Page 37 of Curvy Desire's Second Shot

“Do you ever think about the future?” she asked suddenly, her voice softer.

“Sometimes,” I said, sitting on the swing beside her. “Why?”

She shrugged, her gaze fixed on the ground. “I don’t know. I guess... I just wonder where we’ll end up. If we’ll still be here. If we’ll still be us.”

The question caught me off guard, and I turned to look at her. Her face was partially hidden by her hair, but I could see the faint lines of worry around her eyes.

“We’ll always be us,” I said, my voice firm.

She glanced at me then, her lips curving into a small, wistful smile. “You can’t know that.”

“Sure I can,” I said, leaning back in the swing. “You’re stuck with me, Naomi. No getting rid of me now.”

She laughed softly, the sound warming my chest. “Good. I’d miss you if you weren’t around.”

The words were simple, but the way she said them made my pulse quicken. I stared at her, my heart pounding as a thought crept into my mind—one I’d been trying to push away for weeks.

I wanted to kiss her.

The realization hit me like a bolt of lightning, and I gripped the swing’s chains tightly, trying to steady myself. It wasn’t just a passing thought, a fleeting desire. It was something deeper, something that had been building between us for years.

“Hudson?” she said, her voice pulling me from my thoughts.

“Yeah?” I asked, my throat dry.

She tilted her head, studying me. “You’re quiet. That’s not like you.”

I shrugged, forcing a grin. “Just thinking.”

“About?” she pressed, her curiosity piqued.

“About how much you overanalyze movies,” I teased, hoping to deflect.

She rolled her eyes but smiled, her laughter soft and genuine. “You’re impossible.”

I watched her, the words I wanted to say caught in my throat. She looked so beautiful in that moment, her face lit by the faint glow of the streetlights, her hair slightly tousled from the breeze. I wanted to tell her how I felt, to close the distance between us and see if her lips tasted as sweet as they looked.

But I didn’t.

I was too scared—scared of ruining what we had, scared of losing her if she didn’t feel the same. So I stayed silent, locking the moment away in my mind like a secret I’d never share.

In the present,I sighed, running a hand through my hair as the memory faded. The ache in my chest was still there, a dull reminder of the opportunities I’d let slip through my fingers.

Naomi stirred on the couch, her head tilting slightly as she shifted in her sleep. I watched her, my heart tightening as I thought about how far we’d come, how much we’d overcome to get to this point.

I wanted her back then, but I was too much of a coward to admit it.

Never again.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Naomi

The apartment was wrapped in a soft glow, the kind of warmth that made the world outside feel far away. Hudson sat on the couch across from me, his long legs stretched out, his posture relaxed. But I knew him too well to miss the tension beneath his calm exterior. It mirrored my own. The quiet moments we stole felt fragile, as if they might shatter at any moment.

I held my mug of tea, letting the warmth seep into my hands. My thoughts churned as I stared into the dark liquid, replaying the fragments of my past I’d shared with Hudson. I’d told him about Jared before—about how his controlling nature had turned my life into a living nightmare. But there were layers to that story I hadn’t touched, shadows I’d avoided confronting for fear they’d swallow me whole.

“You’re in your head,” Hudson said, his voice pulling me from my thoughts. He was watching me, his eyes sharp and observant.

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