Page 1 of Secret Hudson

CHAPTER ONE

ROYCE

There’s a knock on the door almost simultaneously to it opening.

“Royce?” It’s Ava.

“What’s up, buttercup?”

“The coffee here blows. I’m going to make a store run. Need anything?”

I stare down at my legs, fully dressed in jeans, socks and shoes, then back over at the TV screen. I’ve been awake, showered, clothed, and watching a Gilligan’s Island marathon since five a.m. What I need, is to get out of this fucking hotel room.

“I’m sure I’ll think of something once we’re there.” I point the remote straight at the captain’s head and pull the trigger. Thank God, that’s finally over.

She makes a face at me. “You’re going to come?”

“I’m sorry. Is that a problem?” Not twelve hours ago she asked me to follow her into the bathroom to keep her company while she showered. Now seems like an odd time to suddenly require some privacy.

Ava reaches for the baseball cap hanging on the doorknob and straps it over my head. “Not anymore.” She points at the nightstand behind me. “Hey, grab those shades too, would ya? I really don’t feel like getting attacked by the paparazzi pre-shower and wearing my sweats.”

“You showered. I know. I was there, remember?” I slide on the shades anyway. I’m not in the mood for a morning mob either. I’m no Blaise Nolan, but in lieu of Finding Nolan’s front man, people seem to be happy to settle for the lowly bass player in a heartbeat.

“Um, that shower was ages ago. Do you know how much I’ve sweat in the meantime?” She leads the way out the door, in spite of her apparent nastiness.

“Gross. I know we’re close Ava, but I do not need to hear about your sweaty sex with Blaise.” I reach for my wallet and room key on the way out.

“Ew! I went for a run this morning, you jackass! For the record, I don’t have unattractive, sweaty sex. I do it all nice and pretty like...you know, the way they do it in the movies. All sensual and magical.”

I nod, even though she has her back to me. “Yeah, I hear that all the time about hetero sex. How magical it is.” Ava turns her head briefly and acknowledges the sarcasm with a dramatic eyeroll and her standard half-smirk but doesn’t bother to respond. We’ve had the hetero sex talk plenty of times before in the past. She knows where I stand with it. Preferably at a safe distance where I can pretend it doesn’t exist.

Vaginas don’t scare me exactly. I mean, they seem innocent enough, and I can see the convenience of it all, one piece fitting into the other. But I’ve taken sex ed. I’ve seen that sweet little flower chicks claim to be sitting on morph into monsters big enough to spit out a watermelon on a moment’s notice. Don’t tell me there isn’t something shady about that.

If straight dudes want to stick their dicks in there, I say do so at your own risk. Someday that beast may decide to swallowinstead of spit, and then what the fuck are you going to do? Be fucking dickless, that’s what.

We’re in the elevator going down to the lobby when I notice Ava is still grinning.

“What?”

She chuckles before she answers, “You look nervous. Thinking about penis-eating vaginas again?”

“The thing drools blood, Ava! It’s clearly carnivorous.”

The mocking grin falls from her face. “Okay, now you’re just being disgusting. And you know I can’t keep up in below the belt verbal combat before I’ve had my coffee, so that was an entirely unfair attack.”

I jerk my brow in feigned shock. “What attack? It was merely an act of self-defense. You started it. And it will count. And we’re calling it a truce.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

I’m pretty sure Ava mutters something else after, but the elevator doors open, muffling the sound of her voice, so I have no problem claiming the last word for myself. At least for the moment. Things will pick up again sooner or later. Not necessarily on the same topic, but ridiculous banter between Ava and I is the foundation on which we have built our friendship. Maybe it doesn’t sound like much, but what we have is solid, and time and troubles have proven it more than once. Ava isn’t going anywhere, and neither am I. And it isn’t just because of the legally binding contract I have with her as my manager. She’s my friend. My best friend.

“So, how are we getting there? I’m guessing you didn’t call for a limo, since you’re trying to avoid the extra attention.”Although, part of me kind of wants to see what it would be like to roll up in front of Wal-Mart in one.

Ava gives me a half-assed version of her ‘you’re stupid’ glare. “The store’s like two blocks from here. We’re walking.”

Hold on one fucking minute. “What? I don’t want to walk. What if someone does recognize us, sorry, me? Then what? We’ll have no mode of escape.”

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