9. Hudson
Chapter 9
Hudson
Our jet touched down at the executive airport outside of San Diego, marking the official start of our family vacation. Jack had been smiling rather than scowling at me, giving me a short reprieve from his teenage angst. Both kids had talked nonstop about surfing all week, and I hoped I didn’t embarrass myself with my less-than-stellar skills.
“Dad, when are we getting lunch? I’m starving.”
I smiled over at my teenage son, who seemed to grow taller by the minute. “Soon. Evan has lunch for us at his house.”
Jack’s eyes widened. “Really? We’re going there first?”
“Yes. He asked if we’d like to stay with him. Evidently, he lives on the beach, and?—”
I didn’t get to finish my statement before Erin launched herself across the seat and hugged me. Thank goodness we were taxing to the gate.
“Daddy, really?” she squealed. “That’s so cool!”
I loved to see them happy. But Jack was looking at me with apprehension. There was no winning with this kid. I thought he would have been excited.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
Here we go.
I patted Erin on the back and looked at my son. “He issued the invitation late yesterday. He thought you two would enjoy the beach. But we can easily stay somewhere else if that makes you uncomfortable.”
Jack huffed as Erin shook her head no. “You go stay with Nana. I want to stay with Evan and Daddy at the beach.”
My son’s expression turned to pure anger. “This trip isn’t about you, Erin. It’s for me. Evan came to meet me, remember? He didn’t know you existed.”
“Wait,” I interrupted, holding up my hands. “We’re not arguing about this. This vacation is for all of us, not just you, Jack. I’d planned this trip before I ever met Evan. So you both need to relax and remember your manners. You’re still in the public eye.”
Jack stared at me, then leveled me with a question I wasn’t expecting. “Are you dating him, Dad?”
My eyes flew open wide. Heat crawled up my spine, making me suddenly very sweaty. “Evan and I have become good friends.”
“I see you texting all the time. You never used to do that. At least not with Mom.”
Leaning forward, I leveled him with my stare. “I’m allowed to have friends, Jackson. And for the record, your mother and I didn’t need to communicate that way. We were together every day.”
Jack stared out the window before looking back at me. “You seem happier. And I don’t want you to forget her.”
My displeasure with his attitude waned. “I will never forget her, son. But she didn’t want the three of us to stop living.”
I pulled Erin to my side as I reached toward him. Jack looked at my outstretched hand a moment before he took it. I squeezed it and smiled sympathetically.
“Your mother loved us so much. She wanted us to be happy, but she would also be upset if she knew we were not moving forward. Moving on doesn’t mean we will forget about her. All any parent wants for their children is happiness.”
Jack blinked up at me with sad eyes. “Can I ask you something personal?”
“Of course. You can ask me anything.”
My pulse picked up as I waited.
“Do you like him?”
I didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Yes. He’s a good person and shares a lot of the same values about helping the people of California. Having him and some of his teammates on board with our nonprofits will be very helpful.”
Jack shook his head and frowned. “That’s not what I meant. I know he’s a good person.”
I stared at him a moment, wondering how to respond. So I adopted my political smile when asked something I wasn’t sure how to answer.
“I don’t have time for anything more than being your father and the governor. They are full-time jobs.”
Hopefully, my non-answer would be enough.
When the plane pulled to a stop, I smiled at my kids. “Let’s go have some fun. We’re on vacation.”
Jack’s expression seemed to relax, settling the part of the unease I was feeling.
“We’ve checked out the neighborhood Governor and stationed DPS security around the perimeter. Let me know when you’re ready to move to another location and we’ll be ready.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Thomas. We’ll be sticking to the schedule, but I’ll let you know if anything changes.”
“Thank you, sir,” he replied as he drove us to Evan’s home.
The fifteen-minute drive to his oceanfront property gave me time to wrap my head around Jack’s question.
Did he know Evan was bisexual?
When had he seen me texting with Evan?
And more importantly, were my feelings about Evan something I could explore at this point?
I was lost in thought when Thomas pulled into the driveway of a modern-looking, three-story home. The garage door was open, giving us a view of a very expensive black BMW SUV parked in the first bay.
Thomas scanned the area as my breath caught when Evan strode out to meet us.
His smile was breathtakingly beautiful as he ran a hand through his wavy light brown hair. Long muscled legs protruded from his bright blue board shorts, as his T-shirt clung to every muscle and ridge. But his feet were bare, exuding a casual ease I wished I’d felt.
Jack and Erin jumped out of the car and headed straight for him. Evan’s big smile and high-fives were accepted by my children. It was a few moments before he seemed to realize I hadn’t gotten out of the car.
Looking up, his eyes met mine as he smiled at me like he had that night.
“Is there a problem, sir?” Thomas asked.
Breaking me from my gaze, I glanced over at my longtime bodyguard. “No. Not at all,” I replied, motioning toward Jack. “Just giving him a moment with his favorite player.”
And I was. But I was also giving myself a moment to take in how at ease they were, and how happy they seemed.
Evan was ready for the beach, and so were my kids. I, on the other hand, could sit right here and take in the splendor in front of me.
And that in itself was new. Maybe I wasn’t as busy as I thought.
Evan pointed to the car, where the kids took off toward the back. Thomas got out after opening the trunk as Evan headed toward my door.
Reaching for the handle, he pulled it and swung it open. Stepping closer, he looked down at me.
“Welcome to San Diego. Are you getting out, Hud? Or are you planning to stay in the car?”
I laughed as warmth spread up my spine. Unable to take my eyes off him, I nodded.
“Yes, I’m getting out. Just giving Jack a moment with his idol.”
Pulling myself from the car, Evan took a step back, but the smile never left his face.
The air around us stirred, hitting me with a mix of salt air and the familiar scent of Evan’s body wash. I felt drunk until he closed the door.
“Need me to get your bags?” he asked, looking into my eyes.
Clearing my throat, I shook my head. “Nope. I’ve got them.”
Moving to the trunk, I pulled out my weekender bag and shook hands with Thomas. “I’ll let you know if I need you,” I said.
“Thank you. Have a good vacation, sir.”
Nodding once, I moved to walk around the car back to where Evan was waiting with the kids. He turned and smiled as I approached them.
“Let me show you where you’re staying so you can get changed. I thought we’d eat lunch, then hit the beach,” he said to Jack and Erin as he led us inside.
“That would be awesome,” Jack replied, looking up at his hero.
Evan glanced over his shoulder at me. “That okay with you, Hudson?”
I nodded as we headed inside. “Yeah, that sounds great.”
Evan clapped his hands together. “Okay, you two. Follow me.” He started up the stairs, leaving me in the foyer. “You’ve got the top floor to yourselves. There’s even a game room up here.”
I smiled and looked around the house until he returned. “They’re changing,” he said, throwing his arm over my shoulders. “Let me show you my guest room.”
My heart rate picked up, as the first thing to enter my mind was I hoped it was close to his room.
The sound of a record being scratched sounded in my brain as I stopped walking. Evan’s arm slipped from my shoulders as he turned to look at me.
“You okay?”
Dropping my gaze to the floor, I rubbed my fingers over my mouth. My stomach churned as I studied the floor.
“Hudson. What’s wrong?”
I had to snap out of this, so I went with the first thing I could think of. “Low blood sugar, I guess.”
Replying that all the blood had moved to my trousers would have been more accurate.
Evan frowned and headed toward the kitchen. The open floor plan allowed me to watch as he strode purposefully across the room to the refrigerator and pulled open the door. He reached inside and pulled out a sports drink. Walking back to me, my eyes stayed glued on him as he cracked the seal on the lid and then held it out to me.
“Here. Drink some of this.”
I took the bottle and did as he asked. Evan reached for me and took the bag from my shoulder.
“Does this happen often?”
I shook my head as I swallowed the beverage, still not taking my eyes off him. When I could think, I smiled and nodded. “Thanks. That helped a lot.”
Evan continued to look at me and assess my condition. “That used to happen to me until I got my nutrition plan sorted out. When was the last time you ate?”
I finished the contents and handed it to him since he had the lid.
“Last night, I think. Probably the change in altitude and too much caffeine.”
That was probably a lie, but I needed something to take the heat off me. And that sounded as good of an excuse as any. I couldn’t tell him what was really going on in my head, because I wasn’t 100% sure I knew.
“I’m going to put your things downstairs in the guest room if you’re okay. You go grab something to eat. I have every deli meat and bread imaginable in there with all the stuff that goes with them.”
I nodded. “Yeah, okay.” My smile was deceptive. “I’m fine. Thank you.”
Evan nodded, then turned to walk away. I followed him with my eyes as he walked toward the back of the house that overlooked the brilliant blue of the Pacific.
The sound of my kids upstairs brought me back to the moment. I could be in dad mode and shove these new discoveries away for a while.
I’d always relied on my gut feelings when making decisions, and that approach hadn’t proven to be wrong. I knew what I was feeling for Evan was more than friendship. And for whatever reason, those giddy feelings of excitement didn’t scare me. They made me nervous. But in a good way.
And I was good with that.
Moving to the kitchen, I started pulling out the things we needed for lunch.