28. Bridget

TWENTY-EIGHT

Bridget

Nothing happened the rest of the night, so I assumed that I was just being paranoid. But even now as I sit next to Mason on the couch, Mia playing happily in front of us on the floor with her tea set, that nagging feeling of dread won't go away.

Jai has never been far behind me, and this is, honestly, the longest I've gone without him finding me.

It's only a matter of time, and I don't know what to do this time.

I don't want to run. I have Mason in my life now, and furthermore, I have Mia. The little girl is the daughter I could never hope for.

Plus, there's my mother and brother. They've been so great, and spending time with them both after five long years away has been…desperately needed.

I don't want to give that all up.

"So, breakfast?" Mason's words interrupt my thoughts, and he turns from looking at Mia to face me. "I'm thinking coffee isn't going to cut it this morning."

Laughing, I remember Mason's five am wake-up call in the form of his hands between my legs and nod.

"Hmm, yes. I seem to be dragging a bit this morning as well. It's like someone woke me up too early."

I smirk over at him, and Mason takes my hand, kissing the back. "If you can tell me with a straight face that you didn't enjoy my new and improved version of an alarm clock, I'll never bother you with it again."

Doing my best to keep my expression neutral, I start with, "I did not…"

But it all comes crumbling down, and I laugh, swatting at Mason as he pulls me closer.

"All right, all right! I admit it. Your alarm has converted me to a morning person."

Mason grins, leaning back with an expression that's all "the cat that got the cream." For a moment, we just chuckle at each other, and then he scoots closer, kissing me on the neck.

"Good. Because it's here to stay."

Before I can say anything back, Mason lifts up the panel of the robe I'm wearing—graciously lent to me by the man of the house—and I shoo him away.

"Hey, beat it." I nod sideways at Mia, who's still just enjoying her tea party with Bluey playing in the background. "We have an audience."

Holding his hands up, Mason smirks as he scoops back and then stands up. "Fair, fair. I'll go start on that breakfast, yeah?"

"Extra bacon, please." I smile, knowing I could probably ask Mason for anything, and he'd say yes.

Which is a very welcome change from my last relationship.

But before Mason can take more than a step, the doorbell rings. He stops in his tracks, looking down at me.

All I can do is raise my brows. Who would I have come over to the house this early? On a weekend, no less.

Mason looks confused, and when he turns back toward the door, my stomach drops. Is it Jai?

I shake myself. Why would Jai use the doorbell? I'm just being paranoid again. As I try to swallow down the panic, I pull the halves of the robe closer together.

"Oh, shit. That's right." Mason stops again, turning around. "I told Hudson to come by to plan a playdate for Mia and Juniper."

"Hudson!" I shoot up off the couch. "You're kidding me?"

"Sorry." Mason makes a face, his brows knitting together as the remorse plays out over his features. "You should go change. I'll keep him in the kitchen."

Throwing my hands up, I go for the stairs, rushing to get some damn clothes on before my brother walks in and finds me lounging around in nothing but a robe.

Shit, shit, shit. This is not how I want him to find out.

My steps fly over the floor and into Mason's bedroom to grab my clothes. I scoop up the shorts, not bothering with my underwear. It'll suck, but I can fix it later.

With them on, I yank on my tee once I've located it and then hurry to the bathroom to rinse my mouth out with some mouthwash. It's probably stupid, but all I can think is that I have potent morning breath.

As good as it's going to get, I hurry back down the stairs, carrying one of Mia's stuffed animals and playing it off like I was getting it for her.

In the living room, Mia is still at her tea party, but now Hudson is standing just inside with Mason on his right.

They both look over at me as I come into the living room, and I hold up the bear.

"Got it." I wave the stuffy around and then hand it to Mia, who's thankfully happy to accept it. "Here you go. Hi, Hudson."

Hudson furrows his brow a bit and then turns back to Mason. "So, as I was saying, Mom wants to invite everyone over. It could be a good time to have the kids play."

Mason nods, his hands on his hips, and that's when I realize he's still in his PJ shorts—and no shirt.

Rolling my lips between my teeth, I try very hard to just blend in with the walls and disappear. It doesn't work.

"Sure, that sounds like a great?—"

"Why are you shirtless?" Hudson cocks a brow at Mason as he cuts him off. "Didn't think you needed to cover up around the babysitter?"

I scoff, rolling my eyes as I walk over toward him. "Hudson, I'm hardly just the babysitter. We've all been friends forever, and this is hardly the first time I've seen Mason shirtless."

All of that is objectively true, and I pray to God that Hudson chills it with the questions.

My brother nods, seeming to understand, but then he reaches out and pulls something on the front of my shirt.

"Your shirt's on backwards." He glares at me. "And inside out."

My stomach drops through the damn earth. That's what I get for being so hasty with the damn all-black tee.

"Oops. I swear. I do this all the time."

But I can tell Hudson isn't buying it as he looks between Mason and me. After a moment, his eyes go as wide as saucers, and a tiny gasp escapes.

"This is the booty call?!"

Hudson's voice is way too loud, and I see Mason look over at me from the corner of my eye.

"Booty call?" he remarks, and I shake my head.

"That's not… I was trying to…"

Oh my God. This is not happening.

"What?" Hudson interjects. "Cat got your tongue? Or is it apparently my best friend? What the hell?!"

Mason steps forward, putting his hand up between himself and Hudson like he's playing referee.

"Hey, I get that you're mad, but can we keep the screaming to a minimum around Mia?"

Hudson glares at me before his head ducks down, and I see his hands ball into fists.

"How long has this been going on?" He looks up at me, his glare penetrating. "I mean, you've clearly been at this. How long have you been sneaking around behind my back?"

"Hudson," I level him with a glare of my own, "that's totally uncalled for. I'm not sneaking. I just wasn't ready to tell you. Probably because I knew you'd react like this."

His eyes flare wider, and even though Hudson keeps his voice down, there's no mistaking the venom in his tone.

"My best friend, Bridget. And you didn't want to tell me?"

"Get down off your high horse, Hudson. We were both friends with Mason, and it's not like I'm dating him just to piss you off."

Hudson scoffs, rolling his eyes at me. "You've been gone for five years, and as soon as you're back in town, you happen to fall into bed with the guy you're nannying for? Classy, sis."

The air is shunted from my lungs as if Hudson had actually punched me, and I just stand there like an idiot, gaping at him.

"You lied to me." He looks over at Mason. "You both did. I'm…I'm out of here."

Hudson turns around to leave, and I just look over at Mason. My brother clearly isn't listening to me, and I don't know what else to say.

I never meant to lie to him, about this or the Jai bullshit, but it looks like I can't stop myself from obscuring the truth.

My heart aches as my eyes burn, and I hate what just fucking happened. This is not how I wanted Hudson to find out.

And we'd just been talking about telling everyone.

Mason steps into my line of sight, putting his hands on my shoulders. His brows are pinched tightly together, but he's doing his best to put on a smile.

"Hey, don't worry, I'll go talk to him. Watch Mia, okay?"

All I can do is nod, so that's what I do. I adore my brother, and I don't want this to ruin the relationship that we just started repairing.

The front door is about to slam when Mason catches it and rushes out after Hudson. I want to go out there and talk to him, too, but Mason's right.

He needs to smooth this over with Hudson alone. After all, I'm the stranger who's been gone for five years.

Guilt hits me square in the chest, and I nearly break down, but Mia comes walking in front of the living room and tugs on my hand.

"Tea party!"

Giving her a grin—because who wouldn't smile at that sweet little face—I nod and follow her over to the circle of stuffies and tea cups.

"Sure thing, Mia. Let's have some tea."

Keeping myself distracted takes quite a bit of effort, and I'm on edge as I wait for one of the guys to come back into the house.

I silently beg for Mason to be able to make Hudson see reason.

It's the twenty-first century, after all. We should be way past this silly dating my brother's friend nonsense.

Shaking myself, I realize that I'm trying to defend myself, and while I might have a point, I know that Hudson has every reason to be upset.

I just…I don't want Hudson to be upset. I want it to be the three of us again—like it was when we were younger.

Just with Mason and I a little closer than before. Okay, a lot closer.

Mia pours me a fake cup of tea, and I refocus on her. There's nothing more that I can do right now.

I just have to wait.