Unfortunately, I’ve been wandering around a college campus that I’ll never attend since I got here. A big waste of fucking time. On top of that, my tour guide has been MIA. I’ve been pacing the same area for thirty minutes now, and I’m about ready to throw in the towel.
Tired of pacing, I sit down on a bench and pull out my phone. Apparently it’s been forty-five minutes. It’s a good thing I don’t plan on going to college. This visit alone would be crossing this school off my list. How the fuck is the tour guide late? Don’t they live for this shit? I haven’t sent Chloe a text since I got here, so I go ahead and do that now.
Me: Hey, I’m finally here.
Chloe: I’m glad you made it. Are you having fun?
Me: Not even a little bit. My tour guide is almost an hour late.
Chloe: I’m sorry, that sucks.
I’m suddenly aware that the sun is being blocked and look up to see a girl staring down at me. She’s cute in that nerdy kind of way: glasses, hair pulled back, and a little button nose. All of that aside, the thing I notice the most is her red-rimmed puffy eyes.
Before I get the chance to ask her if she’s okay, she asks me, “Are you Hudson Hartley?”
So this must be the tour guide. “Yeah I am. Are you okay?”
Holding back, she just nods her head and looks away. I grab her arm to focus her attention back on me and she loses it. Slumping down on the bench next to me, I barely make out her saying, “My boyfriend just broke up with me.”
I did not come here to deal with some girl’s boyfriend drama. I didn’t even want to come to this thing in the first place. I get up from the bench and try not to make it obvious how uncomfortable I am.
“That sucks. Why don’t we just skip the tour? I’m sure you aren’t in the mood for this. I can just walk around by myself.”
She quickly wipes away her tears and composes herself. “No. I’m supposed to be giving you a tour, and that’s just what you’re going to get.”
Standing up, she starts walking away from me. What the fuck just happened?
“Are you coming? I was late showing up, so we’re already behind.”
Shaking my head, I take off after her. This chick is serious business. She may be cute and little, but I don’t want to get on her bad side. When I finally catch up to her, I notice she’s headed off toward a cluster of buildings. Great. Classrooms.
“Hey, what’s your name?”
She stops and looks over at me, a little confused. Then she smiles. “Sorry, I guess I didn’t introduce myself.” She reaches her hand out to me, and I shake it as she says, “I’m Clare Quinn.”
“Nice to meet you, Clare. Look, I don’t want to sound rude, but this whole tour is unnecessary. I’m not even planning on going to college, but my parents made me come here.”
She opens her mouth and looks like I spoke a foreign language. “What do you mean you aren’t going to college? Who doesn’t want to go to college?”
“My band just signed with a record label—”
“My boyfriend was in a band.”
Um, okay? I don’t even know what to do with this girl anymore. This whole situation is getting a little uncomfortable, even for me, and I can usually handle a plethora of drama.
“Seriously, we can just stop this thing right now. I get the feeling neither one of us wants to be here right now.”
She nods her head and says, “You’re right. Jeez, Hudson, you’re a nice guy. I bet you think I’m just a disaster right now.”
Yep, just a little bit. “No I don’t. You’re going through a breakup. Everyone gets a little messed up when that happens.”
“This is un-tour-guide like, but I know there’s a party getting started that we can go crash if you want?”
I look around me and up at the sun before switching my focus back to Clare. “A party…now?”
She nods her head and sighs. “Yeah, it’s a lame frat party. It’s beach themed.”
“It’s December.”
“They’re frat guys.”
“Fair enough.”
I contemplate that for a minute. My parents dropped me off here this morning, and I have nowhere to go until they pick me up tomorrow. They planned this whole trip without me knowing and even arranged for me to stay in the dorms. If I can’t be with Chloe right now, I might as well make the most of this trip and go to a party. Couldn’t be any worse than my current fun times.
I nod my head and say, “Why the hell not. Lead the way.”
Her entire face lights up and I feel like I just made her day. If anything, maybe I can help her relax a bit and not worry about the obvious broken heart she has. I’m just lucky I have Chloe back home waiting for me. What I wouldn’t give to have her wrapped around me right now. I hope these two days fucking fly by.
***
I don’t know how I always get myself into these predicaments. Clare i
s hammered, and being the noble person that I am, I’m taking care of her. I barely know this chick, but there’s no way I’d let something happen to her. I’m not some dick who would just ditch her to take care of herself. Right about now, I wish I was.
When we got here earlier, the party was just getting started. Although the house is off campus, I can tell it’s all students who live here. They have beer pong set up in the garage and they’re playing some variation of truth or dare in the kitchen. I didn’t stick around long enough to get pulled in.
As soon as we walked in, Clare headed straight for the keg and has been drinking heavily ever since. I get that she’s going through a breakup, but why do girls always have to get uncontrollably wasted? It’s not fun for anyone else around them. I stopped paying attention to her when she decided to do a keg stand. If this is what college is going to be like, then I know I don’t want to be here. I can do all the partying I want and not waste my parents’ money on an education that I’ll never use. What a waste.
“Hudson!”
I turn my attention to where she is now. She’s grinding up against two other girls, and there’s a bunch of guys standing around them, leering. All three girls look like they’ve lost a few items of clothing in the process of dancing. Done with the whole situation, I walk over to her and fling her over my back. I start heading toward the front door when she starts hitting me on the back. It doesn’t hurt, but it is getting annoying. Like little pin pricks all over my back.
Placing her down on the ground, I see her entire face has turned green, and she takes off to where I hope there is a bathroom. Following behind her, I watch as she runs in and slams the door. I don’t know her well enough to help her out, so I just stand guard outside the bathroom and wait.
Eventually she comes stumbling out, and I figure now is the best time to leave. Her eyes are half closed and she’s using the doorjamb to hold her up.
“Where do you live?”
She’s staring off into space, not paying attention to me, when she suddenly stiffens beside me. I follow her line of vision to some nerdy dude who’s all over a busty blonde. This must be the ex-boyfriend. I turn to say something to her, but she immediately grabs my face and slams her lips to mine. She must have found some toothpaste or mouth wash because her breath is luckily minty. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see nerd boy looking over at her, so I don’t make it obvious when I push her away.
I move my forehead to hers and whisper to her, “While I understand you want to make your boyfriend jealous, I have a girlfriend at home that I love very much. Why don’t you tell me where you live so I can take you home.”
She nods her head and I can see the start of tears in her eyes. I wipe away the single tear that drops and pull her into me for a hug.
“Your girlfriend is seriously so lucky. Why can’t all guys be like you.”
I sigh. I’m the lucky one who gets to call Chloe mine. I’m still in shock over how my day started out, and I can’t wait to get back home.
We start walking away from the bathroom and Clare stumbles all over herself. Knowing there’s no way she’s going to be able to walk all the way home, I pick her up and carry her toward the door. Surprisingly, no one stops me, and that just pisses me off. Her ex-boyfriend is somewhere at this party, and I’m a stranger carrying her out the door. Even if they broke up, that’s still pretty fucked up.
I start walking down the street and realize I have no idea where I’m going.
“Hey, so where do you live?”
I’m met with silence and look down to see a very crashed out Clare in my arms. Great. My only option now is to take her back to the room I’m staying in. Luckily I’m there by myself. Unluckily, there’s only one bed, so it looks like I’ll be crashing on the floor tonight.
The house was off campus, but it’s not a very long walk back to the dorms. We reach the room quickly and I lay her down on the bed. I remove her shoes and lay a blanket on top of her. Hopefully she’ll have a more comfortable night’s sleep than I do. I plug my phone into the charger and get ready to lie down on the floor.
I hear moaning coming from the bed and I jump up to check on her. Sitting up quickly, she leans over the bed and throws up right on top of me. She lets out a little sigh before she lies back down and shortly starts snoring.
What the fuck?
Did she even wake up? Never again am I helping another drunk girl besides Chloe. I fucking reek. Walking to the en-suite bathroom, I crank the shower up and strip my clothes off. I’m just going to throw that shit away. No point in trying to clean it up.
This day started out amazing and went from bad to worse. I don’t care if I have to catch a bus back home. There’s no way I’m staying another day. This time tomorrow, I will be holding Chloe in my arms.
Chapter 19
Chloe
I don’t know how it happened, but it did. Hudson broke down all my pain and somehow gave me the ability to find happiness. I’m not healed in any way, but my rocky road is turning a little less rocky and I’m a little less broken now. Hudson is the light in my darkness and I’m slowly working my way out.
It’s hard for me to even imagine the feelings I thought I had for Jax. What I had with Jax was one hundred percent pure lust. To put it lightly, Jax is sex on a stick. I’m sure the sex would have been mind-blowing, and sure, he’s still great to hang out with and share a laugh with, but he isn’t Hudson.
We share such a deep connection, and I don’t think we would have ever figured that out if it weren’t for the weekend in the theater. And then this morning. This morning he told me the one thing I needed to hear. The one thing that truly broke through the walls I didn’t even know I had put up. The timing pretty much sucks though. Why did his parents make him go on that stupid college visit?
I’m not super into the same music that Ashtyn is, but Marlowe has quickly become my new favorite band. I know I won’t be the last person to say that either. They’re music is good, like really good, and the moment their music gets spread around, they’re going to take off.
I’m not sure how I feel about being a rock star’s girlfriend. Sure, rock stars are fun to hook up with and have fun with, but I’ve never thought past that. Then again, I never wanted a boyfriend either, yet here I am. Hopelessly in love with a soon-to-be rock star. I guess we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.
He’s been busy all day with touring the college, but if his tour guide ever showed up, that should have been done with hours ago. He’s been pretty radio silent, so I decide to give him a call. I would much rather hear his voice than text him. The phone rings a few times and then he answers.
“Hello?” On the other end is what sounds like a drunken girl I just woke up. I pull the phone away from my face and look to make sure I called the right number. Sure enough, there’s the picture we took the day in the theater staring right back at me.
What the fuck.
There’s a bit of an edge to my voice as I bark out, “Hi, who’s this?”
Drunkey says, “This is Clare, who’s this?”
Who the fuck is Clare? And where does she get off questioning who I am?
I’m over this bullshit and I go straight to what I should have asked in the first place. “Where’s Hudson?”
She lets out a heavy sigh and I hear some shuffling. Are they in bed together? Why would he profess his love to me this morning if the first thing he was going to do is go off and have sex with some random girl? How could I be so stupid to fall for him?
“I think he’s in the shower. I can tell him—”
I don’t even let her finish that sentence. I chuck the phone across the room and watch it shatter into a million pieces. I don’t even recognize the feral scream that I release, but it comes out. It hurt when my parents died. It hurt like hell. But this, this feels like I’m literally dying inside. I’m in complete agony and I can’t even comprehend how excruciating this is. I trusted him, and the first chance he got, he cheated. And I tho
ught Jax was the bad one. Speaking of Jax, he comes barreling through the bedroom door.
“What the fuck, Chloe? What’s going on in here?”
His anger quickly slips away and turns to concern when he sees my face. I’m sure it looks horrible with snot and tears running down. I feel like I can’t even breathe, and I can’t stop the sobs that are wracking my body.
How could he do this?
Why would he do this?
He said he loved me.
Jax doesn’t say anything more. He picks me up and carries me back to his room and lays me down on his bed. I’m still sobbing as he gets in the bed with me and pulls me close. I don’t know how long we lie like that before I finally fall asleep, clutching him and just wanting this entire day to start all over again.
***
I’m not sure what time it is, but when I open my eyes it’s still dark outside. My throat is scratchy and my lids are heavy. I feel Hudson next to me and I snuggle in closer. He pulls me tighter, but something doesn’t feel right. His body feels different and he smells different too. Not bad. Just different.
“Are you awake?”
That’s because this isn’t Hudson, it’s Jax. The entire night comes crashing back to me and I feel like breaking down all over again. I have to tell him something, but if those words leave my mouth, they become real. They become the truth. I can’t handle what he did to me, but I have to say it anyway.
My tongue feels heavy as the words fall from it. “He cheated, Jax.”
He stiffens beside me and I feel him press a kiss to the top of my head. I curl up into him even more and wish it were Hudson comforting me right now, not his brother. But I wouldn’t need comforting right now if Hudson were here.
Talking into my hair, he asks, “How do you know that?”
I start breaking down again, but I take a deep breath and swallow those emotions. If I let myself fall apart again, I’ll never get this out. And after everything Jax did last night, he deserves an explanation.
Falling for Hudson (Marlowe series Book 2) Page 13
