Page 113 of What About Us
The distraction gives Hayley the chance to sneak up behind Hutch. Dressed in a white bikini top and cutoffs with a bucket in her hand, she stands up on her tiptoes. However, given that Hutch is tall as hell and she’s only a couple of inches taller than me, when she throws the water on him, it only soaks his back and runs down the back of his legs.
He turns in surprise, chucks his beer bottle, and lunges for her. “You little shit,” he calls out with a laugh.
She only makes it three steps, then lets out a yelp when he throws her over his shoulder and carries her like it’s nothing to the end of the dock. She lets out a squealing laugh, kicks her legs, and tries to shove herself off him. But before she has a chance to wriggle free, he unceremoniously lifts her and dumps her into the lake backward, sunglasses and all.
Hudson laughs and shakes his head, then turns and starts walking toward us.
Wren pokes her head in between Ginger and me, wrapping her arms around both of our waists. “What are we doing, besties?” she asks.
“Oh, Ginger’s checking out the available local meat,” I say, nodding to where Hutch has stripped off his shirt at the end of the dock. He folds his long body to sit on the edge, and when Hayley grabs his leg, trying to yank him off, he puts a big palm on her forehead and shoves her back into the water with a laugh.
Wren’s eyes snag on my necklace and she reaches out to touch it. “Is this new?”
I look down as her fingers clasp it. “Um, yeah,” I say hesitantly, hoping she doesn’t turn it over. She has no reason to, and I guess a friendship necklace between Hudson and me would be completely appropriate, but telling her he gave it to me without disclosing why and when feels wrong. Plus, I sort of like it being our secret. If she wonders what the purple and pink stones represent, she doesn’t voice it.
“It’s pretty,” she says, then turns her bright smile on Ginger. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.” The two of them take off and Wren looks back over her shoulder. “You coming?”
Hudson’s a couple steps in front of Ginger and Wren, heading my way. “Yeah, I’ll be there in a second,” I tell her with a nod. My hand instinctively reaches for the necklace. I’ve noticed I do it a lot, almost as if I’m making sure it’s still there, even though I haven’t taken it off longer than a fewminutes to take a quick shower. I don’t even want to do that, but I’m afraid the shampoo and body wash will ruin it.
“Oh, hey, Hudson,” Wren says when she turns back around. “This is Ginger.”
Hudson stops and reaches out to shake Ginger’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, Hudson. I’ve hearda lotabout you,” she says, shooting me a mischievous grin.
Hudson flicks a glance my way with a chuckle and sticks his hands in the pockets of his swimsuit. “All good things, I hope.”
“Oh, yeah,” she says. “Completelyperfectthings.”
My cheeks flare with heat, remembering how I told both Wren and Ginger that day in the cabin about every inch of him being completely perfect.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ginger.”
She nods, and Wren starts pulling her away.
When Hudson turns to me, Ginger gives me two enthusiastic thumbs up behind his back, then makes grabby hands at his ass. I stifle a laugh. I love her already. She’s going to fit in perfectly with everyone.
Hudson steps close and drops his voice, and I have to tip my head back to look at him. “Hey, pretty girl.” The quiet endearment makes my stomach flip. “Are they gone?”
I glance around him and nod, then look back up at him.
“Good,” he says. Hooking his pinky around mine, he leans in to brush his lips lightly against mine. It’s a quick kiss and would look like nothing to anyone who happened to look our way. Still, it sets my heart racing, and I immediately want more.
It’s crazy how quickly we’ve fallen into this new version of us. I can’t wait to come home every night, knowing that, if he’s not at the bar, he’ll be there cooking dinner for me and Paige. We usually watch a movie, something that Paige picks, or sometimes we play a game of chess. Othertimes, Hudson will play video games, while Paige watches something on her tablet and I read. He almost always pulls my feet into his lap at the end of the night and either gives me a foot rub or just lets them rest there, like it’s the most natural thing in the world for us to touch each other in these ways.
“You didn’t wake me up before you left this morning,” I say, slipping my arm through his while we walk to the lake.
He leans in to plant a kiss on the top of my head, something that he’s done for years. How did I never notice how nice that feels?
“Figured I’d let you sleep in after I rocked your world all night.” His grin is cocky, and I bump him with my hip, my cheeks heating again. Will I ever not blush when he talks about sex between us? Probably not.
Everyone is out of the water and gathered at the picnic table when we walk up, with the exception of Hutch and the kids, who are all intently watching him strategically stack rocks from where he’s crouched in the dirt, twenty or so feet away. Wren hands Hank a towel, and he leans in to plant a kiss on her lips. She swats at his chest when he shakes his wet hair on her.
Working the towel against his hair, he smiles at Ginger. “Hey, Red,” he says.
Ginger laughs at his nickname for her and leans in to give him a quick side hug. They seem just like old friends when she says, “Hey, best friend’s baby daddy.”
Hudson moves to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and resting his chin on the top of my head. It’s not an unusual thing for him to do in front of his family, but it feels different now that we’re messing around. The length of him along my body is comforting, but it also sends a wave of desire through me when I remember how I woke up with him pressed against my back in the middle of the night last night. Thatquickly led to two intense, mind-blowing back-to-back orgasms—one on his tongue and the other on his cock.
