Page 127 of What About Us
“I love you, baby. I love you so fucking much,” he murmurs against my mouth. His tongue is doing delicious things to my insides, turning me to molten lava.
“I love you too,” I say between kisses. “But right now, I need you to fuck me like you don’t. I need it hard and messy and I want it now,” I plead. “I want to feel you inside me for days. Fuck me, Hudson. Ruin me for anyone else. Make me yours.”
His breathing is ragged and his eyes dance back and forth between mine as he pants, every muscle coiled tight. “Jesus Christ, you’re fucking perfect.”
And when he slams himself home, I know every single person in that bar knows…I’m his.
We make a beeline for the bathroom when we retreat from the office twenty minutes later. Hudson stands outside the door to give me a second to clean up without interruption. When I emerge, he pins me against the wall and kisses me breathless one more time. My hands find his ass and slip into the back pockets of his jeans. I cannot get enough of this man, and apparently, the feeling is mutual.
When we finally come up for air, he grabs my hand and leads me back into the bar. His siblings are still sitting in a booth talking and laughing.
Wren sees us first, face concerned, until her eyes catch on our linked fingers. A smile spreads across her face, and she not so gently digs her nails into Hank’s arm where it rests on the tabletop, his fingers around a glass of whiskey. He looks up, then follows her gaze to Hudson and me, before clearing his throat to stop the chatter at the table. Six sets of eyes watch us expectantly.
Hudson gives my hand a squeeze. “So, I guess you all heard that,” he starts.
“The whole fucking town heard it, brother,” Hutch says with a smirk.
Hudson ducks his head and chuckles, before pulling me against him by the waist.
“So, is it true?” Hayley pipes up, eyes glittering. “Are you two finally getting your shit together?”
Hudson glances down at me, and I give him a smile and a nod. I love this man, and I wanteveryoneto know.
“It’s true,” he says, keeping his eyes on mine. A grin spreads across his handsome face and it lights me up inside.
“I knew it!” Wren exclaims. She awkwardly shuffles out of the booth and launches herself at us, throwing her arms around both of us the best she can with her pregnant belly. “Just friends, my ass!” she scolds through a laugh.
Hank follows and claps Hudson on the back. “It’s about fuckin’ time, man.”
Then, we’re being pulled into hugs by each of Hudson’s siblings, congratulations going all around, and my heart is full to bursting. Tears of happiness mix with our laughter. This is what I’ve dreamed of my whole life—a loud, raucous bunch to heal the broken pieces of me.
Hutch, of course, is more than willing to fill everyone in on the ceremony. No one bats an eye when we explain how we actually came to be husband and wife, and that Hutch was the one to make it official.
Hudson is quick to ask his siblings to let us be the ones to tell his parents. We’ll go over tomorrow to pick up Paige and tell them then. I have no doubt they’ll be over the moon. I’ve never once doubted my acceptance into their family; their love for me has always been clear. But it still all feels so surreal. I’m not just an honorary Hayes anymore. I’m one of them.
Chapter 47
Finnley
“Run upstairs and change,and I’ll get the picnic ready, ok?” I say, dropping my purse on the island and kicking off my shoes by the door.
We’ve just come home from our Mommy and Me date. Despite Tristen’s absence, and her canceling her trip altogether, Paige has been surprisingly happy all day. She chattered on like any other day while I put her hair into Dutch braids.
She had given my hand a tug just outside the community center, stopping me before we went inside, and I’d crouched down to her level. She hesitantly cupped her tiny hand around her mouth and leaned in real close to my ear. It melted my heart when she had whispered, “Can we say you’re my mommy?”
I wanted nothing more than to be introduced as her mom to all of her friends at camp, but since we hadn’t discussed things beforehand with Hudson, I wasn’t sure it was the best idea. Not that he would mind, but Timber Forge is a small town and people talk. So, I’d pulled her into a hug and given her an alternative.
“I used to call my mom, ‘mama.’ How about you call me Mama Finnley?”
Her eyes had beamed up at me and she’d nodded vigorously, her braids whipping up from her shoulders with the movement.
Paige doesn’t know it yet, but I am going to be the very best stepmom I can for her.
I watch her now, heading for the stairs to go and change. She drops her backpack on the floor next to the stairs, then grabs ahold of the newel post and swings her way up the first two steps.
“Hey, sweet girl, remember what your dad said about your backpack?” I call out.
She halts, then tiptoes backward down the stairs, eyes widened comically and lips tipped down into a funny frown. It makes me chuckle. “I forgot. Sorry, Finnley.
