16. Hudson

16

HUDSON

W e wake up the same way we did in Vegas—naked, wrapped in each other’s arms. Except this time, I remember every single moment of the previous night, and it’s now branded as part of my soul.

She’s perfect, and it’s absolutely terrifying because she’s a loose cannon and I have no idea if she’s just going to disappear on me.

I’m up, showered, and ready to get to the stadium. I order breakfast for both of us to eat before I drop her off at work.

This feels very domestic, which I don’t mind so much. It’s Ember that I think does. She has a strange outlook on relationships. It’s clear she doesn’t want one, for reasons I haven’t been able to figure out yet, but she feels something for me.

At least I think so.

Speaking of relationships, I need to figure out my... situation. I didn’t bring it up last night, but I can’t keep avoiding it.

“So... I have a predicament. I... sort of, need some help with…” I mention nonchalantly as she walks out of the room into the kitchen, where I have placed some fruit and pastries .

She climbs up on the kitchen barstool, eyeing the layout of the food I’ve put out. “Really? What kind of predicament?”

I slide a cup of black coffee her way, placing it next to a small saucer with cream and sugar packets. She wraps her hands around the coffee cup, holds it just under her chin, as she closes her eyes and inhales, then takes a slow sip of the dark liquid and happily moans. I have no idea why discovering her being a straight black coffee drinker is a turn on for me.

But everything she does is.

She is leisurely bringing the cup back to her lips to take small sips, but stops dead on route when I tell her.

“I sort of told my coach I am married, and he wants to meet you,” I say, popping a grape in my mouth like it’s no big deal.

“Why?” Her brows are pinched together.

I chew on the inside of my cheek and my lips purse out a bit as I debate on how to say this.

“He thought it would help with my image. He wasn’t as interested in the trade if I was single.” I leave it as generic as possible.

“Mr. Byrnes...” elongating my name. “Did you have an issue with your image ?”

I roll my eyes. “No, he just associates bachelors with partiers.”

She drapes her head to one side, like she knows better.

“My first year in the majors, I got injured, and I was injured for quite some time. They moved me down to minors, and my behavior during that time was not the best. That lingering reputation is still thought of at times, even though I haven’t been reckless in years,” I admit. “I’ve been waiting for this opportunity and… I just really need it.” The admission feels too vulnerable and desperate for my liking, but she needs to know how badly I want it.

“So, can you just stop by the stadium today? Pretend to be a doting wife for a day?” I smile, raising my eyebrows, silently begging.

She stares at me, with a sexy pout and a curious squint.

I’m not sure why she fights this so hard. I need to be persistent and show her what this could be and that she doesn’t have to keep hiding from it.

“I’ll get the keys for the condo, and we can move in. You can stay until you get a place in order. So, it’s like an exchange of favors.” I lean back on the counter, crossing my legs with my coffee in hand.

Still holding her mug, she places it in front of her and then turns her head to gaze at the sunrise through the balcony windows of the hotel. The sun is still low on the horizon, making the red and orange rays of the sky glow within the apartment walls. It highlights her natural color and brings out the green in her eyes, that look like perfect uncut gems.

When she turns her eyes back to mine, they look lighter than I’ve ever seen. I hope I had something to do with that, and it’s not just the sunrise.

“I’m in a little situation as well.” She bites the corner of her mouth.

“You don’t say.” Slowly, I smile because she needs something, too.

“Don’t do that with your smug face.” She throws a strawberry at me, then grabs some other seedy item, tossing it at me.

“Okay, okay. Stop, fruit ninja,” putting my hands up in surrender. “What can I do for you?”

She pauses, taking in a deep breath.

“I had to tell my parents I was just visiting here. I told them it was a friend I met in Vegas. But I’m going to be here a lot longer, and I have to go home for an event in a few months. It would be better if I brought that someone with me, so they think I’m in a relationship and not moving back home.” She shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “It would look better if I got into a relationship, then I can tell them I’m officially moving here.”

Every chance she gets, Ember distances herself from me, and it’s clear she doesn’t want a relationship, yet she lied to her parents about moving here because of a friend she met in Vegas.

I’m fucking confused.

“I don’t get it,” is the only reply I can think of.

“They were more accepting that I was visiting a friend for an extended period and taking some personal time for myself than moving here for a job.”

My brows pinch together, still trying to understand.

“They have never been supportive of my desire for a career. Even after I put myself through school, all they wanted was for me to give them grand babies and marry Elliot.” She says that guy’s name like it’s a plague, which makes me quite happy, I must say.

But who the fuck is Elliot?

I take a step toward the counter and lean closer to her.

“Let me understand. You knew your parents wouldn’t let you move here for a job. So you told them you met someone, in an entirely different state, and they were okay with you leaving? Alone?”

“Yeah.” She chuckles shyly. “Ass backward, right?”

“It’s not Elliot specific?” I ask.

“Nope, not for me, at least. I mean, we dated, and my parents think he’s God’s gift to… well, everything. He was my boyfriend during some of my college years and my next-door neighbor. He sort of works for my dad, and my dad has been pushing Elliot to propose because it really helps his campaign, even bought the ring for him and everything.

“I’ve never had a desire to be married.” She gives me another shy smile, even though her statement feels like a stab in the heart, considering we are actually married. On paper, at least .

“My mother is at my dad’s beck and call. What he likes, she likes. His good days are her good days. His bad moods are her bad moods. She’s never had a life of her own. I don’t want that for myself. I want a career and a life that I choose... for me,” she confesses.

I cross an arm over my chest, using it as leverage for my other. I press my mouth into the back of my hand to mask my face.

I am obsessed with a woman who is terrified of relationships.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

“So, you see, Hud, this is a perfect setup. I can fake it for your coach, and you can help me get my parents off my back for a bit. We just have to promise each other we won’t make it complicated with feelings during this little arrangement of ours. After that, we’ll just have the paperwork to clean up the whole accidental marriage thing. It’s a win-win for us both.”

Fuck. That.

Not only did she eliminate a future with me, she called me “Hud”, sentencing me to the goddamn friend zone.

Pushing this, pushing her, isn’t going to work out well for me.

I have to keep this light, unless I want to keep seeing the back of her head.

“Okay. Cross my heart and hope to die. No complications,” putting an X on my chest.

“Oh no, I don’t like that. It’s too morbid.” She places her elbow on the counter and holds her pinky out to me. “Pinky promise.”

“Pinky promise? I don’t think I’ve pinky promised anyone since grade school, little red,” I quip back with a chuckle.

“It’s better than crossing your heart, hoping to die! Who came up with that, anyway?”

She’s not wrong .

I slip my pinky in hers, my eyes bouncing back and forth between her eyes, lips, and our intertwined pinky promise that I know is impossible to uphold. There is no way I can stop myself from the feelings I have brewing inside me, and it’s the first time I have no intention of keeping my word.

She releases our bond, and I realize how much I hate it when I’m not touching her.

“So, not only do you need me to attend this... what kind of event is it?” I don’t think she said.

“My parents’ wedding anniversary,” she replies quickly.

My face flashes a pinch of shock before recovering. “Your parents’ wedding anniversary?”

She just nods, biting into another strawberry, and the way her lips wrap around the base is ridiculously distracting.

“Well, you’re going to owe me. Big time.” I exaggerate the ‘big’ part.

“What? How so?” she whines a bit.

“Attending your parents’ wedding anniversary and you need a place to stay for the next two weeks. That’s two favors. The playing field is no longer even. Oh, how the tables have turned, Mrs. Byrnes,” I say to her with a smile.

She rolls her eyes, shaking her head with a smile. She leans forward, crooking her finger at me. So, I lean in to meet her.

“For as long as you get to call me Mrs. Byrnes , we’re even, Mr. Byrnes.” Her whisper of mister and missus is playful and sounds so goddamn sexy.

She’s right, though. I need the married title more than she needs me.

She’s close enough that I can’t help my eyes from peering down at her lips, desperate to kiss them. Instead, I place a gentle kiss on her cheek before pushing myself back up. “Alright then, Mrs. Byrnes, let’s get you to work.”