8. Chapter Eight
Chapter Eight
Hudson
“Okay, since you aren’t going to tell me, I have to ask,” Trey says.
I frown as I hoist my heavy canvas bag of books higher over my shoulder. I wasn’t worried about spending the money, but I was worried about whether or not I am going to fit all of these into my suitcase for the plane. I may have to ship some of them home…
“That book you bought… the pink one? Alpha something or other?”
I narrow my eyes on him, then it hits me.
“Oh,” I say with a laugh. “Did you think that was for me?”
“Well, you did buy it.”
“What would you think if I said it was for me?”
“I’d ask what all that not believing in love was about.”
“ Alpha Kiss , I’ll have you know, is a spicy werewolf romance with fated mates. No love needed.”
When I look back at Trey, his jaw has dropped to the ground. I try not to laugh, but I can’t help it. It bursts out of me, louder than I’ve laughed in years.
“It’s for my mother,” I finally say.
A choked sound escapes him, and then he grins.
“Right. Your mother.” Chuckling, he shakes his head. “Now that makes sense.”
“She’s been talking about this series forever. It’s like… the ninth book or something? I don’t know. She thinks because I like to read that I want to hear about her wolf-mate books.”
“Please tell me she doesn’t get into detail…”
“No.”
“Thank G—”
“Because I have to stop her.”
“That’s awful.”
“Yeah, I know. I tell her all the time she should talk to Amanda about it, since she’s probably into all that stuff, but she just goes on about how she wants to bond with me and books are something we both like.” I scoff. “Her books and my books are not even close to being the same thing.”
“Yeah, right.” He runs his hand through his hair, dodging some guy in a suit who’s on his phone and not paying attention to where he’s going. “So, do you talk to Mandy—uh, Amanda, often?”
“No,” I say. “I don’t see a reason for it. We aren’t children. We have nothing in common. Just because my mother married her father and we’re somehow legally obligated to be siblings doesn’t mean we have to be close. I didn’t choose to merge the families, so I shouldn’t have to deal with it.”
“Wow, Huds. Tell me how you really feel.”
“Shit, sorry, I just… It’s nothing.”
“It’s obviously something.”
“I just don’t want to talk about it,” I say.
“Cool. We don’t have to talk about it.”
The tension between us is high as we make our way back to the hotel, and I know it’s because I all but snapped at him about my family stuff.
I could have said it nicer, but the whole dynamic frustrates me.
My parents frustrate me, even though I have this strange need to still have a relationship with them.
They always piss me off, yet I always go back.
And all this shit with my stepsister and stepdad… I’m just tired of it. My mother doesn’t understand why I won’t be some perfectly happy family with them.
She doesn’t understand that I am a grown adult who has his own life and just wants to be left alone to do his own thing.
We’re in the elevator when Trey finally speaks again.
“What time is your flight tomorrow?”
“2:15.”
“Shit, really? Mine’s at 2:45. I rented a car. You want me to give you a lift to the airport?”
“I don’t—”
“Look, it doesn’t need to be anything, Huds.
We don’t even have to talk, if that’s what will make you feel better.
If you need some quiet after all this, I’ll give it to you.
” His blue eyes flash with something I can’t quite place, but if I had to guess, I’d say it looks sad.
Guilty maybe? But before I can say anything, he says, “Just let me bring you to the damn airport.”
I stare at him, unblinking as the elevator comes to a stop, the doors opening. I need to get off or they’re going to close. I can’t find words, though, and so I just keep staring at him.
The doors finally close, not having any patience for me, and we move on up to floor twenty-nine.
Trey sighs and moves to step off when the doors open again, but I grab his arm.
“Yes.”
“Yes?” he says with a smile.
“What time do we need to leave?”
The doors close again, and now we’re going back down. Neither one of us seems to care as we figure this out.
“Well, we want to be at the airport by 12:30, probably, just to be safe. It’s a busy airport. So we should leave here by 11:45?”
“I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
We stop at the twelfth floor and ride down to the bottom for the older couple to get off, then Trey hits the buttons for us to go back up. This time, when the elevator stops on my floor, I get off.
It’s after twelve, and though I should be sleeping, I can’t. I’ve been lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, replaying my day.
Mostly the conversations with Trey and how I could have done them better.
But I also keep circling back to the fact I caught Alex and Mack together… holy shit. That’s a pair I never expected. Talk about opposites.
Mostly I keep going back to the conversations I had with Trey where I got all deep… why do I keep doing that? First, it was this rant about everyone changing. Then it’s how love isn’t real. Why do I have to be so damn awkward all the time?
I grab my phone, unplug it, and open up Trey’s text thread.
Me
I’m sorry if I’m being weird.
I stare at the screen, hoping he’s going to answer, even if I know he likely won’t because it’s late.
A few minutes pass, so I plug my phone back in, roll over to try to sleep, and wonder if I shouldn’t have sent that message. I don’t want to look like an idiot.
Trey is confident, knows what he’s doing all the time.
He’s just himself. I bet he doesn’t stay awake at night replaying conversations and encounters with people the way I do.
The only time I feel truly confident is at work.
I know my stuff. I know what the expectations are and what I am supposed to do.
Social situations are unpredictable, numbers aren’t, and sometimes I wish I could go back to the immature college guy who didn’t care as much.
I guess it doesn’t matter though, because tomorrow I’ll be back home in my apartment with a full week to do whatever the hell I want, which in some ways is great, and in other ways…
not so much. Going back to work is going to be difficult because there will be extra work waiting for me, and my whole schedule will be off.
But with a week off, after taking a day or two to recover from this, I should be able to visit some of the places I’ve been wanting to go and maybe even catch a football game with Dad.
He’s been asking me to go and I keep saying I don’t have time, but I have time now, so maybe I can do that. I know he’d appreciate it.
We’ll see how the days go… you never know what’s going to happen.