Page 54 of What About Us
Hudson:Unless burglars steal giant bowls of cereal, you’re safe.
It takes a couple of minutes before she replies.
Jameson:Wanna come up?
Hudson:Can I bring my cereal?
Jameson:Only if you’re willing to share.
I chuckle and tuck my phone into the back pocket of my jeans, then grab my bowl and head upstairs.
She’s propped against the headboard and surrounded by a giant heap of pillows when I walk into her room. She’s got her glasses on, hair up in a messy bun, and her Kindle in her lap. I can just make out the outline of her nipples in the tiny tank top she’s wearing. I force my eyes away. Now is not the time to be checking out her tits. She’s just gotten over being mad at me. At least, I hope she has.
I walk into the room and round the other side of the bed, opposite from the one I slept on the other night. Setting my bowl on the bed and watching so it doesn’t spill, I stretch out next to her. I settle on my stomach, with my bowl resting right below my chin on the bed to catch any drips of milk while I eat. She turns her head and opens her mouth like a baby bird, waiting for me to scoop in a spoonful of cereal.
I chuckle and shovel up a medium-sized bite, moving it to her mouth. A dribble of milk runs down her chin when I pull the spoon out and she swipes it away with the back of her hand as she chews.
“You’re not ignoring me anymore?” I ask with a smirk and shovel in a bite of cereal.
She grimaces and swallows her food. With a sigh, she grumbles, “You’re too cute to ignore for long. Damn those Hayes family genes. Plus, you’ve fed me twice today. Can’t bite the hand that feeds me. Or ignore it, in this case.”
I shoot her a cocky grin. “So, you think I’m cute, huh?”
Her shoulders shake with laughter. “Shut up.”
We fall into a comfortable silence, with her turning back to her book and me back to eating. I offer her one more bite before finishing off the cerealand drinking the rest of the milk in the bowl. I set it on the floor next to the bed, then pull a pillow from her pile and tuck it under my head.
“You still mad at me?” I ask, poking her in the arm when she doesn’t look up from her Kindle.
She eyes me, and for a minute, I think she won’t answer. But then, she sighs, rolls her eyes, and folds her arms over her chest. She’s adorable even when she’s trying to be annoyed.
“No. But I mean, I’m not,notmad at you.”
I lean in and whisper in an innocent tone, “But I shared my cereal.”
“You shared two bites!” She grabs a pillow and whacks me in the face with it, breaking out into a giggle. That’s when I know that no matter how upset she is with me, that we’ll be ok.
After I wrestle the pillow away from her, I turn over on my back.
“What are you reading?” I ask.
“Alien romance. Dude’s got a tail, and his horns turn red when he comes.”
My head snaps in her direction, and she smirks at me when I huff out a laugh.
We’re quiet for a few minutes and I think she’s gone back to reading, but then she whispers, “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
“It’s ok,” I whisper back.
She shakes her head on the pillow. “No, it’s not. You were just trying to help, and I was mean.”
“Somean,” I taunt, and then give her a half smile. “I understand why you were, though. I knew going to Erin wasn’t the ideal option, but it was the only one I had to get you what you needed quickly. I’m sorry it was her, but…”
“You’re not sorry you did it,” she finishes for me, and I nod.
She laces her fingers with mine, until our palms are touching and resting on the bed at our sides.
“For the record, I do understand why you did it,” she confesses. “I don’t like that it was Erin, but…thank you, anyway.”
