Page 26 of Here's to Tomorrow

7

Rae

I’m a bitch.

I heard the word “fail” and all other coherent thoughts left my brain so I decided to attack the dude I like because I. Am. Insane. I’m going to scare him off before we get the chance to take this anywhere.

Now that I can think rationally, I can see that he’s right. I shouldn’t feel obligated to move to have a career, but I do feel that way. I feel like Ineedto move away to make something of myself in a field I’m not even one hundred percent certain I can excel in. I feel like Ineedto leave to prove I can do things on my own. Who am I trying to prove this to? I don’t really know. Myself? My father? My sister? My dead mother? I don’t know, but I do know I shouldn’t feel that way. There’s really no need for me to but…shit, I do.

We settle into an easy, comfortable silence. The last hour and a half zooms through my mind.

Hudson was sweet and friendly, and sexy. He dressed in a simple, tight long-sleeved black shirt and dark jeans that fit him just right, his hair perfectly messy, and his five o’clock shadow clear on his face. He looks damn good, like kissable kind of good.

No, Rae! No kissing.

I reach over to turn on the radio to distract myself from the images of Hudson kissing me running through my mind. Maura has my Transit CD in and “Asleep at the Wheel” starts playing. I peek at Hudson, remembering him smiling at my Transit shirt in the shop a few weeks back.

“Shut the front door! Youdoknow Transit!” He jumps at my outburst. “Sorry,” I mumble. “You’re humming along, so you know who Transit is? You know this song?”

He smiles sheepishly. “I do. They’re my favorite band.”

“Oh. My. God. Marry me now!”

To my surprise, Hudson starts laughing at my word vomit. I glance over at him and he’s holding his stomach and slapping his knees.

“Are you gonna be okay?”

He wipes at his eyes. “Holy shit. You and Maura are two peas in a pod. Do you always do that?”

“Um, do what?”

“Just say whatever pops into that cute little head of yours? Because it’s highly entertaining.”

I feel my face heat up. “Um, kind of. It’s a quirk of mine.” I shrug and focus on my driving and not freaking out over the fact that he just called me cute…kind of.

“It’s very cute,” he mutters as I pull into his apartment building lot.Okay, it’s settled—he called me cute.

I park in front of the building he directed me to and face him. “Is this the part where I walk you to your door? Because that might be a little weird, and totally bass-ackward.”

He stares at me with his mouth hanging open. I reach over with two fingers and push his mouth closed. “Flies, Hudson.”

He mumbles something about my mouth between belly laughs. I shrug and turn back toward his building. It’s cute. Small, maybe a little outdated, but still very cute.

I hear him starting to rustle around so I glance back over at him. He motions for me to hold on a minute and gets out of the car. I watch as he jogs around the front and opens my door.

He holds his hand out. “My lady.”

I stare up at him for a few seconds before my brain registers what is happening. When it finally catches up, I unhook my seatbelt and place my hand into his. He helps me out of the car, closing the door and pulling me up close to him. He has my hands in his between our bodies. We’re standing in a near-empty parking lot, staring at one another. I bet someone could walk right past us and we still wouldn’t lose the connection our eyes have in this moment. It’s intense, but not an excessive way. It feels…natural.

“I figured we’d just say goodbye here so it’s not too weird for you,” Hudson says with a small smirk. “I had a wonderful time with you tonight, Rae, and I haven’t had that in a while. Would you like to go out with me again sometime? One on one, perhaps?”

“Uh, um, I-I…” I stammer. “Y-Yes. Definitely yes. I didn’t scare you off with my random word vomit?” I ask seriously.

He smiles. “No. Definitely no.”

It’s my turn to smile.

“I’ve been meaning to asking you this—can I have your number?” Hudson asks.

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