Page 35 of Must Have Been Love

“Maybe it’s both.”

My gaze dips to her chest. Her breasts look magnificent. My fingers twitch with the need to trace the swell of them.

“Well thank you. And fuck you.”

She laughs harder. “Always a pleasure.”

“You ready?” Jesse asks, coming back to take her arm. He smiles at me. “Hey, Hudson.”

“Hey Jesse.” I nod at him.

“Sure, I’m ready,” she says, looking at me once more. Her eyes are dark, the same as mine.

Jesse walks off, and she goes to follow, but before she gets too far she turns back to me, putting her hand softly on my chest.

“By the way,” she says, her voice so low I have to lean down to hear her properly. “I’m not wearing any panties. So I guess that counts as kind of slutty.”

eleven

SKYLER

“What did you say to him?” Jesse asks, as we walk out into the expansive grounds of the hotel, Hudson glaring after us. A huge, perfectly tended lawn stretches out into the distance, eventually ending at the cliffs that border the Atlantic Ocean. Because it’s a kid’s party, a huge fence has been erected to stop any children from running too close to the edge.

“Nothing,” I reply, because I’m pretty sure Jesse would think I’m an idiot for taunting Hudson Fitzgerald. Heck,Ithink I’m an idiot. I don’t know what it is about the man that makes me behave like this.

Like a brat.

I’m not usually so mocking. I like to think of myself as a nice person. But with him I feel… I don’t know. Judged, I guess. And like an errant child, I play into it to make him more annoyed.

Jesse gives me an interested look, but says nothing more because we’re both too busy looking around the grounds, our mouths opened in awe. There are stalls serving cotton candy and sugar-fragrant funnel cakes, along with non-alcoholic punches and ciders for the kids. Servers are carrying around harder drinks for the adults – champagne and mimosas – plus there’s a bar in the corner serving beer, and presumably later, liquor for the adult party.

But it’s the entertainment that’s breathtaking. Not just the band, or the pretty princesses and princes who are mingling with the children, hugging them, having photos taken, but also the carousel at the center of the party. Like a real, full-size one you’d see at a fairground.

It’s painted in pastels, with horses who look haughty and gold-plated carriages that little girls and boys are squeezed into, looking delighted as the carousel turns.

“I’m going on that later,” I tell Jesse and he grins.

“You want a drink first?” he asks as a server approaches us.

“Sure.”

He grabs a glass of champagne for me and a mimosa for him, and we clink our glasses together. “Listen, there’s something…”

“Here you are!” Autumn walks up to us, interrupting his flow. His brows knit and for a second I wonder if he was about to ask me out.

“Hi,” I say to her, grateful for the interruption. Next to her is a pretty woman dressed as Belle.

“This is Francie, my bestie. Francie, this is Skyler. I told you all about her.”

“I’m so happy to meet you,” Francie says, leaning forward to hug me. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“All good I hope.”

“Absolutely.” Francie grins. “And Autumn is a great judge of character.”

“Francie is here for a few days,” Autumn adds. “We were wondering if you’re up for that girls’ night before she leaves. Maybe on Monday? We can drink, eat, and trash talk men.”

“That sounds like a plan,” I reply back.

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