Hudson’s breath came faster, and his chest expanded. “I had to do the right thing. Heather was pregnant. What was I supposed to do? Act like the baby didn’t exist?”
“You shouldn’t have put your dick inside her in the first place! And fucking herrawwhen you know the kind of person she is? Do you know how that made me feel, having to get tested because I didn’t know how long you’d been screwing her behind my back?” I shoved him harder this time to make him stumble. “I don’t even know if there were others before her, you selfish, fucking prick.”
“There was no one else. It was just the one time and before we got serious!”
“You’re a fucking liar! You expect me to believe you aren’t a whore? For all I know, my dad’s not the only one fucking my brother’s fiancé, since all of you seem to think it’s fucking fine to cheat because promises mean squat around here.”
“Say what you want about me, Matty, but leave Ozzie out of this.” He stabbed a finger into my chest. “Your brother’s a piece of shit to Ozzie. The whole town’s talking about it, man. Why is your dad the one helping him to plan his wedding?”
A bark of laughter came from me. “How fantastic. You wouldn’t even defend yourself when I confronted you about cheating, but I’m glad to see you’re so protective of Ozzie, you fucking manwhore.”
This time Hudson shoved me. His palms slammed into my chest, and I stumbled back a step, but I caught myself and threw myself at him. We collided hard, wrists locked, hands grappling, our boots grinding into the dirt as we struggled to stay upright.
“I swear to God, Matty!”
“You swear what? You gonna deny you stepped out on me?”
“That was four years ago, and when we just started our fling! I didn’t know it would become more serious.”
That he thought four years was enough time for me to forget about it showed how little he’d cared. That I’d been all in for a relationship that had one-sided feelings.
I tripped him.
He dragged me down with him.
We hit the ground in a tangle of limbs and fury, dirt puffing up around us like smoke. I landed hard, elbow grinding into the earth. Hudson climbed on top of me, his breath hot and ragged against my cheek.
“Get the fuck off me!” I snarled, shoving him, but he was stronger, always had been. But my anger gave me the strength to twist out from under him and flip our position so I was the one straddling him, fists knotted in his shirt.
“You cheater,” I spat, face inches from his. “You don’t get to pretend you’re innocent in this, and I’m the bad guy.”
He flipped us again.
Fast.
One moment I was in control. The next I was flat on my back, wrists pinned above my head, Hudson’s body pressinginto mine. His breath came fast, his pupils were blown wide, and his mouth was trembling.
“Let me go.” I jerked against his grip.
“No. Not until you hear me out once and for all.”
“I’ve heard enough from you to last a lifetime, Granger?—”
“I’msorry!” he shouted, sending a spray of spittle in my face. The words cracked between us like thunder. “I know I don’t deserve another fucking second with you, but I never meant to hurt you. You may not believe me, but I came to genuinely care for you. It just took me a little longer than you to get there, and by then, it was too late. I should have told you, but I didn’t know she would wind up pregnant. Matty, I swear to you on my life, it was the one time and not after we became serious.”
That voice. Raw. Wrecked. My chest buckled under the weight of it.
“You gotta believe me.” Hudson slammed his lips against mine.
Hard.
Messy.
Desperate.
And God help me, I let him.
It was instinct. Muscle memory. That familiar curve of his lips, the soft scrape of stubble, the heat of him breaking me open like he always did.
