I turn to look at him.
“Huh?”
Hudson twists his lips.
“Happiness is just a chemical in your brain. Like love. It’s not…real.”
I purse my lips.
“Sure it is,” I say, feeling strangely on the spot. I look back at Austen and Cameron. At their smitten smiles. “You can’t tell methat—” I lean into Hudson’s space, whispering between us as I point to Austen and Cameron, “—isn’t real. You can see it plain as day.”
I hear the hitch in his breath before he speaks.
“I don’t see love,” he says, his voice devoid of emotion. “I see comfort. Familiarity. Ease.” His voice makes my heart ache. “Two people who just… know each other really well. That’s not the same thing.”
I note the sadness in his eyes.
“You’ve never been in love. Have you?”
Hudson shakes his head. “Nope.”
I give him a soft smile.
“One day you’ll get it.”
Hudson shifts into my space a little more, and I feel hot.
Hudson was right. It’s hot as hell in here. How did I not notice this before?
“Doubt it,” he says. Then he sighs. “Sorry, didn’t mean to sound like some anti-love asshole.”
“Huds—”
Paul and Andre make their way back over to us, and the moment of melancholy disappears.
When the party finally dies down, it’s nearing eight pm. Austen and Cameron see us out, and the disappointment blooms once again as we all hug one another.
Hudson breaks the silence.
“We should do this again. I don’t want to wait a whole year to see you guys.”
The way he says it, is tinged with melancholy, but there’s also something else there. Something like the beginning of happiness, though I can’t be sure. Though, to him, maybe it’s more. Maybe it isn't happiness. Maybe it’s the familiarity. The comfort. The ease.
“Yeah, we should,” Paul agrees. “I could use a trip once in a while.”
Alex smirks, his hands in his pockets. I note how close he’s standing to Mack and can’t help but think about Hudson’s shocked expression earlier.
Were they actually fucking in there?
I didn’t see it before, but now…
Now I definitely notice the way Mack glances at him.
Now I definitely notice how ateaseAlex has been this whole trip, and how no matter what, they’re always next to each other.
I don’t know if Hudson is correct, but I’m starting to think there’s definitely something going on between them, butwhatever it is, it’s their business. And… Hudson is usually spot on.
“Just not Vegas,” Alex says with a laugh.
