Page 72 of The Sweetest Cruelty: Hudson
Storm was in her cheer uniform, and my mouth dropped open as she lowered her food tray to the table. It contained one of those salads which were a complete rip-off, a bottle of water and an apple.
Anxiety twisted my stomach. I wasn’t in the mood for any belittling.
I almost said, “Are you lost?” but thought better. If sitting down and giving me the time of day was her version of an olive branch, I’d take it. I wouldn’t shoot myself in the foot when my social standing had slowly started to improve.
My curiosity spiked further when Storm took a huge breath and placed her hands flat on the table. She then cricked her neck from side to side and pursed her lips.
“Are you alright?” I muttered.
This brought her head up. “Sorry, shit. I’m not very good at this. I just wanted to say hey,” she said sheepishly, flicking her ponytail off her shoulder. I could see a sheen of sweat across her skin, which suggested she’d been at cheer practice.
“OK, hey,” I batted back, feeling uncertain as I swallowed a mouthful of pasta. Her strange behaviour set my teeth on edge as I didn’t know what to expect. Storm Summers had more than one face. Hell, all the cheerleaders did. It was part of their genetic make-up.
“Look. I wanted to speak to you about what happened at the pool,” Storm began hesitantly.
“OK?” I sounded like a broken record.
She paused, took another deep breath, and then blurted. “I didn’t know you couldn’t swim. There, I’ve said it.” My eyes remained locked with hers, and I could see genuine regret there. “And I am sorry.”
Nodding my head, I gave her a tight smile. “Thank you, I guess.”
All the tension then drained from her body, and she bounced back, grabbing her fork and then leaning over the table. Almost like she was getting into position for a good old chin wag.
“So? What’s going on with you then?”
She must have heard about the kiss, and her next words confirmed that. Was that why she was being nice to me?
“Nothing much,” I said, taking a drink of my water.
“What about you and Hudson? I can’t say I didn’t see that coming,” she began as she arranged the food on her tray.
Placing the bottle down, I cast a glance at the other girls sitting at one end of our table, but they didn’t appear to be listening.
“We’re not together or anything,” I explained, clearing my throat.
Lifting the apple from her tray, she took a large bite. Her teeth were slightly crooked; they made her look more human. I hadn’t noticed it before.
“If you say so.”
“I do.”
“I heard you two sucked faced in front of the whole school,” she added, taking another bite.
“It wasn’t the whole school, and he was just making a point,” I explained, fiddling with the side of my tray.
“What point was that? How much he wanted to screw you against the lockers?”
“No. It wasn’t like that.” I knew I was flagging a dead horse. Storm would believe what she wanted, just like the rest of the school.
Shrugging her slim shoulders, she blew out a breath. “Anyway, it’s none of my business.”
I could sense her sadness, or was it disappointment? To reassure her that nothing was going on, I replied. “Look, I’m not the type to go after someone else's guy. Just so you know.”
Storm huffed and sat back in her seat, a vacant expression on her face. “He’s notmyguy. Hudson Gage is an enigma and belongs to nobody but himself. Well, before you showed up. He’s never made out with anyone on campus before.”
“It sounds like you know him better than I do.”
“Oh, we go way back.”
