Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
3 Days til Christmas
Her eyes were wide, and her body flushed from the fireplace heat and the absolute madness that had taken us over.
“Shit.” She grabbed for her clothes and ended up dragging my thermal over her head before struggling with her corduroys.
“Who the hell is at the door?”
Her face went white. “Hudson, I?—”
The slamming palm on the door got louder. “O! You all right in there?”
“Oh, God.” Her blue eyes were…afraid? “Just a minute!” she yelled.
“It’s brutal out here,” the male voice shouted back.
There was a thud of something and then the door was opening just as I dragged my jeans over my ass.
I didn’t even get to the zipper when a tall man busted through the door. He had a balaclava on which covered most of his face save for tiger-colored eyes that instantly narrowed with anger.
The man ripped off the balaclava and his dark hair went wild around his face.
His very fucking famous face.
A face that had been on a ton of magazines, billboards, and posters across the world.
“Get your fucking hands off my sister!” He skidded through the entryway on the puddles we’d left behind along with the snow he’d brought with him.
He righted himself on the bench by the door then he headed our way.
I whirled on Ocean, who was drowning in my thermal, her pants still twisted around her ankles.
“Q! Back off.” She stumbled forward and I caught her before she faceplanted.
“Who are you?” Quentin Hawkins stood mere inches from me, his fists curled at his sides.
There was no way to make this make sense or to not have to zip my damn pants before I flashed my cock at one of the most famous musicians in the known universe.
I buttoned my jeans and finished zipping which only made Quentin’s tiger eyes flash all the more.
Beyond the fact that he was famous, he was Ocean’s brother, and I’d just obviously had intense sex with her.
And I was a stranger.
“Ocean, what’s going on here?” Quentin’s famously raspy voice had gone a full octave lower with anger.
“I take it you haven’t talked to Kent.”
He folded his arms over his chest, his fists still tight below the bulging arms. “No, I was just busting my ass to get here because I thought you were trapped all alone in a snowstorm, not having a fuck-a-thon.”
“Jesus, Q.” She eased around me, flashing those incredible eyes at me with trepidation. “You’re such a jerk.” But she gave him a quick hug and turned him around to face the door.
He whipped his head around to stare at me coldly. “Who is this guy?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Well, I’m waiting.” But at least he turned away.
Ocean rushed back to our pile of clothes. She kept shooting me furtive looks as she swapped her shirt quickly and handed me mine.
I took it wordlessly.
So many things made sense now.
Why the hell hadn’t she told me?
I would have understood.
The personal assistant job, the travel, the secrecy—all of it crashed down on me.
That she didn’t trust me to tell me something so vital to her.
“You probably can’t see?—”
“Not you. Her.” Quentin’s voice sliced through the room, cutting me off. “I don’t know you.”
“Q!”
“What? I don’t. You could be some psycho using my sister. Hurting her for all I know.”
Ocean pulled a hoodie over her T-shirt and rushed past me to face Quentin. “I have a lot more sense than that, little brother.”
“Doesn’t look it since you’re hooking up with some strange dude.”
“And it’s my business if I am. Do I say anything about all of your dalliances?”
Quentin’s arms fell to his sides. “Oh, c’mon, O. This is a bit different.”
“What, because you’re a man! I’ll beat that sexism out of you before you take another breath, Quentin Henry Hawkins! Our parents taught you better than that!”
“No, but this guy could have taken advantage of you,” he said on a low growl.
“Or maybe I took advantage of him, how about that?”
He lifted his hands to cover his face. “Gross. Don’t say that. You’re my sister.”
“And your sister has had sex before, you jackass.” She punched his arm. “Now get out of those wet clothes and go in the living room.”
“Man.” He shrugged out of his parka and snowpants, all the while staring daggers at me. “Who is this guy?”
“I’ll tell you when you sit down and act like a sensible person.”
“Well, how am I supposed to act when I come in to find you shagging some dude?”
“I don’t know—maybe contrite that you interrupted.”
“I was supposed to be here days ago!”
She pointed out the window. “Do you see the person-sized snow drifts out there?”
He gave her a mutinous glare, then he stomped by me and into the living room. He glanced at the quilt in front of the fireplace and hunched his shoulders.
I tipped my head back and stared at the ceiling.
How had this gone so sideways?
Ocean came up beside me and wrapped her fingers around my hand, but I shook her off and backed away.
“You could have told me, Ocean.”
“I know. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know how?—”
I shook my head and turned on my heel, then I headed up the stairs.
I didn’t know what to think, or how to feel. I knew she’d been keeping something from me, but not this.
Not that her brother was a goddamn viral sensation. His music couldn’t exactly be cataloged, but his smart lyrics and sweeping sound, as well as his very unique voice had blown up over the last few years.
Hell, I’d gone to one of his shows at a festival a year ago with work friends. Eden Advertising had done the marketing for the summer festival, and we’d been given tickets as a thank you for our hard work.
I’d done the poster art and helped out on the merchandise.
And now he was in the living room.
Actually, related to Ocean.
I bowed my head, tension tightening every muscle in my shoulders and neck. Why had she kept it a secret?
What exactly would I have done with the information?
I raked my fingers through my hair and threw my bag on the bed of the guest room that I’d never spent time in.
Her ocean and fresh lemon scent clung to my skin, and I felt sick. She’d smiled up at me for days and days and lied to my face.
Avoiding the topic.
I sagged onto the side of the bed and put my head in my hands.
I’d thought I was falling in love with her, and now I realized I didn’t know her at all.
The anger and sense of betrayal twisted in my gut. Had she been playing me for a chump every single day?
Playing house with me on a lark?
She was the one who kept saying there was no future—and boy, was she right.
I reached behind my neck and stripped the shirt off and threw it across the room. I didn’t want her on my skin.
Her smell.
The memory of her falling apart for me. Screaming my name only minutes ago as if her entire heart had been busted open for me.
I’d never ever lost myself so unequivocally. And I sure as hell had never gone bare with a woman before.
I’d lost absolute control.
I was a goddamn idiot. The zipper on my suitcase sounded so loud in the room. I looked around to make sure I’d left nothing behind.
Hell. I didn’t even know where my goddamn phone was.
Probably in my coat downstairs.
I didn’t know how I’d get out of here, but I’d find my way out.
Even if I had to pay some ride-share person a small fortune to make their way to me.
I needed to get out of here.
Hauling my suitcase out into the hall, I heard them arguing downstairs.
I went back in for my second carry-on bag and slung it over my shoulder.
Halfway down the stairs, their words reached me again.
“Rio has a game today, you can’t just send a plane for him.” she said warily.
Rio?
I froze on the stairs.
Rio Hawkins.
Fuck me.
She had been so excited about the hockey game. So fun and sweet as she made the carpet picnic for us to watch.
I even talked to her about the rookie goalie that had made the game fun lately and she didn’t say a fucking thing.
Her gaze swung to me, then she frowned at my bags.
She stood up. “Hudson, where are you going?”
“Obviously, the roads are clear if your famous brother made it in. Or did he pay a snowplow to drive him here?”
Quentin sat on the couch by the tree, his pose an insolent slouch as he folded his arms to stare at me. “I actually did. Very nice guy named Nick. Seemed like it was kismet since it’s almost Christmas and all. He plowed your street too. So, you can take a fucking walk since you busted up your car. I hear you’re pretty close to home. Just keeping time with my sister.”
“Quentin,” Ocean growled. “You’re not helping.”
I got to the bottom of the stairs and set my suitcase on the tile by the door.
She rushed over to me. “Hudson, please sit down so we can talk about this.”
“Talk about what? That you’ve been lying to me since day one?”
“I didn’t lie.”
“A lie by omission is still a lie.” I gnashed my teeth together. “You had days to tell me about your family.”
“I did tell you about my family.”
“Think you missed a few members. You know, the rockstar and the rookie hockey star.”
Her skin paled.
“Yeah, caught that one on the way down the stairs. What kind of idiot did you take me for?”
“I didn’t. I just didn’t know how to tell you. You have to understand my life isn’t normal. I don’t trust people easily.”
I wanted to thaw for her.
Wanted to believe her.
But there were too many places where she could have told me. Especially when I’d told her about me, and she had always held back.
I didn’t even know if what she told me about her other siblings was true.
“I thought there was something happening between us. But you told me repeatedly we had no future. I guess I was the idiot this whole time.”
“Hudson.” She grabbed my arm. “I didn’t lie about things that were important.”
“Nope. You were very clear about how this was only temporary.” I eased away from her. “We’ll just call it a little cabin fever, shall we?”
She clasped her trembling fingers together. “That’s not all it was.”
“Oh, it certainly was. Just a fever dream all around.” I moved around her and grabbed my coat.
“You can’t just go,” she called after me.
I dug around in the pocket for my phone and called my brother, Cal. I turned away from her and headed out the door with the phone to my ear.
She followed me and stood in the doorway. “Hudson, please.”
The phone rang so many times I thought I was going to hit his voicemail when he finally picked up. “Hud?”
“Hey, are you guys plowed out?”
He laughed. “Surprisingly, yes. Dad got this ridiculous ATV with a plow hitch on it. He’s been tooling around the neighborhood digging people out.” Suddenly, his voice turned serious. “Why? Where are you?”
“It’s a lot to explain. I’m actually close to you. I got into an accident.”
“Oh my God, are you okay? Where are you? I’ll come get you.” His voice went into problem solver mode.
“That would be good. I’m fine.” I turned and looked at Ocean. “A woman helped me out, but I’d really like to get out of here.”
“Sure. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Send me a pin.”
“Thanks, Cal.”
“Of course. See you soon.” I could hear him pulling on his jacket and already aiming out the door. I texted him my location pin and shoved my phone in my pocket.
“We can’t leave it like this.” Her ocean-blue eyes brimmed with tears.
“Guess we are.”
“I didn’t lie to you.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t trust me, either.”
“It’s only been a few days!”
I nodded. “You’re right. It was only a few days. But it was long enough for me to fall in love with you.”
She slapped her hand over her mouth.
“Or the woman I thought you were.”
The tears spilled this time, and my chest squeezed. I could barely breathe around the ache.
The fucking break.
She backed out of the doorway, disappearing inside and leaving the door ajar.
Once she was gone, I bent at the waist and dragged in a huge gulping breath. The pain of it mixed with the cold air, leaving a lump in my chest. An icy one that didn’t feel like it would ever melt.
Suddenly, Quentin was in the doorway with my bags and coat. He set them both out on the porch and threw my coat at me. “You made her cry. I knew you were an asshole.”
Then he slammed the door hard enough that snow over the awning crashed onto the steps.
I shrugged on my coat and grabbed my bags, staggering down the steps as my equilibrium felt completely off as I walked away from her.
My brother’s familiar bronze Chevy Tahoe bumped up the road.
I’d been so close to his house when I’d gotten into the accident.
Less than five minutes away.
As I climbed into the cab of his truck, I looked back at the picture-perfect cabin.
“What happened? Where’s your car?”
“Under about six-ish feet of snow right on that lawn.”
“How long were you here?” Cal’s gray eyes were worried.
“Feels like forever. I’ll explain on the way. Can we just get out of here?”
“Yeah, sure.”
He put his truck in reverse and we slowly retreated until the trees and snow swallowed up the cabin. I shut my eyes and leaned back on the headrest as Kelly Clarkson sang about risking it all for this Christmas.