AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Arden shrugs. “Maybe.”
As she walks away, Taylor takes her seat. “Ruby’s upset with you. She dropped by your place, and you weren’t home. You also haven’t answered her texts.”
That’s because I set my phone on Silent the moment I began my run. “What’s the big deal? I’ll see her later.”
“You know how she can get,” Taylor says. “You playing a few games, right?”
“That’s the plan.”
As the rest of our friends join us with their orders, we filter out of Java Man and encounter the growing crowd attending the festival. But even with everything going on around me, I can only think of Arden and how lucky I am that our paths have crossed again.
Knowing she’s into motorcycles is enough to get my pulse racing, and I can’t wait to take her for a ride on my Triumph. Maybe then, she’ll see that I’m no longer the boy she used to babysit.
That boy’s all grown up.
ChapterThree
ARDEN
I should have been more social when Hudson’s friends arrived, but I wasn’t in the mood. There’s nothing like feeling your age when you’re surrounded by people so much younger than you, and I felt that the moment they showed up.
But if there’s one positive to spending time with a younger crowd, it’s being given full attention by someone like Hudson. His desire to get to know me is flattering. It makes me feel seen and appreciated.
It’s also made me aware of how my body responds to being near him, seeing details here and there that are hard to miss, like his broad shoulders and chiseled biceps. Or the fine hairs on his forearm. And then there are his hands, strong tapered fingers with veins trailing along the back of his hand to his knuckles.
Oh boy.I take a deep breath.Think of something else, Arden.
For the rest of the morning, I hang out around the house, although there’s no escaping the constant hum of activity next door. Hudson’s friends sit on the patio, playing music and operating the grill. Friends stop by to chat while others head out to the volleyball court where Hudson’s currently playing a match with Taylor.
I pull up a chair on the patio just as my phone beeps. It’s Harlow.
“You having fun yet?”
“Yup, but it’s noisier than I remember.”
“What about the family next door?” she asks. “Is it the same one you babysat for?”
“Same, although his parents now live in Boston, so it’s just him.”
“That must be lonely.”
“Oh, please.” I hold the phone facing Hudson’s house for a few seconds. “Hear that? I doubt he’s ever lonely. He’s having a blast.”
“You going to join them?”
“Too early for beer, but I’ll probably lay out for a bit instead,” I say before shifting the topic to what she and her family are up to.
It feels good to talk to Harlow. I know she’s been worried about me since I got injured during my last assignment, followed by Barry’s betrayal. She’d been through hell herself with her ex-husband, so she knows the drill, and for that, I’m grateful. She knows what I’m going through. She also knows that as long as I keep going and do not give up, I’ll get to the good part soon enough.
Harlow and I talk for a few more minutes before I say goodbye and put on a bikini so I can work on my tan again. I’m on vacation, for crying out loud. I might as well act like it.
HUDSON
I almost ruin Taylor’s perfect handset when I see Arden from the corner of my eye. She’s set her beach towel in the distance and is slathering sunscreen all over her arms and shoulders.
Holy mother… she’s even more stunning in her bikini.
“Huddy, man, where are your eyes at?” Taylor glares at me after he nails the spike right in the corner. “Come on. Let’s get this.”
