I’ll give Hud credit—he’s damn good at making me forget.
Chapter twelve
Hudson
Cull and I are sprawled across my bed, phones in hand, the room quiet except for the soft tapping of our thumbs. For once, it feels calm, like we can finally breathe. I never thought I’d get here, but now that I have, I want to stay.
My anxiety still creeps up from time to time, but I’m getting better at cutting it off before it has the chance to fully bloom.
Even with everything still in the air—my charges, school, Mason—I can finally see there is more to life, and he’s lying right next to me.
Cull tosses his phone aside and sighs. I don’t know what happened to make him rush over earlier, but the moment I saw his face, I knew he needed to let go. So I helped him forget.
Guess it worked.
I smirk to myself.
“It’s getting late, you hungry?” he asks, turning on his side and propping his head on his hand. I check the time on myphone and see it’s after five. We’ve been holed up in my room all afternoon, just hanging out.
“Yeah, I didn’t realize what time it was. I’m surprised my mom hasn’t come up to check on me.”
We heard her get home not too long ago, and usually her first order of business is to make sure I’m still breathing.
Like I summoned her, there’s a knock on my door. “Hudson? Love, can you come down?”
Cull chuckles and gets up from the bed, grabs his t-shirt, and pulls it over his head. “You’re magic, baby.”
I snort and roll off the bed. When I open my door, Mom isn’t there, so we head downstairs. We find her sitting in the living room laughing with Dad and my Uncle Eli.
Uncle Eli.
I stop dead in my tracks, Cull walking right into me. He grunts when he slams into my back, his hands dropping to my hips to steady himself. “Crap, sorry. Wasn’t expecting you to stop like that.”
It barely registers what Cullen said, my focus solely on my uncle. I know he’s been working relentlessly on my case, keeping my parents in the loop the entire time I was in the hospital. If he’s here now…
“Hudson,” he says, his smile so wide it looks painful. He comes over and hauls me into a hug, squeezing the air from my lungs. “I love you, kid. You can’t do that to us again.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, hugging him back.
He pulls out of the hug, his eyes shiny, a smile firmly in place. “No apologies. I’m just glad you’re here so I can tell you that your charges have been dropped. You’re free and clear.”
I stop breathing.
There is a beat of silence before Cullen is yelling out his excitement and pulling me into him. I’m so stunned that I lethim move me around like a ragdoll, rocking me side to side in a hug.
“What? H-how?” I can’t formulate an entire sentence, shock overriding all my senses.
Uncle Eli leans against the back of the couch, arms crossed with a self-satisfied smirk. “Heather’s deposition. When we couldn’t get them to drop the charges after giving video proof, I knew I had to approach her questioning thoughtfully.” His smirk widens into a smile. “A few well-phrased questions and she started contradicting herself. I’d show her the video clips that correlated with the question and she could no longer defend herself. She claimed someone told her it was you, but when she wouldn’t provide proof of who, she gave up. I hate to say this, but it sounds like she was drunk and just doesn’t remember her night. I know that is awful, especially with how many women that do end up being the victim of predators, but with the video showing her with a group of people at all times, there really is no contesting it. She dropped the charges right there—against her parents' wishes.”
Cull is still holding on to me tight at the waist, and I’m glad he is. I feel like I may float away from the sheer weight this took off my shoulders.
My parents have come over to where we are all standing, my mom crying but smiling. I look around at everyone who has fought for me, not just these last few weeks, but my entire life. Gratitude swells within me, and suddenly it’s overflowing.
The tears well, my heart growing three sizes like I’m the Grinch. I take my time, making sure to make eye contact with each person standing around me. “Thank you for never giving up on me.” The words come out choked, the emotion of the moment clogging my throat.
I’m enveloped inside a circle of loving arms. This feeling of love and acceptance is unmatched, and it’s just another thing I can’t believe I almost gave up.
“What’s going on? Is Hudson okay?” Hadley’s worried voice cuts through the moment, everyone parting to look at her.
