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Those butterflies start to flap their wings high in my stomach again, but when I focus on the look in Hudson’s cool blue eyes, they settle.
“Go win this thing,” he says. The confidence in his voice laces through me. I start to feel some confidence of my own.
I puff out my chest and take a deep breath. I’m ready. I’m ready to do this.
“I’d better get to my seat,” Hudson says. Before he leaves, he pulls me close to him and plants a soft, chaste kiss on my lips.
Out on the stage with Jeremy, I sweep my gaze over the crowd. Sure enough, Hudson’s there, looking at me like I’m the only person in this huge auditorium. I look at Jeremy. He’s confident at his piano. I’m confident, too. The violin feels right in my hands.
I nod to Jeremy. He nods back.
Win or lose, I’m going to be proud of the way we play tonight.
Here goes nothing.
Squeals of delight unfurl from my throat as Hudson hoists me effortlessly in the air, his hands under my arms, spinning me around. The backstage area becomes an unfocused whirl as I spin, and I feel lightheaded from the motion and the sheer giddiness that pumps through me.
We won.
Jeremy and I won one of the most prestigious college music competitions in the country. In the world. First place.
I don’t know what feels better, winning the biggest competition of my life, or being lifted in the air by the big, powerful arms of my fake boyfriend.
Okay, it’s the winning. I mean, come on. First place in this competition is huge and will do incredible things for my career. But it’s honestly close. Close enough that I should be worried. But I’m too happy right now for any negative emotions to worm their way in.
When Hudson sets me down, I hug Jeremy, who’s beaming ear to ear. When I turn back to Hudson, he steals my breath with a kiss. There’s absolutely nothing fake about this kiss. It’s deep and real and full of heart.
He doesn’t kiss me like he wants people watching to think I’m his—he kisses me like he wants me to know I’m his.
Of course, I still don’t know that. Heck, I don’t have any freaking clue what Hudson and I are right now. All I know is I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I’ve won the biggest competition of my life, and I’m being kissed by the guy who makes my heart flutter like no one else ever has.
There will be time to make sense of it all later. Right now, I just want to feel it. Because it feels damn good.
“I have to call Olivia,” I say when Hudson pulls his lips away from mine. I run to my phone and start a FaceTime call with her.
“There you are!” Olivia answers immediately. “What happened? Did you win?” She’s eager to find out, and my best friend’s interest from three hundred miles away makes me hum with even more happiness than I was already feeling.
I nod, feeling tears of happiness prick behind my eyes. “We won,” I say, almost choking on a joyful sob.
Olivia’s screech tests the limits of my iPhone speakers. On my screen, she’s suddenly a blur as she jumps up and down jubilantly in our living room. Salsa suddenly appears in the frame, Olivia bending down to pick her up.
“Salsa! Summer won!” Salsa palms confusedly at Olivia’s phone, probably perplexed to see me on the screen.
“Hey, girl,” Hudson says to the cat, leaning over to get into the frame of my camera.
Salsa’s expression perks up, and so does Olivia’s. My roommate’s brow elevators up her forehead while her jaw goes in the opposite direction. “Hudson … how are you in New York instead of a couple blocks away right now?”
“Booked a flight,” Hudson says, shrugging like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Olivia sends me a look that says we’re definitely going to talk about this when you get back.
I guess that conversation will also be a good time to tell her about the mind-blowing sex Hudson and I had in my bedroom when she was over at Mariah’s house.
Right now, though, I’m just going to enjoy the moment. I end the call with Olivia and Salsa and look at Hudson, who I still can’t believe is here.
“Let’s celebrate.”
32
