Chapter Four
chapter four
CALLUM
O kay, Rachel may have picked a good one. Hudson is … perfect, to put it bluntly. Tall, really tall. Big bear of a man, with his full beard, short, shaggy brown hair, and big hands. He has a wonderful smile, brilliant and kind and full of life. And the flowers. I’ve never gotten flowers from a date before. I hope this isn’t some facade he’s putting on to get me to like him and then flip the script on me later. But I don’t see that happening. It seems like what you see is what you get with Hudson. His open face and wide eyes draw me in, and I think this could be someone I see myself with for a while.
Here I go, thinking too far into the future. Putting the cart so far ahead of the horse that it’s a wonder I can still see it. For now, I’ll just enjoy the time we spend together. Besides, he might not think the same thing. He might want to be friends and stick to that. Can’t fault him for it. He barely knows me.
I’ll take it as it comes. Something about Hudson tells me I want him in my life for the long run. Maybe it’s the way he talks, a perpetual grin on his face. Or how his eyes light up at the smallest things, like when I told him about my work on the superhero. Maybe it’s because our conversation has been flowing effortlessly. Whatever it is, I want it for as long as he’ll give it to me.
As we eat, Hudson tells me about his father, his eyes shining with unshed tears, but with happiness and love in his voice. “He was a good man. Quiet and tough, but he was good. He wanted the best for me and my sister and we knew that. Dad wasn’t overly affectionate, but when I came out,” he pauses and huffs a small laugh, “he gave me this awkward one-armed hug that had me and my mother cracking up. He tried, but that just wasn’t who he was. But I know he loved us. We never had any doubt about that.”
In a low voice, I ask, “How did he … pass?”
“Brain aneurysm. He was here one moment, gone the next.” Hudson shakes his head and says, “Can we talk about something else? Bringing up memories of my dad always brings me down.”
“Yeah, of course. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean?—”
“No,” he says, cutting me off. “Thank you for asking. When I tell people he passed, they always clam up and want to change the subject. It means a lot that you asked.”
He grins and I return the gesture, glad that I didn’t upset him. God, what is it about Hudson? Yeah, the surface stuff is good because he’s hot as fuck. The loose waves of his brown hair makes me want to run my fingers through it, mussing it more. I can only imagine the beard burn I’ll get from kissing him. That thought alone makes my eyes drop to his mouth, wondering what it would feel like on mine.
But besides that, Hudson is a breath of fresh air. Funny, obviously very smart, a little subdued but not in a bad way. He gives me the feeling that he’ll open up more when he trusts someone. I hope he can trust me enough to open up. I want to know everything there is to know about Hudson.
The rest of the night is spent talking about lighter topics. Hudson and I barely have anything in common, but that doesn’t seem to matter. When I tell him I like R&B and nineties rap music, he asks for my favorite songs and adds them to his playlist, saying he needs new music. Turnabout is fair play, so I ask for his and he gives me a few eighties soft rock songs that I know of—but wouldn’t listen to on my own—and add them to a new playlist as well. Maybe in the future, we can swap enough to have a playlist full of each other’s favorites.
Hudson hates rom-coms, while I would probably hoard every rom-com ever made and die a happy man. He’s more of the action type, saying John Wick is his current favorite, “But The Matrix is a close second.” He winks when he says that.
I raise an eyebrow and whisper, “Do you have a crush on Keanu Reeves?”
His laugh is boisterous, and I swoon. “You got me. I think The Matrix is what made me realize I wanted a boyfriend.”
I laugh along with him, shaking my head at his ridiculousness. Our server comes and gives us the check, which Hudson grabs smoothly. “I can pay for half,” I offer. Every first date I’ve been on, I’ve had to pay for my meal. It’s fine, because most of the time, I don’t want to see the person again. It seems an unspoken agreement that he who pays for the meal gets ass at the end of the night.
Hudson raises an eyebrow at me while he puts his card in the envelope, handing it back to the server. “Why would you do that? I can afford it.” I give him the rundown of my theory. I expect him to laugh but he regards me thoughtfully. “I don’t want anything from you at the end of the night, Callum. Well, your number hopefully, but I don’t expect you to put out because I paid for a few appetizers.”
I figured as much, but it does make me feel better that he said that. “Thanks, Hudson. Of course, you can have my number. You’re not getting away from me so soon,” I tell him with a bright smile, only half joking.
“Good,” Hudson says, smiling shyly.
When the server comes back, Hudson signs the receipt with a flourish and we both stand to leave. “I’ll walk you to your car,” Hudson says, putting his hand on the small of my back, making me shiver. I hope he didn’t notice. When I gaze into his eyes, I see I’m not so lucky. Hudson’s eyes are slightly hooded, and he glances down at my mouth.
Stammering, I say, “Umm, I uh … I took an Uber.” Fuck, I forgot to order one before the check came. I was having so much fun with him, it completely slipped my mind.
We’re outside at this point, standing on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Hudson hands the valet his ticket, then turns to face me. “I can take you home. And this isn’t a ploy to get in your pants. I don’t mind. Or I can wait for your Uber to get here, so you’re not standing here alone.”
“A ride home sounds good. I don’t think you’re trying to find a way in my pants.”
Nodding, Hudson steps closer to me, arm brushing mine and I feel the heat of his body in that simple touch. “I stay about fifteen minutes from here. Going north.”
“North it is.”
“Is that out of the way?”
He doesn’t get a chance to answer. The valet pulls up with his car and he helps me into the passenger seat. After tipping the valet and climbing into the driver’s seat, he asks me to input my address into his GPS. Then he pulls up his music app and hands me his phone. When I give him a questioning look, he says, “I want to know what a car ride with you is like. Give me a peek inside that beautiful head of yours.” God, I want him in my head.
“Okay, yeah.” I put on my go to song when I want to get in the sweet mindset, Tevin Campbell’s “Can We Talk.”
I start to sing and to my surprise, Hudson joins in. I stare at him, wide-eyed, and he winks at me, continuing to sing along to the music.
When the song ends, I press pause on the next song. “Sir, have you been holding out on me?”
Hudson shrugs, his cheeks pink. “No. I said I love eighties rock, not that it’s the only thing I listen to. My sister loved Tevin Campbell growing up and he’s a talented singer.”
Oh lord, this man. Full of surprises and he has a good singing voice. Did Rachel find my future husband?