Page 23 of Here's to Tomorrow

“Holy shit!” Maura exclaims. “Marry him now, Rae. If you don’t, I will.”

“Hey now! Watch yourself, Hudson.” Tanner angles himself in front of his date. “I’m growing quite fond of this one. I don’t want to have to fight you for her.”

Hudson doesn’t seem notice. Our eyes haven’t strayed from one another since I broke in with my awesome pickup line.

“Don’t sweat it, Tanner. I think I’m growing quite fond of someone myself.” He gives me a cute little smirk and I turn away because I feel my face heating up with embarrassment.

I take the moment of silence to readjust my mind and observe this club Hudson’s so fond of.

Mic’s isn’t really anything special at first glance, even from the outside. It looks like your typical low-lit bar, only there’s a stage directly in the center of everything. Dozens of tables surround it with fresh flowers or candles on each one, indicating they serve a little more than your usual bar food.

When you take a deeper look, you can see how amazing this place is. The decor doesn’t match in the slightest and the walls are covered in photographs, signed set lists, and custom paintings and drawings. Each one is beautiful in its own right. You can see the love the performers have for this place plastered all over the walls, including a few action shots of Tucker playing. You can see how many patrons love this place and keep returning night after night in the worn-out furniture and chipped dishes. It’s all things that are easily dismissed with a glance and sorely overlooked all too often, which is sad, because those are the things that make this place so unique.

“It’s beautiful,” I say, turning back to Hudson. “Just beautiful. Thank you for choosing this place.”

He smiles.

I melt.

“So, Hudson,” Maura says, causing him to break our eye contact. “You work at a car shop?”

“Iownthe car shop. Jacked Up is my baby.” His answer is spoken with such pride.

Tanner mutters something under his breath and Hudson shoots daggers at him. He quickly shuts up.

“You own it? I had no idea!” Hudson grins at my little outburst. Now I’m sufficiently embarrassed because standing in Jacked Up with Hudson wasn’t one of my finest moments, since my mouth decided to run before my brain caught up. I’m assuming from the little glint in his eyes that he remembers.

“Yep. Have since I was twenty, but I’ve worked there since I was seventeen. That place kind of saved my life. Old Mr. Horton knew how much I loved it, so when he was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, he offered the place to me at a crazy affordable price. I couldn’t turn it down.”

“Did he make it?” Maura asks. Hudson’s lips tip down, transforming his whole face. Even his eyes dim a bit. “Shit. Sorry. That was rude of me. Forget I said anything.”

“It’s okay, really. Unfortunately, no, he didn’t make it. He was like a second father to me is all. I’m very much indebted to him.”

Before I realize what I’m doing, I reach out and place my hand on his arm. He whips his head in my direction, his gaze landing on my hand.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” He meets my eyes and I stop breathing; his gaze is so sad and thankful all at the same time. I don’t think he’s healed from the former owner’s death, and I can tell how much my words mean to him. He nods, offering me a small smile.

The waiter picks that moment to deliver our food. I remove my hand and begin pushing around my chicken pasta, suddenly not quite as starved as before and thinking a little too hard about the intense stares Hudson and I have shared since I met him.

Truthfully, there have been a lot, more than I feel entirely comfortable with because they do something to me. They make my heart race, my body tingle, and my head fuzzy. It’s something new and intriguing, and as concerning as it is, I like it.

His eyes are so intense, so open. I would bet they’ve gotten him in and out of a lot of trouble. I smile a little to myself over that, which earns me a not-so-gentle kick in the shin from Maura. I look up and glare at her. She gives me her “innocent” face, which I’ve grown very accustomed to over the years, and turns back to Tanner, who seems to be talking her ear off. I hadn’t even noticed.

“So, Rae, what do you do? I mean, I know you work at Clyde’s and all, but are you in college or anything?” Hudson asks.

I take a sip of my drink to buy me a little time before I answer, because I hate this question,especiallysince I still haven’t heard back fromanyof the companies I applied to.

“I graduated in the spring. Clyde’s is it for me for now, but I’ve put in several applications in the city. I have a degree in marketing, and there’s not much to market around here.” I shrug, trying to play it off as if my lack of professional career doesn’t bother me.

“Marketing? That’s some fast-paced stuff. I know it’s not big time or anything, but Jacked Up has been looking at some advertising firms lately. We want to push our name more, generate some loyal customers so we can update our machinery a little,” Hudson says.

I perk up. “Have you found anyone yet?”

“No.” Hudson sighs. “Everyone wants to take it in a whole different direction. I want to keep it small, you know? Build our clientele with more advertising and a little marketing makeover.”

“Well, I don’t want you to feel obligated or anything, but I can look over your ideas if you want. Give you some pointers.”

“That would be fantastic!” he says without hesitation. “I don’t wantyouto feel obligated, though. Only if you have time.”

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