Chapter 32
CHAPTER
THIRTY-TWO
WILDE
H udson returns in my truck early the next morning, just cementing the what the fuck am I doing thoughts that I’ve been having all night. And I do mean all night . The pain in my leg was a constant throb that made getting comfortable impossible.
He doesn’t even bother to knock. Just walks in, whistling, then tosses my keys my way. “Morning, sunshine. Need anything before we go?”
“For you not to call me sunshine.”
Amusement tugs at his lips. “Ah, but that’s the one thing that I can’t do.”
Figures. I push up onto my feet, ignoring the twinge that happens with every step. I’m determined not to limp because I don’t want the attention that comes from an injury. “Let’s go, then.”
“Did you have breakfast? ”
His question stops me before I reach the door. “Yes. I’m not a child.”
“You really struggle with help, don’t you? Believe it or not, that’s a normal question to ask someone who’s been hurt and can barely walk.”
“I have no issues with walking.”
The bastard bops me on the nose on the way past. “Sure you don’t, sunshine.”
“We’re not doing sunshine.”
“One day, you’ll realize that you can’t control everything.”
My glare shuts him up, at least temporarily, because I’m not planning to realize that ever. “Get in the truck.”
“You didn’t say please.”
“If you’re waiting on that, you’ll be standing here all day.” I leave the house and cross my leafy yard. Everything is still wet from last night’s storm, but the sun is rising fast and hot, so I don’t expect it to stay that way for long.
Hudson follows me, and when he climbs into the cab, he smells fresh and sweet like always. I have to remind myself that today isn’t about fucking; it’s about trying to create some kind of friendship and respect for this place that will change his mind about destroying it.
“Who are we visiting first?” he asks.
“Thought we could go and see Gracie so you can tell her about what you did to her vase. Pot. Thing.”
“And I’ll make sure to tell her you call it a vase pot thing as well.”
I rub my temple, already knowing it’s going to be a long day. The worst part is that Hudson is literally just giving the attitude back to me, so there’s nothing I can do but take it on the chin.
I’ve been dreading this morning since I suggested it, but driving around with him is surprisingly easy.
I keep silent, he talks, and as we move from person to family to person, they soften to him.
I know he’s impossible to resist, but that’s mostly in a sexual way. Everyone else seems to … like him.
I wave goodbye to Queenie as I climb into my truck and then sit there for a moment.
“Who’s next?” Hudson asks, oblivious to the raging thoughts flying through my mind. “This has been great. I’m pumped to win the next person over.”
Slowly, I cast my gaze his way. “How are you so personable? You’re a fucking asshole, but the Wenders love you.”
A little darkness shadows his green eyes.
“I need to be able to talk to people at work. Unlike when we met, I usually have no issues with first impressions. It’s not getting people to like me in a surface-level way that’s the issue.
They work out there isn’t much substance behind my smiles, and that’s when they want nothing to do with me. ”
“No substance?”
He plays it off like he doesn’t care, but I’m confused.
I speak before I’m aware of even thinking it. “No substance is one of the last things I would have said about you.”
Hudson meets my gaze, and I don’t know why he looks so surprised.
It’s just a fact. A man doesn’t uproot his entire life and move to the middle of nowhere because he’s worried about his brothers if he has no substance.
He doesn’t stand up and meet every challenge I throw at him head-on if he has no substance.
He also doesn’t get that flicker of sadness when he talks about shitty past relationships if he has no substance.
There’s more to him than he wants to admit, and I don’t want to know any of it.
So I turn my car on and get driving again.
“That way is the Lair,” I tell him. “Booker said you’ve already seen it. ”
“The Lair?”
“Where we host Peril matches.”
He glances back the way I pointed. “Do they always happen here?”
“Yes. There was talk about some of the other towns hosting, but it’s convenient. Especially with Booker. He organizes the matches, the betting pool, and is ready for any injuries.”
“The betting pool?”
I’m still hesitant to tell him details about the town.
It requires a level of trust he hasn’t earned and, if I’m honest with myself, he probably never could earn.
It goes against all my natural instincts, but I have to give him something.
“It’s how we make our money. There are matches throughout the afternoon and into the night, and people bet on who they think will win, whether there are any injuries, how long each match will take …
there are endless options. Booker takes a brokerage fee, and the winners take a percentage of the betting pool and door charge.
It’s where we make our money. Especially when it comes to a fight like mine and Foley’s. ”
“Who’s Foley?”
“He’s the mayor of Dale and my sworn Peril enemy.”
“You?” Hudson chokes back a laugh. “You have a sworn enemy?”
“We’re two of the best, and every month, we challenge each other.
The wins have been fairly even, but I lost last time”—it takes all my restraint to not point out that the loss was from dealing with Hudson every day—“which means I lost a big chunk of cash the town needs. And now I’m injured, so it’s unlikely I’ll win next week, which means I’ll lose us even more money. ”
“Someone else can fight for you this time.”
“Sure. But they’d lose. Foley and I are the best.”
“And then you use your winnings for the town? ”
I nod, steering down a narrow road before I pull to a stop within eyesight of the crop fields.
“Capitalism isn’t a thing here. We share resources.
The electricity is solar and we have a battery farm in the containers down there.
” I point toward the shipping containers that are locked up tight.
“Our crop fields are managed by Lynx, and in exchange for food, people help tend the land. If something’s broken, we fix it together.
Living shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg. You need a house?
We’ll build it for you, but you’re going to work hard for it as well.
Nothing is free, but it doesn’t cost money.
Time, energy, teamwork—those things are more important out here. ”
“Then why bother with Peril?”
“Because the rest of the world doesn’t work that way.
We can get a lot that we need out here, but things like building supplies, hygiene products, Booker’s medicines …
that’s what the Peril fund goes toward. I earn the money, Rooney takes it and gets whatever we need.
” I glance at him as he turns it all over in his mind.
“You have it all worked out.”
We did . The kind of frictionless community that can be built when no one wants for anything.
When things like more are talked about, it’s only the difference between Ziggy having an old TV or the Raylon kids having phones with internet.
Both of those things aren’t a need, and most of us aren’t interested in them.
These brothers though … I’m not being dramatic when I say how delicate the arrangement up here is.
New people coming into town, wearing brand labels and driving Range Rovers and posting pictures of Wilde’s End all over the place, could easily be the tipping point.
It doesn’t take much to turn the most level head envious, and while most of the families moved here willingly, the kids have grown up only knowing this, and they’re the ones who are vulnerable.
They don’t know what the rest of the world is like.
And the rest of the world definitely doesn’t know what we’re like.
But Hudson and his brothers have a plan, and I don’t have a workaround for them. They have money tied up in the place, and they need a return on that money.
Even if it makes him the bad guy in my eyes, he’s right. He’s not a bad guy. This is all a matter of circumstance.
“Viv wants to meet you next,” I tell him, pulling back out onto the road. “Don’t worry, she’ll love you. She’s the adoptive mom type who loves everyone.”
Plus, if today has made one thing clear, it’s that Hudson is apparently an easy guy to like.