Hudson interjects, “In my defense, I’d just broken up with someone.”
“Right.” I glance up at him and notice his eyes are on me. He’s enjoying this. But, why? “Anyway, at the wedding, we were forced together. You know, the dance and sitting next to each other at dinner, that sort of thing.”
“I can picture it.” Sheila says beaming. “So, what happened?”
“He, um, snatched my cake.”
“He what?” Sheila gasps.
“Yeah.” I say with confidence. “I’d gone up to the cake table and had taken the last piece of chocolate cake. I set it in my seat and decided to grab some punch. When I returned to the table, my cake was gone.”
Sounding shocked, Sheila addresses Hudson. “Youstoleher cake?
“It’s not like she needed it.” The voice is coming from three rows down. Spencer. I know others heard because there are snickers.
I frown thinking of the jab from Spencer. My face is hot from embarrassment. I hope Hudson ignores Spencer’s comment or maybe he didn’t hear it––doubtful.
“Spencer.” Bonnie snaps. “That’s not nice.”
Hudson shrugs, “What can I say? I love chocolate cake. Besides.” Hudson smiles. “I only ate half.” He looks me in the eye. “We shared.”
I gasped. “You didn’t. You ate almost all of it.” I’m starting to believe my own tale.
“I tried, love. But you refused.” He turns to Bonnie. “I’m not about to let good cake go to waste.”
First of all…Love?Secondly, I feel exactly the same about desserts.
He’s good at this. Really good, which makes this false tale more fun. Even though he’s changing my story––at least the one in my head––I’m enjoying this.
“So, what happened? How did you win her over?” Sheila’s talking just to Hudson now.
“Well,” he says, leaning in. “She was required to dance with me, you know, since she was the maid of honor and I was the best man…”
“Of course.” Sheila nods.
“It was on the dance floor. I won her over with my wit and charm.”
I snort at his words because it sounds ridiculous.
“You’re laughing at that?” Hudson asks, looking honestly affronted.
“Wit and charm?” I giggle. “That sounds like it came straight from an old romance book.”
Hudson focuses on Sheila. “It took several dances and some groveling, but she finally agreed to a date.”
“Yep.” I glance back at Sheila. Her face is filled with joy. For me. Which means she believes every word we’re saying, which also means I’ve got to keep this farce going for a while longer. “That’s how we met. He won me over with wit and charm.” I turn to face the game when the crowd goes wild after one of the players hits a home run. Perfect timing, really. Now maybe everyone will focus on the game and not on me and my stupid fake boyfriend.
Except maybe he’s not so stupid.
ChapterThree
HUDSON
The desire topunch that Spencer dude is so strong that my hands are twitching. Besides the comment about Willa not “needing cake” he’s done nothing but stare back at her, at us, the entire game.
That’s creepy as fuck.
I feel the need to protect this girl. She’s sweet, I can tell that already. Plus, she’s got freckles for fuck’s sake. They’re on the apples of both cheeks and run rampant over her pert little nose. Then there’s her lips. I’ve read books that talk about a mouth like hers. In a word, it’s like a rosebud. Since she’s not wearing a lick of makeup, I can tell you that the pink on hers is all real.
