37. Hudson

37

HUDSON

W e managed to sneak out of the club undetected after the most intense sex session I’ve ever experienced. The orgasm high lingered over half the flight, then a slight tinge of guilt settled in, realizing I spied on my best friend DP’ing his wife with their significant other. I have no idea how I’m going to tell him, or if ever, but it was still the hottest goddamn thing I’ve ever witnessed. It wasn’t the scene that made it so unbelievable, but the sexy woman seated next to me in yet another emergency exit aisle.

It feels like we’ve come full circle at this point, with everything we’ve experienced in the short amount of time we’ve been together. We’re over halfway through our agreement . I hide my internal eye roll, saying the words in my head. Even though things are nowhere near what they were like in the beginning, a part of me is still terrified she’ll find any excuse to end this at the end of our business arrangement, when there is no, and I mean no good fucking reason to stop.

I’m going to lay everything out on the table this weekend. I don’t want to wait for her to make plans to go anywhere else but with me. At this point, there’s no other option for me. She’s it. She’s everything.

The plane taxis and we exit with our luggage and head straight to the car rental place. The hotel isn’t far, thank god, because my legs feel like I lit them on fire after running a double marathon.

I told her I could squat like that all day, but I don’t typically wall squat while impaling the most gorgeous redhead with my cock, bouncing incessantly while attempting to control an orgasm.

Needless to say, I’m glad I don’t have a game for a few days because I now need to recover from the brutal beating I put them through.

Worth every fucking minute, though.

“I love hotels with you,” she says as we walk into the one we’ve reserved for the weekend. “It reminds me of when we met.” She smiles at me with a shyness I only see when she gets vulnerable.

I want to take advantage of this moment to tell her how much I feel the same, tell her how much I don’t want this to be fake anymore. It’s never been fake for me. But I pause too long, unsure of my words.

“I’m going to shower. I am filthy.” She gives me an astute look, like it’s my fault.

It is, but still, the nerve.

“Think we can just sleep in and then do absolutely nothing until the party tomorrow?” she asks.

“I think that’s the best idea you’ve ever had.” Agreeing with her wholeheartedly as I unknowingly rub my quad muscles by instinct.

“Before we go to bed, I’ll give you a massage. Your legs need it.” She turns around, walking to the bathroom, carrying toiletries in her hand and way too much self-satisfaction in the other .

“All day, little red. I could have done that all day,” I yell out with a smile, making sure she can hear me before walking through the bathroom door.

She uh-hms me, then shuts the door.

I don’t just love hotels with you. I love everything with you.

Pulling up to the driveway in front of a mammoth-sized colonial house, there are cars lined up along the long circular driveway, already doubling up since we passed through the gate. It was an advanced level Tetris game trying to find a spot to park. Ember hasn’t talked much about her family life or specifically her home, so I’m surprised to discover her family is royalty in this small town, being that the entire town appears to be here at their party.

The house must be five thousand square feet, on multiple acres of land. It’s surrounded by lush green trees and a wrought iron gate. Having their party here makes total sense, since it feels equivalent to driving up to Buckingham Palace, Midwest style, and I’m certain no place in town could come close to competing with this.

Ember shared that her father has been the mayor of this town and dedicated to the town and the local counties heavily over their years here. In most towns, a mayor doesn’t have much pull in the grand scheme of things. But based on what I’m hearing, her parents are deeply involved in the political scene, both locally and statewide, and he uses his connections wisely.

Her parents, well, father, specifically, paid for all her brother’s educations, and they contributed nothing for her. That was irritating enough. Now knowing she grew up like this and she had to pay her own way through college. Well, that just pisses me off .

Her eyes look vacantly at the house with a pained appearance in them. I know this moment has been weighing on her. For a while, I thought it was introducing me to her family, but after she shared with me the text messages she received, I realized a couple of things.

One, Elliot is deeply embedded in her family and wants her back. Two, they don’t care about anything else except getting her back home to live a mediocre life that she doesn’t want.

Neither one of those is happening today or ever.

“Are you doing okay?”

She blinks and turns to look at me, opening her mouth to reply, but closing it quickly. Instead of using words, she grants me a thin-lipped smile and nods before shifting her gaze back to the house.

The silence between us is deafening. We’ve been living in our own world, and it’s really been just the two of us in this so-called fake relationship. We’ve been able to ignore almost everything else around us, and it’s been literal heaven.

Sitting outside her parents’ house is a reality check I don’t think either one of us is ready for. If they are anything like I think they are, they will manipulate her into coming back home or making her feel guilty enough to give up on everything she wants to make them, or Elliot, happy.

Again, not fucking happening.

I exit the car and round the front of it, my attempt to distract Ember from the monstrosity in front of us. Opening her door, I hold out my hand to guide her out of the car.

“You know, we probably need safe words here.”

Her neck snaps in my direction. “What?” she replies, confused.

“Yeah, you know. If you need an escape.” I tilt my chin up at the house.

Her mouth turns down with a slight eyebrow raise in realization that it’s not a bad idea .

“So, if you need a quick getaway, what are you going to tell me?” I slide my hand behind the small of her back, pulling her close to me, hovering my lips over hers.

“Big Red,” she whispers.

“And what about you? What’s yours… if you need to get the hell out of there?” She tries to hide the crack in her voice, but she’s worried.

Wrapping my pinky around hers. “Nothing, and I mean nothing, will scare me off from you, little red.”

So, yeah… we were completely in our own world until the moment we walked under those pillars, which now seem more like overly sized prison bars.

Far from humid, the house still feels stuffy and claustrophobic. Dressed up like a home, decorated with both modern vibes and vintage touches, elegant antiques and expensive rugs that make you feel guilty walking on. It’s cluttered with everything but love.

A few people walk through the house and linger in the kitchen as we walk through to the patio and through the French doors into the backyard where the party is.

String lights line the multiple canopies that surround a staged dance floor, with a few people already dancing to 80s music blaring from the speakers strategically placed throughout the open space.

There are men and women dressed in penguin suits carrying trays of beer, wine, champagne, and hors d’oeuvres.

Fucking really?

I get the celebration, and I am all for celebrating love. But this event probably cost more than the education that Ember struggled for five years to pay for herself, which just builds the bitterness I have for her parents even deeper into my gut .

“There are my parents.” She points to a couple, standing stiffly next to each other, talking to a small group of people their age. “And those guys, they are my brothers.” The guys standing around the bar, taking shots. She points to each one. “The oldest, he’s Robert Jr., but he goes by Bobby, and that’s Benson, and Cody.”

She’s been so reserved about her family, and whenever I ask questions, she keeps her answers vague. They seem like fun guys; guys I would get along with typically. I tell myself not to be bitter about the way they’ve allowed their parents to treat her, because it’s not their fault, but damn, it’s hard to disconnect from that.

“Benson and Cody are married with kids.” Her head nods over to the two women sitting, talking quietly, as one holds one child and the other holds another around the same age, while a third child runs around the table with an airplane in his hand.

“Shall we go say hi?” she asks, her eyes fixed on her parents.

“I’m just following your lead, little red.”

“Ember!” Benson calls through the backyard, excited as he jogs toward us, perfectly timed with the transition from the last song, so the room was quiet enough for everyone to hear and turn to look in our direction.

They all act like Ember has come back from the dead, whispering and looking around.

I know she didn’t tell her parents she was moving, and led them—and apparently the whole town—to believe that she was just taking an extended break and spending some time in Seattle. So, I guess for her to be gone for months and come back married is odd. But wow, the judgment swims through the air like maple syrup.

Benson picks up Ember, and she lets out a slight squeal, as he spins her around in a tight hug. He’s clearly happy to see her, and she’s happy to see him. She must feel the same about Benson that I do about Grant .

Setting her down, he reaches his hand out to me. “I’m Benson. And I’m a Seattle fan, but don’t tell my dad.”

“Hudson. Great to meet you, and your secret is safe with me.” Our grips match each other as we meet eye to eye. We measure each other up and instantly, there’s a kindred spirit, a silent but mutual understanding.

We’re both on Team Ember.

Since that’s settled, I move on to the other two brothers that trail up leisurely behind Benson. Cody first introduces himself and we shake. It’s kind enough, but he’s skeptical.

Bobby stands a football field away, appraising us all. I reach out to shake his hand, and he tilts his chin at me, giving me the only acknowledgment he feels like I deserve.

The internal debate to punch his smug face crosses my mind. If it were Seamus, that’s probably what he would do, but I do recognize that he’s Ember’s older brother and I am giving him the benefit of the doubt that he’s just being protective of her and not controlling.

“Bobby…” Ember’s eye roll can be seen from space.

“Come on, let’s go say hi to my parents.” Ember grabs my hand and leads me further into the backyard. She’s taking charge, and I fucking love when she stands up for herself.

“Nice to meet you guys.”

As we walk toward her parents, they stiffen more, if that’s even possible. We’re here celebrating their thirty years of love and devotion, yet they don’t even look like they like each other, much less love each other.

There is always a distinct look of a politician. Ember’s father exudes this energy loud enough to be heard across the entire state of Missouri. It stiffens the air around us and blankets everything with complete revulsion. It matches the scowl on his face, which is so hard a divot appears between his brows deeper than a moon crater, and his jaw is as tight as a TSA guard. Jesus, forget liking each other; there is no love or happiness seeing his gorgeous, successful, driven daughter. It’s like he’s disgusted that she purely exists.

I always assumed Ember would look exactly like her mother, and they look alike, but different. Her platinum hair is harshly dyed and as dry as a tumbleweed. She holds herself like a queen in an all white jumpsuit, and her eyes are nothing like the jade gems I gaze into in Ember. Her confidence is a stark contrast to the moments when Ember is confident. Her mother’s comes with an extra large side of superiority and an excess of arrogance.

They don’t hug her or kiss her. They don’t even smile at her.

“Mom, Dad, this is Hudson. Hudson, these are my parents, Esther and Robert Riley.” Her voice is tight as she introduces me.

“You always introduce me first, young lady,” he scolds her immediately before turning to me.

“Good evening.” I’d say it’s great to meet you, but it’s not. Keeping that thought to myself, I hold my right hand out to Robert. He switches the grip on his drink into his shaking hand, and I stand similarly to how I stood with his mini me, Bobby Jr., blankly holding my hand out that he refuses to shake.

Esther reaches over and slides her hand into mine to take the focus off her husband. “It’s a few months too late to introduce yourself, don’t you think?” Esther replies as she quickly shakes my hand out of obligation, then lets it go.

“I understand what you must think, but I am very committed to your daughter,” I reply, with more truth than I can admit to Ember. I’d stay fake married to her for life, if that’s what she needed.

He completely ignores me, looking straight at Ember. “You said you needed some time away. You weren’t supposed to run off and ruin your life. You are done acting like a lovesick teenager, do you understand me? You are staying home, that’s final.”

“Dad,” Ember whispers, looking around.

Esther says nothing, just staring at Ember with laser focus, scolding her silently.

“How could you be so careless and stupid?” he replies. Calling her stupid eases off his tongue like it’s as automatic as breathing. Ember’s shoulders deflate and her gaze turns downward to her feet, like it typically does the moment she internally starts scolding herself, and I see exactly where this behavior comes from.

“Enough of this.” I pull Ember into me and step back, turning around and walking away from the pending nuclear bomb that the situation holds.

I glance back to Robert taking a sip of his drink and her mother smiling, checking her surroundings, making sure no one heard. Both act like nothing is wrong. When everything is fucking wrong.

How can they treat her with such disregard? They haven’t seen her in months and showed no excitement that she’s home.

When my gaze returns to Ember’s, her eyes are filled with tears that she fights to hold back. We turn the corner into a private, secluded area of the backyard. She is still gazing down, shamed, humiliated, and fucking broken.

I pull her chin up to look at me. A tear escapes, floating down her cheek, and I watch it trail away from her gorgeous emerald eyes. The ones I’ve seen light up with so much love and excitement for the new life she is building for herself, but are now extinguished of the brilliance they normally beam.

The anger I have felt since all of this has come to light is boiling over. It takes everything in me to refrain from stealing her away from here and never allowing her to look back.

“I just wish they would be more understanding. I wish the things that I did, the things I work so hard to accomplish, would make them proud.” Her voice breaks, like her shattered spirit, barely loud enough for me to hear her.

“Your mom didn’t say anything,” I state, factually but questionably.

“She doesn’t, she never does. Like I said, whatever my dad wants, she wants.” That irritates me. She literally has no one in her corner. Except maybe Benson, but it seems like no one really stands up to her parents.

“We don’t have to stay. We can do whatever you want,” I remind her.

“No, I need to stay. You can go. I can just Uber back to the hotel.”

Oh, fuck that.

“If you think I’m leaving you here after that display of complete fuckery, you have lost your goddamn mind.” I am never leaving her alone with them. If they say shit like that to her in front of me, I can’t even imagine what they would say privately. I pull her close and she melts into me. I revel in the feeling that she’s no longer running and finally letting me be whatever she needs me to be.

“I think maybe we should show them a recap of our wedding night. I can request some 112 from the DJ, and he can play Anywhere for us so we can show Elliot what a real Vegas show looks like?”

“Oh my god, don’t you dare.” She pulls away to look at me, showing me how serious she is, but with a hint of a smile behind her eyes.

“Okay, okay. I’ll behave.” I chuckle, before I lean in to whisper in her ear and show her how serious I am.

“Unless I see Elliot come near you… then I will claim you in front of him and burn the vision of us into his thick skull, and I don’t care who sees.”