Page 3 of Breaking Hudson

“The shower,” I whimper. “I just wanted the feeling to go away.”

“I’m here. Don’t you hang up until you see me. Okay? I’m coming in,” he warns.

“Okay,” I whisper.

I still involuntarily drop my phone and scream when the bathroom door opens. I end up curled in a ball on the shower floor, shaking.

“I’m here. I’ve got you,” Hudson says as he shuts the water off and pulls me up, then wraps me in a towel and sets me on my feet. He then leans down and tosses my phone back into my bag before handing it to me. “Let’s grab you some stuff, okay?”

“Okay,” I whimper. He leads me out and to my bedroom so he can sit me down. I am clinging to my towel as he gets a bag down and quickly throws clothes inside. He grabs everything he thinks I might need like my e-reader, journal, and the ultra soft throw blanket I sleep with.

“Stand up, baby. Let me help you get dressed,” he says gently. I nod and let him stand me up. His movements are slow as he pulls the towel from me and tosses it on the bed. I am still sniffling, trying to not openly sob again. “What happened to your thighs, Cole? Who did this?”

“Those men,” I whisper. “They… They hurt me.”

Hudson clenches his jaw and takes a deep breath. He doesn’t say anything. Instead, he pulls one of the many shirts of his that I stole from him over my head. It comes down mid-thigh, so when he has me step into underwear and shorts, it still looks like I have nothing on under it.

“Let’s go, Colette,” he says.

“I’m sorry,” I whimper as tears start to roll down my cheeks.

“For what, Cole?”

“For ditching you,” I sniff. “If I hadn’t… Maybe they wouldn’t have r… I can’t even say it. Why can’t I say it?”

“You don’t have to say it right now, sweetie,” he says as he slings my bag of items over his shoulder and leads me out of the room. “We need to go though, okay? I don’t trust the car down the block.”

“Okay,” I sigh.

Hudson leads me out of the house and hurries me to his truck. He has a lifted Silverado 2500 and I’m just over five feet, so he tosses my stuff into the back seat before picking me up and sitting me in the truck. I am happy about it because I don’t have the energy to climb right now.

As we are pulling out and driving down the road, a SUV pulls into my driveway. I immediately sink down into my seat, but Hudson pulls the center armrest up and pulls me over to lay my head in his lap. I stay curled up on the seat, trying to stay hidden for the drive over to Hudson’s house. He lives on a gated property, so I feel safer once we get into his driveway.

Hudson’s phone starts ringing but when I try to sit up, he puts his hand on my waist to tell me I don’t have to move.

“Hey, man,” Hudson answers. “No, I’m with Cole… No… It’s just not a good time, Dallas… I’m good… I’ll call you tomorrow… see ya.”

“Dallas Higgins?” I ask quietly when he ends the call.

“Yeah,” he says. “Let’s get you inside.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Anything for you, Cole,” he says with a smile. “Do you want to shower or talk about what happened?”

“Both, really,” I say as we walk inside. “I just don’t trust I won’t melt down again.”

“Do you want me to help you?” he asks seriously.

“Like shower with me?” I ask, wide-eyed.

“Yes,” he says. “You can say no, Colette.”

“It’s just… You’re gorgeous and distracting, Hudson,” I say bluntly. “I’m… not.”

“Ah, but it’ll keep you distracted instead of curling up on the shower floor,” he smiles playfully. “Do you trust me with this?”

“Yes. I don’t think you’d ever hurt me,” I say. “Just self-conscious.”

---