“She isn’t what you think she is, you know. That promiscuous vibe she puts out there is a front.”
“Coming from someone who’s also had his dick in her, I find that hard to believe,” I pointed out with a twinge of annoyance as Hudson moved into the lead on our game.
What he informed me of next surprised me. “It never happened. She made it up to wind Reed up.”
“Really? Why would she do that?”
I threw my controller onto the coffee table as Hudson won and turned to face him. “Well?”
Hudson signed us out and turned the console and TV off before leaning back into the sofa and twisting to face me.
“It’s not rocket science. They have a thing, let’s leave it at that,” Hudson said, dashing a hand down his face. I noticed he looked tired; no doubt due to banging his sweetheart all night. Hudson and Molly had been dating for over a year now and were loved up. The girl had ironed out his creases. Hudson used to bring new meaning to the word short fuse. He was so much calmer these days, and his tasty little blonde was the one responsible for that. From what I had heard, Hudson was now on reduced meds. He took prescription drugs to calm him the fuck down.
How things had changed; now he was cozy with his British chippy. Molly Miller was the principal’s daughter at our old high school, and even before they’d met, Hudson had been determined to hate her ass. His plans soon backfired when he realized what an actual find she was. Once he got his head out of his ass, he’d explained that he’d met her in the library on the first day back during our senior year and had a near-religious experience. He’d gone into a deep-rooted denial for a while before he’d accepted that he was smitten.
And there was no doubt about her feelings for Hudson. She looked at him like he was her god. Did I envy him? Sometimes. Molly was now a senior at Harbor Heights High, and we were juniors at Epic Heights. Time flies.
“Anyways, whatever. Reed’s big enough and ugly enough to make his own decisions. Doesn’t mean I have to be happy about them. I just think he’s setting himself up for a fall. She’s the mayor’s daughter, and he’s a foster kid from the wrong side of the tracks. They just don’t mesh well together.”
“I can’t imagine Reed has marriage proposals on his mind, Nix.”
“Yeah, good point. Well, let him dick her for a bit and get her out of his system.”
“She’s still our friend, albeit an annoying one.”
“She’s a sociopath andlooselypart of our friendship group, but she doesn’t fit in. Not really,” I scoffed, strumming a fist across my nose.
“We all thought that about Harper, and now look.” I knew the fucker was itching to bring Harper up.
“What do you mean, now look? She still has a massive chip on her shoulder.” The memory of our kiss swept into my mind. Thankfully, it was just a kiss, although my self-control had been hanging on by a fricking thread.
Before I could finish that last thought, Hudson pointed out. “Yes, a chipyouput there.” He was staring at me with an accusatory eyebrow. I hated it when he looked at me like that. It was the same look I got on the field when I’d screwed up a play. FIX IT, Brutal. His glare implied.
“I know. I’m working on it.”
“Workfaster, douchebag,” Hudson said, taking his cell back out of his pants and swiping the screen.
“Why? What’s the rush?”
Hudson cleared his throat and started messaging. “I’m just saying, get your ass in gear, or someone else may get there first.”
My brow creased. “Like who? We warned all those high school motherfuckers away,” I pointed out with a smug look.
“There are more assholes out there than just the ones at Harbor Heights, you know. There are also decent guys, ones who could make her happy.”
That comment cut into me like a knife. What the hell was he doing? Did he have my back or not? No other guy out there could make her as happy as I could. I decided to change the subject before I lost my shit with him.
“Where is she anyway?”
Without looking up from his cell, he added casually. “Why don’t you know?”
“I’m not her keeper.”
“No, but you want to be,” Hudson prodded as he pushed to his feet, clearly getting ready to leave. I watched as he re-pocketed his phone. “Better get a crack on then.”
“Where are you going?”
“I need to pick Molly up,” he explained, feeling for his car keys.
