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And now I have my answer. Well, at least one of my answers.
It feels like only seconds have passed when the first song comes to an end. I haven’t moved an inch. I’m stuck in the exact same place I was when he first walked out on that stage, trying to process that it’s really him standing in front of me.
I can’t tear my eyes away from him. He’s just as gorgeous as I remember. No, scratch that. He’s even more so. Age has only made him more irresistible. Of course, the way his faded jeans hang on his hips and his white tee clings to his incredible body doesn’t hurt matters at all. My eyes drink him in, ounce by delicious ounce, jumping slightly when the band starts another song. The recognition is instant.
Tequila Haze.
It isn’t until he starts singing again that reality starts to seep back in. I’ve been listening to Hudson on the radio for weeks and had no idea it was him. While it’s a great song, I hadn’t taken the time to listen to the words until now. I mean, really listen.
I close my eyes for the briefest moment, allowing the words to take me back to five years ago when Hudson and I danced all night doing shots of tequila. And how we drank from the same bottle as we walked on the beach. And then what came after. I’ve never looked at tequila the same again.
And that’s when everything shifts.
No?
He wouldn’t have...
My mind rushes with the possibility and I focus harder on the words.
“I lost myself in a bottle of tequila and a blue eyed girl.”
My heart starts thudding harder in my chest, thundering so loud I can hear it over everything else around me.
“She took me by the hand and led me to the dance floor. My heart beating faster than it ever had before. She smiled up at me through that tequila haze...”
My eyes come back into focus and the world seems to have slowed down around me. The crowd’s cheering, swaying, and singing along but in my world there’s only Hudson and me.
Emotion clogs tight in my throat and I find my hand wrapped tightly around my cousin’s wrist, having not even realized I put it there until Sandy nudges me with her shoulder.
“You okay?” she asks when my slow gaze meets hers.
“I think so,” I say slowly, mouthing around the words. “I know him,” I say more to myself than her as I turn my gaze back up to the stage.
“You know who?” she questions, her mouth close to my ear.
“Him,” I say, my gaze locked on Hudson just as his eyes sweep the audience and somehow find mine out of the thousands in the crowd.
His face lights in recognition and after a couple beats, where I’m sure he’s wondering the same thing I am—if he’s seeing things—a full blown smile spreads across his handsome face. I’m several feet back from the stage but even from here I swear I can see his dimple peak out beneath his facial hair. It’s slightly longer than I remember but even sexier.
A whoosh runs through my entire body making me feel instantly off balance. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and reopen them.
“Him,” I say again as Hudson moves to the other side of the stage, his gaze coming back to me again and again over the next several moments.
“Hudson James?” Sandy questions, her eyes following where mine are.
“Hudson.” I smile around his name in confirmation.
“I’m sorry. I’m confused. You’re telling meyouknow Hudson James?” she practically screams in my ear over the music and noise of the crowd.
“That, my dear cousin, is exactly what I’m telling you.” I give her a knowing look, turning my attention back to Hudson.
—-
Hudson’s set passesin a blur. It’s like one minute he’s standing in front of the microphone and I’m trying to remember how to breathe and the next he’s thanking everyone before running off the stage, red faced and shirt wet with sweat.
Starr turns and reaches for me as the crowd starts to thin, trying to get in bathroom breaks and beer runs before the headliner comes on. I take her hand, allowing her to pull me up to where her and her friends have managed to squeeze all the way up to the stage.
“What did you think of Hudson James?” Starr asks just as Sandy steps up beside me. “He was incredible, wasn’t he?” she gushes without giving anyone else the chance to answer.
