Hudson startled me as he plucked the cup from my hand and placed it on the table. He then pushed a beer against my palm. I wrapped my fingers around it automatically, and it was ice cold.
“Have arealdrink. Not that fizzy shit you girls think is classy.”
Classy? In a red plastic cup. There was nothing classy about that.
I lifted the bottle to my lips. It felt so raw and not me. Shit. I needed to stop drinking; my promise to my father rattled around my head.
Hudson watched my throat as I swallowed, a light appearing in his eyes. I wondered what he was thinking.
“Good?”
“It’s OK,” I said dismissively.
“How did you get here?”
“I came with Harper,” I said.
His face suggested he was surprised. “Oh dear, Nix won’t like that.”
“Why?” I questioned, glancing over at the big man himself.
“They have a thing. A bit like us, I suppose.”
“There is no us,” I scolded, shooting daggers towards his hookup.
I noticed Tate had started watching from her place by the black guy, and determined not to be beaten.
“Why are you looking at Tate like you want to bitch slap her then?”
“I’m not.”
“You don’t have to be jealous. She doesn’t taste as good as you.”
He said those words casually, like he went around sampling girls. And of course, he did. “I’m not jealous. I’m just surprised you kissed me when you clearly have something going on with Tate Parker,” I explained with a glance back toward said girl.
“Nothing is going on with Tate. Well, nothing with any substance anyway,” he replied in an amused voice. He was so sure of himself. I hated that he knew I was jealous.
“Really. Doessheknow that?” I said, mirroring Nash’s words about Hudson.
Glancing behind me towards her, he drawled, “She knows the rules.” Those dark, unreadable eyes switched back to mine.
Cocking my head, I questioned, “Rules?”
Hudson scratched his jaw with the hand that held his beer. “Yes. I don’t date, period.”
Why did his confirming that he was a player upset me so much?
Because you’re still cluelessly searching for the boy in the library.
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes and pointed out, “So what did you say to her that made her face light up like you’d just promised her the world?”
Something fluttered in my chest. This man knew exactly how to push my buttons. Hudson dashed a hand down his face, looking tired. “She’s just a hook-up, Molly.”
I was horrified, even though I knew guys had sex without emotion. I just didn’t want to think of Hudson doing that.
“A what?”
He quirked me a pointed look. “I imagine that means the same thing in England as it does here?” Hudson stated, arching an eyebrow.
