AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Please.” Starr rolls her eyes and reaches for her drink. “Pot meet kettle.” She gives me a pointed look.
“Yeah. Yeah,” I retort, smiling when Hudson guides me into his lap rather than letting me take the seat next to him. “And just what do you think you’re doing?” I ask, wrapping my arm around his shoulders when he shifts me sideways.
“I want to be close to you,” he murmurs, kissing my jaw.
“And that’s not close enough?” I giggle, gesturing to the empty chair next to us.
“Not nearly.” I feel his smile against my neck seconds before his lips press to the side of my throat.
“You know, technically we’ve had our one drink.”
“So we have.” He pulls back, a wicked grin on his face causing the aching in my lower belly to intensify tenfold.
“Shall we?” I arch a brow.
“Hudson, did you tell Lennon the bird story?” Annabelle interrupts before Hudson can reply.
“The bird story?” I question, my gaze going to Annabelle who conveniently ended up in the seat on the opposite side of Hudson.
“Oh my god. I can’t believe you didn’t tell her,” she says almost like she’s rubbing it in. “When we were in New York we took a boat out to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty because Hudson had never seen it before. And there was this bird that would not leave Hudson alone. It followed him around for like an hour and even stayed close by once we got off the boat. We didn’t think that damn bird would ever go away. I bet we took at least fifty pictures of that thing.”
I’m considering wrapping my hand around the back of her neck and slamming her face into the table by the time she’s done talking. The game she’s playing is becoming increasingly clearer.
“I told you I made a new friend.” Hudson gives my hair a slight tug as if to silently say ‘don’t let her get to you’.
“Oh that’s right. What did you name it again?” I ask, the memory of our conversation coming back to me. I’d been so focused on the fact that he and Annabelle had gone to see the Statue of Liberty together, that he was getting to experience that first with her of all people, that I retained very little else from that conversation.
“Kevin.” He chuckles, his dimple popping through. “No idea why. He just seemed like a Kevin to me.”
I don’t miss the look that passes over Annabelle’s face but I doubt anyone else sees it. Only a handful of people are even paying attention to our conversation and it’s not likely that they have any idea about the silent war Annabelle is waging against me.
“That’s right. Kevin.” I laugh like I don’t have a care in the world.
“Did you guys go inside the Statue of Liberty?” Starr interjects, pulling my attention across the table to where her and Colton are sitting.
“We did. Though Anna only made it about half way up before we had to go back down,” Hudson replies.
“Which was totally sweet of you by the way,” Annabelle says directly to Hudson before her gaze finds mine. “I kept telling him to go on without me but he refused.” I swear she keeps digging her talons in deeper and deeper but the more she does it the more determined I become to show her she can’t get to me.
“I’m terrified of heights,” she explains. “Even if I can’t see it, just knowing I’m high off the ground freaks me out. You should see me on an airplane. It’s not pretty.”
“Yeah, I’m not much for heights either,” Starr agrees, clearly trying to offer me a subtle buffer. “I do pretty good on airplanes though.”
“Can we maybe go now?” I take the opportunity to lean in and whisper to Hudson while Starr has Anna occupied.
“Hell yes we can.” Hudson slides me from his lap and quickly stands.
“Where are you going?” Annabelle asks, stopping dead in the middle of a sentence to question.
Offering a dig of my own, I reply, “Back to my hotel.” With a smile, I turn to Starr who’s just started her next drink. “You good here or do you want to walk back with us?”
“I think I’m gonna hang out here for now.”
“Make sure you stay with her,” Hudson says to Colton as he pulls me tightly to his side.
“I think I can manage that.” He grins at Starr before his gaze pops back to Hudson. “You two kids have fun.” His smile spreads causing me to roll my eyes.
“Oh we will,” I tell him matter of fact, making sure Annabelle sees the wide smile on my face seconds before Hudson guides me away.
