Page 108 of Beautiful Collide

If it weren’t for our next fundraiser we are already planning, I would have told Dane I needed to take a few days off. But with the event looming, I can’t afford not to be present.

The worst part? Hudson will be here.

Because, of course, Hudson wants to be more involved in team philanthropy.

To drive me crazy.

Stop.

Just because he makes my brain mush doesn’t mean he’s a bad person.

I put Hudson in a box that he doesn’t belong in.

I know this.

He knows this.

But in my defense—

Oh, shut it, Molly. You fucked up. Just admit it.

Fine.

I fucked up.

I shouldn’t have judged Hudson before I got to know him, I shouldn’t have taken out my personal issues on him, and I shouldn’t have lied all those years ago because I’m a chicken who’s too afraid to tell her brother about what happened during that period he wasn’t in my life.

I speed walk through the doors of the arena and head straight for the back office I’ve been using to coordinate Dane’s donations to the event.

“Molly,” one of the staff greets me before leaving me alone in here, a box of empty balloons tucked under her arm.

The medium-sized room is bigger than a closet but smaller than a conference room.

But somehow, even its extra square footage feels suffocating.

The walls are painted a dull beige, the kind that absorbs light instead of reflecting it. A small, cluttered desk is shoved into one corner, a filing cabinet in the other, and a long granite counter stretches across the back wall.

It’s not cramped, not really.

At least, I tell myself that.

Still, the air feels thick, like the walls are slowly creeping closer with every second I stand here. I leave the door open, needing the illusion of space—of an escape route. Closing it would feel like letting the past swallow me whole.

I didn’t lie when I told Hudson it’s storming back with a vengeance.

I can’t help but groan, heading to the table and gripping its edge. “Why are you like this, Molly?”

My thoughts are a mess. Tangled up tightly like a web of yarn that can’t be unknotted.

What the hell am I going to do?

And not just about my annoying attraction to Hudson.

But also with Dane.

It’s obvious that my role needs to change.

Working for him is no longer necessary.

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