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My laptop was taking its sweet time. I drummed my fingers over the keypad as I waited, not sure what was taking so long. When the screen for my password finally popped up, I quickly typed it in, only for the entire screen to freeze.
“What the hell?” I tapped a few buttons, clicked the trackpad, and nada. I powered the dumb thing off again before turning it back on, but the screen was right where I’d left it: frozen and being a pain in my ass.
“Do you need the Wi-Fi?” Hudson asked.
“I need a hammer.”
“I don’t see how that’s helpful.”
“It’s not. But it’ll make me feel better.”
I continued to mess with it for several minutes, trying all the tricks I knew to get it back up and running, but whatever was going on with it was beyond my technical knowledge.
Growling, I slammed it shut and made a decision.
Moving onto my knees, I crawled up the bed to where Hudson lay and dropped down beside him. He jerked away from me, eyes narrowed and wary.
“What are you doing?”
“Something’s wrong with my computer.”
“So?”
“So I figured we could share.”
Hudson swallowed and looked away. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?”
Because he thinks you’re doing this just to get close to him, that’s why.It hadn’t been my original intention, but now that I was practically touching him, I could see why he’d freak out. One move and all that resolve would drop, wouldn’t it? Maybe that was wishful thinking on my part.
But seriously, he was gatekeeping the manuscript now.
“Why don’t you just wait until I’m done?” he said, shifting so we were no longer touching. “He didn’t send much.”
Now he was back to being a frustrating pain in the ass. “You do realize we shared a bed without killing each other last night or doing anything else you’d regret. I doubt reading off the same screen for a few minutes is going to deal a deathblow. Besides, Levi sent it to both of us, so we should both read it. Together.”
“You do realize you’re my competitor.”
I grabbed the lone pillow Hudson wasn’t using. “Andyouknow I can still suffocate you while you sleep, right? What’s it gonna be?”
Come on, stop fighting it.It wasn’t like I was asking to straddle him.
If I wanted to, I wouldn’t ask.
“All right, fine.” Hudson sat up, taking one of the pillows from behind him and setting the laptop on it between us. I scooted back in beside him, and both of us sat cross-legged, knees almost touching. It seemed like this was as close as Hudson wanted to get, and I had to be okay with that. He still hadn’t responded to what I’d said earlier, so this guardedness was either his way of letting me down gently because he had zero interest, or hewasfeeling something but was trying to hold back.
Again with the wishful thinking.
But I didn’t have to deal with my personal issues right now, not when I was finally getting a glimpse at what I was fighting off every other publisher for.
Hudson scrolled to the top of the manuscript and enlarged it so we could both read it.
I’ve heard all the rumors over the years.
Viper, the bad boy of rock. One of the greatest living guitar players. Legend. Player. Heartbreaker.
They were fucking right.
