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She opened her mouth to reply—no doubt tear a strip off him if she could—but he didn’t let her get a word in.
“I don’t mind though, Becs. I really don’t. And don’t worry. I won’t ask you to take it to the next level.” He was teasing and loved how her cheeks blushed.
“Next level?” she asked through clenched teeth.
“Yeah.” He reached inside the eave trough and scooped out a bunch of wet leaves and debris. “The benefits level. We’re not there yet.” The devil had him by the balls, and Hudson was okay with that. He hadn’t had this much fun in ages.
Rebecca’s mouth dropped open.
“It’s cold as hell in this morning, darlin’, but you could still catch flies in your mouth if you don’t watch out.”
“I’d forgotten,” she muttered, turning from him and heading toward the car.
“What was that?” he shouted after her.
She gave him one last look. “I’d forgotten how incredibly arrogant you are.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“I know.” She yanked the door open. “By me.”
Liam chucked his hockey bag in the trunk and hopped into the car. Hudson watched them until the car disappeared down the road and chuckled. He could do this. This friend thing. The benefits thing would be nice, but for now, the friend thing worked. He inhaled a big gulp of fresh Michigan air, gave a wave to the neighbor who’d watched their entire exchange, and got to work.
Chapter 20
The hockey game was a nail-biter. They gave the number one team in their division a run for the money and nearly pulled out a win, but ended up with a loss. With only one goal to break a two-period tie, the boys should have been happy. But it was a long line of glum faces that emerged from the changing room, and Rebecca was only too happy to agree to brunch as a cheer up.
But brunch only lasted an hour. After a trip to the hardware store to pick up sandpaper, a stop at the grocery store to grab fresh buns to go with her chilli, she was out of ideas and Liam was begging to go home. She had no choice and drove across the bridge, her fingers gripping the wheel a little too tightly. She was anxious. On edge. And still pissed at Hudson for showing up at her place and throwing a wrench into the whole let’s-be-friends thing.
Who the hell was she kidding? With her and Hudson? It was all in or nothing. She didn’t see how a happy medium would work.
A red light caught her a few blocks from home, and she relaxed a bit, fiddling with the radio, trying to find an upbeat song to calm her nerves.
“Is Hudson your boyfriend?”
Surprised, she turned to her son, only to find Liam watching, his expressive green eyes curious.
“Why would you ask me that?”
“I don’t care if he is.” There was something in his expression that tugged on her heart. “Addie Taylor’s mom has a boyfriend, and she even likes him. Says he’s kind of cool, like for a boyfriend.”
A honk from the vehicle behind her made her start, and she accelerated through the intersection. “He’s not my boyfriend, Liam.”
“Why not?”
She glanced at him again with a small frown. “Where is this coming from?”
Liam shrugged and looked down. “You’re so pretty. The prettiest mom in Crystal Lake.”
Again, her heart melted a little bit.
“All the guys think so. And then Addie said…” He glanced up suddenly, just as they turned into their driveway. “Well, Addie said her mom didn’t want a boyfriend for a long time because she thought it would make Addie mad. But she didn’t care.” Liam’s chin jutted out. “And she even likes her dad.”
“Liam.”
“What?” he said, a hint of belligerence in his voice. “I don’t like my dad, and you can’t make me. No one can.”
She slowly brought the car to a halt, noting Hudson’s truck was still in the driveway. With a small sigh, she cut the engine and turned to her son. They hadn’t talked about his father in a long time, and while she supposed they were way overdue, she wasn’t so sure the time to have that conversation was this exact moment.
