Page 9 of Breaking Hudson

“I’m sorry,” I sniffle.

“It’s okay, Cole. Do you want to come to the gym with me for a few?” he asks.

“You aren’t going to make me run, are you?” I ask.

“No,” he laughs. “I just need to talk to the guys.”

“They don’t know me,” I say.

“They think you’re a man because I call you Cole,” he says, and I laugh. “You’re going to learn a lot today, Colette. I need you to keep an open mind and understand that I will never hurt you, okay?”

“I mean… I am sore, so that’s a lie,” I say. “I understand.”

“I talked to Dallas a little bit ago. He’s the only one who knows what’s going on,” he says. “Colton, Jayden, Andrew, and Doug have no idea why I asked them to come up to see me.”

“Dallas is the guy from high school, right?” I ask.

“Yeah. He already knew who you were. I always told him if you wanted to come around, you would.”

“Apparently it takes getting raped in an alleyway by three random men,” I say bitterly. “I’m… afraid they won’t like me.”

“One, they will likely pick on you, but not in a negative way. They are just… annoying,” he laughs. “They’re nice. I went to college with all of them.”

“Ah. Frat brothers,” I say. “Let me get dressed and I’ll be ready. I wore my contacts to bed when I shouldn’t have. I’ll have to wear my glasses today.”

“I like you in your glasses,” he smiles. “I know you feel weird about wearing glasses, so I’ll wear mine.”

“Since when do you wear glasses?” I ask.

“Since my vision started going to shit when I got older,” he says. “I’m in the four-eye community now, Cole.”

“You’re annoying,” I laugh.

“Get dressed,” he says before kissing me. I look around for my bag, but I don’t see it. Hudson chuckles and points to the closet. “I put your clothes up. We can have the guys go back with us to your house and get everything else. We can just donate the furniture.”

“Are you sure you want me to live with you?” I ask.

“Colette, I’ve been asking you to live with me since we turned eighteen. I was completely willing to ditch the fraternity to live with you.”

“I thought you just felt bad for me,” I shrug and go to the closet. I choose snug-fitting jeans and a T-shirt. I go to the bathroom and take my contacts out before putting my glasses on. I turn around and Hudson is watching me. He has glasses on now, and it is probably the hottest thing I have ever seen this man wear.

“What?” he asks with a smirk. “Like them?”

“I… That is hot as fuck,” I say.

“Well, I will wear them more if you wear yours more. I know you hate contacts,” he says.

“Okay,” I laugh.

“Is it appropriate now to tell you that your ass looks great in those jeans?” he asks.

“Hudson, you said that like a week ago. It’s not new.”

“Well, you look amazing as always,” he says before kissing me. “Let’s go.”

When we get to the truck, Hudson lifts me up and sits me in the truck before going around to get in. As we drive, I scroll the news to see if there is a new murder investigation going on. I am hyper focused on the fact that I might go to jail. Maybe I should just turn myself in? It was an accident after all. I was defending myself. I shouldn’t get in too much trouble for that.

When we get to Hudson’s gym, he turns and looks at me. “What’s on your mind?”

---