Page 3 of Promise Me

This man, I swear.

The only reason I tolerate him is because he’s my older brother’s best friend.

“Seriously, Hudson, you know you won’t change your mind. You haven’t in more than a year. Just say yes, and let’s move on with the day.”

He ignores me.

“Hudson. What do you want?”

His sapphire gaze shifts to me and darkens.

“One day, I will walk in here, and you’ll greet me withgood morning, Hudson. It’s so good to see you again.What can I get you on this lovely day?”

I blink. “Doubtful.”

He shakes his head and clicks his tongue.

“Black coffee and a cinnamon twist, please.”

“Shocker.” I fake a gasp.

He glares some more, but I do not care.

Hudson is my least favorite person on this planet. The list of reasons is long, but to sum up how it started, my freshman year of high school—the most crucial year of a girl's life, no less—he gave me the nickname of Sadie Snots. I’m not talking snotty as inshe’s a brat—no, as in the slimy, gooey, always has boogers kind of snot. What the hell, right? Everyone, and I meaneveryone,in our school caught on to it. I didn’t have my first kiss until my junior prom. I blame Hudson for that with every breath I take.

I roll my eyes as I put his order together and slide it across the counter with zero emotion. He gives me a twenty, I give him his change, he pops a couple of bucks into the tip jar, and then he walks out.

Brooke pokes her head out of the kitchen.

“God, he’s gorgeous. I don’t need a romance-novel fireman. I’ll take Hudson Asher any day of the week.”

“Gross.” I gag. “You can do so much better.”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “He’s always kind to me when I go into his bar.”

“Yeah, you’re a paying customer. Of course, he’s nice.”

“Or”—she holds up a finger—"you’ve held a grudge against him for so long that you can’t see his kindness.”

I purse my lips. “Are you intentionally trying to make me throw up or just teasing me?”

She laughs and disappears back into the kitchen.

I spin back around just in time to help Mrs. Cutler from across the street.

Hudson and kindness do not belong in the same sentence just the same as Hudson and I do not belong in the same room for longer than sixty seconds.

Ever.

CHAPTER TWO

HUDSON

The lights buzz as I flip the switch by the employee entrance.

I sigh at the noise and make my way inside. I take a giant bite out of my donut and sip my coffee.

Three years ago, I would have balked at the idea of coffee and a donut for breakfast—especially before my morning workout. Nope, back then, I would have walked through my oversized house and opened a fridge packed with premade meals by the highest-paid nutritionist. I would have slid open my back door to sit beside a pool I never used. Then, as soon as my trainer showed up, we would hit the gym I had turned my pool house into.

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