Page 37 of All the Beautiful Things
I debated a moment too long. Hudson moved back and gave me a smile that said he saw my struggle and would wait until there was none. He pushed off the bed and grinned down at me.
“I need to use the bathroom. Do you need your purse?”
“No.” My phone was in there, but I already knew Hudson would set an alarm. He woke up hours before I usually did so he could exercise before work.
Blasphemy, I teased him for it once. It wasn’t human or natural to wake before the sun when temperatures were freezing to move your body. That’s what comforters and electric blankets were created for.
He returned to his room minutes later. The bed dipped from his weight and a gust of cold air wafted under his raised sheets. I turned to him, propped my arm up on my elbow and settled my head in my palm.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Only if it’s easy to answer.” I understood him. No more heavy tonight.
This skirted the line, but I forged ahead anyway. “This building. Was it really one of the listings available to the people who lived in my old one and the other ones torn down?”
He rubbed his hand over his face. “Lilly—”
I poked his chest. The answer didn’t so much matter, more the reasoning behind it. “Tell me.”
“It would be safe to say that we might be losing out on some mortgage payments due to a few units that haven’t been able to sell as quickly as we’d predicted.”
“Why would you do that?” It took a second for the plural part of that statement to register. “Oh my gosh! Samaya! Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shoved his chest, pushing him to his back, and he grabbed my wrist before I could yank it back. I was curled over him, hand settled on his bare chest, palm warm from being pressed to his tight, hot skin.
He gave me a grin, full of wicked delight and happiness. “Because I wanted you near me and safe. And because Samaya was there for you when you were hurt. It was a small sacrifice.”
“You showed me this building knowing it’d be my favorite.”
“That didn’t mean I knew you would take it. You’re stubborn and at the time, mistrusting enough, I figured there was a chance you’d stay close to where you were already comfortable.”
“Stubborn,” I scoffed and yanked back my hand, putting space between us. He’d always known me so well. Now I understood why, but that didn’t diminish my pain over it all. Even if I was the one who started this conversation. “You did that for me.”
“I wanted you close.”
“Hudson.”
He groaned and reached for me. “No more. Let me hold you and sleep this shitty day away. You can interrogate me all you want tomorrow once I have energy to think straight.”
The words came out slow, like it was taking effort for him to speak after such a long, crappy day.
I gave in easily. I was there to help, not further stress him out.
“Okay.” I dropped to my side, rolled over, putting my back to him and then shifting until the lengths of our bodies were aligned and his arm wrapped over my stomach. He grabbed my hand and held ours clasped together, and soon the soft puffs of his breath mixed with my racing heart were the only sounds in the room.
I was almost asleep when he whispered in my ear. “Don’t leave in the morning. Please.”
Relaxed, warm, and in his arms that had begun to make me feel so safe, I had the urge to tell him I wasn’t going anywhere, but the promise stuck in my throat.
“I’ll be here tomorrow,” I said instead, and squeezed his hand holding mine. “And I’m glad I was here tonight. And just you know, I wasn’t just there for David.”
* * *
I woke and stretched,groaning from a bed so soft. My eyes immediately popped open. It took me a minute to take in the dark blue walls, the walnut dresser on one side and the white comforter I was sleeping beneath to realize I was in Hudson’s bed. Rolling to my side, I searched for him but the side of his bed was empty. My eyes were scratchy, probably from all the tears I shed yesterday, and it was that reminder of David that jolted me sitting and had me whipping my feet to the floor.
Hudson.
David.
