Page 80 of Hale
I slip out of my bed in the dark and sneak out of my room. The air conditioner keeps the air cold and my bare legs become covered in chill bumps. Hudson will warm me up. I creep over to my aunt and uncle’s room and press my ear to the door. Uncle Randy’s snores are loud and the television is no longer playing, which means they’re both asleep.
Quietly, I make my way down the stairs to the basement door. Then, I sneak downstairs where Hudson stays. The glow from the television illuminates the space. He’s not sitting on the sofa but on the floor near some boxes we brought from our old house. His brows are furrowed together and his shoulders are hunched.
“What’s wrong?” I whisper as I rush over to him and kneel next to him.
He’s holding Mom’s baseball T-shirt that says: Hudson’s #1 Fan.
“I let her down,” he murmurs. He turns his head to regard me and his features are twisted in pain.
“She was always so proud of you.” I hug him and kiss the side of his neck. “She’d still be so proud of you. You’re more than baseball, Hudson. You’re everything to me.”
He drops the shirt to run his fingers into my hair. I’m dragged to his lips and he kisses me hard. Our tongues duel for control. He wins. He always wins. I moan against his lips but then he’s pulling away all too soon.
“I found something Mom would have wanted you to have,” he says as he pulls out a rectangular wooden box.
“Her haircutting scissors.” I pluck the box from his hand and open it. The metal glimmers in the light of the television. “Do you remember how pissed Dad was when she bought these?”
“They were nine hundred dollars,” he says with a chuckle. “I thought Dad was going to shit a brick.”
I smile. “You going to let me practice on your hair?”
His eyebrow arches up playfully, the sad moment long gone. “Are you going to do a good job?” He pulls the box away and sets it onto the carpet beside him. “Or are you going to give me a bowl cut like Mom did when I was in kindergarten? Thank fuck she went to beauty school and learned later what not to do. That was awful.”
I swat at him. “Yes, jerk. I’m going to do a good job.”
He grips my wrist and tackles me. A giggle escapes me before his hand covers my mouth to keep me quiet. His body is heavy pressed against mine. I can feel every part of him. My thin T-shirt and panties allow me to enjoy every muscle on him. His cock is hard between us and I try to wriggle to get him to rub it against my clit.
“You’re a dirty girl, hmmm?” he asks as he slowly grinds against me.
I blink at him and nod. His palm slides from my mouth, dragging my bottom lip down as he makes his way to my jaw. He uses his fingers to open my mouth and then his hand continues down to my throat.
“Hudson,” I whisper.
He grips my neck in a possessive way before his lips press to mine. I moan against his kiss, which has him groaning in response. His hand slides down to my breast and he squeezes it over my shirt.
“A week was too long, heathen,” he murmurs. “I fucking missed you so much.”
“I missed you too. I need you.”
His palm slips under my shirt and he runs it along my bare flesh. I gasp when he pinches my nipple. My panties are wet with need to have him. He drags his palm back down my stomach and digs his fingers beneath my panties.
“These have got to go,” he growls.
He starts tugging them when light suddenly floods the basement.
“Fuck,” he snaps as he rolls away from me.
I sit up and right my shirt just as Aunt Becky stomps down the stairs and comes into view. Her glare is rage-filled as she takes in the scene.
“I knew it!” she yells, her face turning bright red. “I fucking knew it!”
Hudson rises to his feet, his erection obvious as ever in his sweatpants. Oh God. This is bad. “Knew what?” he challenges, a vein throbbing visibly on the side of his neck.
I scurry to my feet. “We were looking through Mom and Dad’s old things and—”
“No!” she bellows. “Stop lying. Just stop the goddamned lying. I know you two are sleeping together. Oh, God.” She gags. “What have you done?”
My heart hammers in my chest. “What?! What are you talking about?”
