Page 136 of The Sweetest Cruelty: Hudson
I heard Hudson asked you out. It’s gone viral, so prepare yourself.The first message had made me smile, the second not so much.
I hope you know what you’re doing.
Swallowing the feeling of doubt that message incited, I smiled at my boyfriend. “Yeah. Never better.”
Hudson Gage.My boyfriend.
“About time. We got the beers in, but Reed drank them,” Micah said with a grin. He wore a white wife-beater top and black boardshorts and looked his usual smug self.
“It’s fine. I’ve got a stash in the chiller,” Phoenix said, twisting towards a blue plastic cooler sitting on the sand behind where his towel was laid. Courtney from the cheer squad was half draped over his lap in a stunning black bikini. I wondered where Harper was.
The Sawyer brothers had set up base by placing several blankets and camping chairs around a section of beach close to the sea. It was less crowded and set against some rocks.
“So, Molly. How does it feel to have attained the unattainable?” Reed asked with one perfectly arched eyebrow. He looked summery in a patterned shirt and denim cut-offs.
“You don’t have to answer that,” Hudson responded.
Casting him an eye, I shrugged, “I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know,” I said with a cheeky grin and removed the picnic blanket from under my arm. Hudson gave me a saucy look, which I read as a promise that I would pay for that one later. I sure did hope so.
He then dropped our bag and started helping me to place our tartan sheet across the sand.
“Are you good with beer or do you want something else?” he asked as he straightened and removed his tee. I glanced down at his stunning body, highlighted by the glow from the bonfire further down the beach. “Molly Miller, please do stop, you’ll make me blush,” Hudson teased.
I stepped forward and put my arms around his neck. “I’m allowed to ogle you now, girlfriends’ rights and all that.”
The irises of his eyes seemed to darken as he placed his hands around my waist. “Is that so?”
“Yep.”
I bent my head backwards, and he swooped to nuzzle my neck. “Well, if that’s the rule. What aboutmyrights?”
“What do you want?” I said, breathlessly, as he playfully nipped the skin of my throat with his teeth.
“I’ll show you later.”
“OK, enough, you guys. You’re giving Reed a hard on,” Phoenix said, grabbing a beer and tossing it to Hudson. He caught it and stepped back.
“Cheers, man.”
“Molly?” Nix questioned, waving a bottle of Bud in the air. I lifted my hand and shook my head.
“No thanks.”
“I’ll get you a soda if you want.” I loved that there was no pressure to consume alcohol from him. At the last party I went to in England, the lads always seemed desperate to get the girls plastered.
I said yes, and Hudson kissed my nose. “Look after my girl boys,” he said to his brothers, who all agreed by saluting him with their bottles.
His protectiveness was welcome, but I whispered. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
Hudson passed his beer to Reed, “Drink it and you die,” he stated, and then tugged me before him. “You’re mine now, Molly Miller, and we’re exclusive. I’m territorial and over-protective. I hope to hell that you can handle that.”
I smiled and nodded, and he brushed his nose across mine, saying. “Give me a minute. And don’t go near the water without me.”
You couldn’t help but watch his backside and the way it flexed as he walked across the sand to where the drinks were. Supposedly, Storm’s family had provided all the booze, which I found incredible considering everyone was underage. Hudson told me her father was the mayor and they were uber-rich.
I felt very aware of the looks of appreciation the girls surrounding us sent him. And why wouldn’t they? He was the best-looking guy there and had a body that would be the envy of any fitness trainer. And he was mine.
The banter then started as I began to remove my shorts and top. Everyone was talking about the game. We all sat in a circle with our stuff in the middle. In our group,there were Micah, Reed, Phoenix, and Nash Straker. He introduced the girl perched between his legs as Miranda. There was also Sasha and her boyfriend, Mason and of course, Courtney, who was all over Nix like a rash. Hudson had come clean in the car about the situation with Sasha in the locker room. He’d said it was a joke and that she and her boyfriend were very much in love. It had been his eighteenth birthday that day, and she was there to surprise him in the locker room.
