“Whose is it?”
Hudson clears his throat, coming up from behind me. “It’s mine.”
His green eyes are warm and inviting in the sunlight, the freckles along his cheekbones more prominent, matching the faint dots that coat the rest of his body.
“I can give you a ride if you want,” he offers, but before I can respond, loud honking rips through the air, as Grant’s green Subaru makes its way down the path.
“Aye,” Grant says through the open driver-side window as he parks in a space right in front of us. Getting out, he shares a half-hug, half-handshake with Derrick. “You ready to go fuck up these rocks, bro?”
“Hundred percent,” Derrick replies, jumping in the air and grabbing one of the beams overhead, hoisting himself up with one arm.
“Get down from there before you break your leg,” Meredith says, exiting the passenger seat. At her request, his feet return to the pavement as he throws a playful arm around her shoulders. “What the bride wants, she gets.”
“Rocks?” I ask Vanessa, confused. “I thought you were wildflower-picking?”
“A few of us are going to go rock climbing at Blackrock Ridge,” Derrick explains, running his hands through his dark hair suggestively. “You should come.”
“You a climber?” Grant asks, showing his first real interest in me since my arrival.
“No. Not at all. Weddings are the only physical exertion I need,” I joke.
“What about you?” Grant nods towards Adrian. “You in?”
“Hard pass, mate,” Adrian says, setting down his book. “Can’t be breaking a bone in these parts. Your American medical rates are astronomical.”
“That means you can come flower-picking with us,” Vanessa says, patting his knee and handing him a pair of shears and gloves from the pile.
The groups begin splitting off—Derrick, Grant, and Jocelyn towards the Subaru for rock climbing, and Vanessa, Adrian, Meredith, and Katherine towards the flower field.
Hudson hangs back, waiting for me. “You ready to go?”
I nod, eagerly, as Katherine doubles back.
“Hey, Mere. Weren’t you just saying that Grant was a bit camera-shy?” she asks, her voice sharp. “Maybe Mira should tag along with them, give them a chance to get to know each other before the big day tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea,” Meredith beams. “Mira, what do you think?”
Given that I’ve barely spoken a handful of words to Grant since my arrival, the request makes sense, but my stomach feels queasy. Phoebe made the same suggestion when she started dating Cliff, but no matter how many times we tried to bond I never warmed up to him. I put on my best friend hat and faked it. I laughed at his jokes and asked about his life anytime we were together. I should have told him to fuck off. That he’d never be good enough for my best friend.
But Grant isn’t Cliff. And Meredith isn’t Phoebe. So I reply through gritted teeth. “That sounds great.”
“Hell yeah,” Derrick says, slinging an arm over my shoulder, the unexpected intrusion into my personal space causing me to bump into Hudson until my back is pressed against his chest. I swear he keeps a protective arm by my side as he moves me out of the way.
“You guys got room for one more?” Hudson asks, and I can’t help but notice the visible shock on Grant’s face.
“You want to come with us?”
“Yeah. It’s a beautiful day, why not.”
“Oh no you don’t,” Katherine says, shoving a bucket into Hudson’s hands. “Meredith needs your botanist skills. I can’t have anyone infect my guests with poison sumac or flesh-eating spores.”
Hudson gives me a sympathetic stare that makes me wish I’d gotten up five minutes earlier, as we head in different directions.
20 Hudson
“Thanks so much for tagging along,” Meredith says, walking beside me as the rest of the group moves slowly through the field. I can smell the faint scent of alcohol permeating through everyone’s sweat as they power through their hangovers.
“It’s no problem,” I lie, kicking my bucket like a child who just got told they have to do their chores before they can go play with their friends.
