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“Hey! Where were you?” Ellie looks between Hope and me with crossed arms.
“I needed her help in the kitchen,” Hope lies.
“Mmhmm… I could’ve helped, too.” Ellie arches a brow and tilts her head unamused.
“You can help me next time,” Hope nods with excitement and sits beside Toby on the sofa.
I roll my eyes and smile at Toby and Tristan. Everyone is sitting in the living room with appetizers spread around the coffee table.
The small house is decked out in Christmas decorations. Hope loves the holidays, so it doesn’t surprise me one bit. Ever since we were kids, she’s loved decorating. If she could keep her Christmas tree up year-round and decorate it according to the different holidays, she would.
“I grabbed you a glass of cider,” Hudson grins.
“Thanks.” I move around the living room to sit on the chair next to him.
“What a gentleman, that brother of mine,” Tristan smirks.
“Where were you today?” Hudson asks him.
“I had to run some errands.” Tristan’s response is vague, but I shrug it off and look at Ellie.
“How’s the ranch?”
“Ugh.” She tosses her head back.
“What’s wrong?” Toby asks.
Ellie scoops up a gooey piece of brie onto a cracker and shoves it in her mouth before responding. I look at Hope, who is equally confused. Running a dairy farm isn’t easy work, but Ellie’s family knows the business well.
After she’s finished chewing, she looks at all the expectant eyes. “It’s nothing major. Dairy farming isn’t what it used to be, and the competition is stiff. But let’s talk about something else, like you two arriving together.” Ellie waves between us.
“We were coming to the same place, so I picked her up.” Hudson keeps a straight face, but I can see the tips of his lips twitching.
“I was coming, too, and you told me to find my own ride.” Tristan smiles crookedly.
“I told you if you were running late, to get another ride. You were off who knows where since you’re vague-responding each time I ask you.”
“And yet I arrived before you. Oh, the irony.” Tristan smiles at me and winks. I can’t help but laugh.
“How’s the house hunt going?” I ask Hope and Toby. Apparently, we’re all playing musical chairs with our topics of conversation to avoid what we don’t want to talk about.
“Horrible.” Hope shakes her head. “I love this house. It’s cute and cozy,” she smiles at Toby. “But it’s small.” Their two-bedroom house has one bathroom that isn’t attached to the master bedroom, and it is tiny. I can understand why they’d want to upgrade to something bigger.
“We’ll find the right place for us,” Toby reaches for her hand.
“I know,” Hope sighs, leaning into him. They have such a loving relationship.
A slow stroke tickles the back of my neck, right where the collar of my sweater stops. I peek toward Hudson and see him smile. His arm is draped behind my chair in a relaxing pose, but what no one can see is the way he’s touching me. It’s a featherlight caress that makes my skin tingle.
Without his coat on, I can see the way his beige sweater fits. It isn’t tight, but the fabric stretches across his broad chest and biceps. His strong thighs are parted in that way men sit that takes up more space than necessary, and yet I’m not annoyed. His dark jeans frame his legs in a way that makes me sizzle.
He’s so handsome. The last four years have helped him mature from a college guy to a man. I suspect a lot of that maturity also comes with practically running a real estate empire. Hudson doesn’t have time to play around.
My friends talk around me, but I’m too focused on the goosebumps covering my skin from Hudson’s strokes. He talks, keeping his cool, while he makes me feel like a puddle of goo. I never thought we’d be back in this place, and somehow this new chance excites me and feels different than it did back then.
It doesn’t take away that his parents are still horrible people that like to make my life living torture.
“Are you okay?” Hudson leans in and whispers.
