Hudson’s POV
“Itold you—the left side of the street.”
“And I told you I didn’t know which direction you meant we were coming from!”
I let out a disparaging sigh and slumped lower in the passenger seat of Derrick’s car, kicking the soda cans and old receipts as I did so.
There was more trash in the footwell than normal, because before we left my house to park at Willow, I made sure to collect whatever was in the backseat and put it up front.
Derrick’s gaze flicked to my feet. “I don’t think Milady would mind a few pop bottles at her feet, you know.”
My knee bounced up and down. “You could’ve cleaned up a little.”
“Hey, you never cared before.” I didn’t miss the smirk that tugged at his mouth. “But bring a pretty girl into the picture—”
I smacked him in the shoulder with the back of my hand, refusing to acknowledge him after that.
Ever since we went to the movies, he’d been relentless.
In hindsight, I never should’ve invited him to the theater in the first place.
It was an impulsive move, one born from two big brown eyes looking up at me and asking if I had any ideas on how we’d get a ride.
All rational thought had dissolved into each of the flecks in her eyes, in the nervousness that coursed there—nervousness mixed with excitement.
So, of course I had to figure out a solution to the problem. Too bad my solution had a big mouth.
“She should be coming soon, huh?” Derrick asked, slapping his palm on top of his dash, causing the time to blink back into focus. “Unless she bailed.”
It was a possibility, but one I didn’t put too much weight on. “She’ll come.”
“You think this is a good idea, bro?” His voice turned serious, causing me to look over at him directly for the first time.
He had an uncharacteristically solemn expression on his face, his dark eyebrows brought together.
“Milady seems great—she really does—but what if her parents realize she snuck out? What if they find out she was with you?”
I’d be lying if I said that hadn’t crossed my mind.
The feelings that surged when I thought of Gemma’s family were strange, mostly because they were so contradictory.
The thought of her mother caused a scowl to spring to my face, unbidden, impossible to shake.
Her mother was one of the reasons I carried the feared title I did—and so was Gemma’s brother.
One side of me wanted them to pay for all the issues and setbacks and trouble.
The other part of me, though, couldn’t separate them from Gemma.
They were Gemma’s family—the ones she loved—and I couldn’t do anything that would hurt her in the end, too.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” I said eventually, looking down the street. Gemma lived on the street perpendicular to this one, and I waited for her figure to pop up. It was two minutes past our agreed-upon time. “The benefits outweigh the risks, I guess.”
“What are you benefitting from this? Sneaking her out and everything?”
I thought about the list I’d created—not quite a rebellion list like Gemma’s, but one that held the two things that’d popped into my mind when I sat down to make it.
Help Gemma find herself. Fight my role. Spending time with Gemma…
I was doing just that. Both of those things. Two birds with one stone.
Derrick would’ve made fun of me to no end if I told him that, though. Might as well let him tease me about something he already knew. “It’s like you said.” My lips twitched into a half smile. “We get to be around a pretty girl.”
This time, it was Derrick who thumped me on the arm, and my grin just widened at the way he cooed at me. I swatted him away, kicking the garbage at my feet again.
It was five minutes past our meeting time when I cursed myself for not giving her my number earlier. I had no way to check in with her to see if she was still coming, or if she’d gotten caught. Hopefully it wasn’t the latter. Picturing Gemma in trouble because of me…it made my stomach turn.
Just when I started believing the idea that she wasn’t coming, I saw her.
At first, I was almost convinced it wasn’t her.
Her legs were long and pale in the night, taking long strides as she came up the street.
I’d never seen so much of her skin before, and the sight of it caused my chest to tighten.
The nearer she drew, I realized that the blackness trailing behind her wasn’t just the night—her long, dark hair was loose, much like it’d been the day she showed up at my house after school.
The wind was tearing its fingers through it in a way I was jealous of, cascading it back and exposing her expression.
And that was what really had the air in my lungs freezing, crystalizing to a point that was painful. Gemma was grinning like she’d just gotten away with the world’s biggest heist, and I’d never seen an expression so beautiful.
I knew it immediately then, accepting the fact without faltering.
Whatever happened with us now from here on out, it would all be worth it for this moment.
To see her so thrilled as she ran down the street, looking like she was laughing as she did so.
To know that I was able to make her feel this way, even just once.
A hint of this realization had come when we went to the movies, when I’d looked over at her and found her snorting at the scary movie that literally gave me nightmares.
But now, I knew it for a fact. Someone write it on a stone tablet.
Whatever Gemma Settler wanted, I was in it for the long haul.
And whatever would happen, it would be worth it. Just for this moment.
Derrick slapped me again. “Dude, she’s going the wrong direction.”
I blinked to clear my head, spotting Gemma running down the street in front of us. “That’s because someone—” I fumbled to unclasp my seatbelt “—parked on the wrong side.”
“I told you—” Derrick began, but I’d already thrown my door open, climbing out into the night.
“Gem!”
And Gemma whirled around, her hair spinning out, her skirt following the movement, and the grin she’d been wearing deepened at the sight of me. Dazzling. Beautiful.
Worth it, I thought as she bit down on her lip, swallowing a wide grin of my own. Whatever happens, it’s all worth it.