Chapter 11
~Riley~
After the talk I had with Hudson at West Edmonton Mall, a lot of guys would have backed off.
They would have treated me differently than before, or been resentful of me kissing them and then saying I wasn’t interested.
Honestly, if Hudson had been a little sullen or withdrawn afterwards, I would have understood.
Nothing like that happens, though. We go on a few more rides before he drops me off at home with my sheets, giving me a cheerful wave goodbye and waiting outside until I’m safely through the door before driving away.
The next day at the rink, he acts the same as he always has, joking with me and keeping up the pretense to everyone else that we’re childhood pen pals.
The day after that is the same.
By the third day, I have to accept that nothing bad is coming; this is simply who he is. That doesn’t mean I understand it, though.
“Is Hudson for real?” I blurt out to Hannah when we’re getting changed after a ballet class at the end of the day.
A few of the other women glance over at me, but Hannah doesn’t seem to notice, her focus still on pulling off her dance leotard beneath the sweater she’s already put on.
Most of the women in the change room aren’t shy about changing in front of everyone, but Hannah prefers a little modesty. “What do you mean?”
I’m struggling to find the right words to give her some context.
She just came back from the competition in China yesterday so I haven’t told her about my day at the mall with him, and I don’t want to bring it up now where everyone else can hear.
I stick to the basics instead. “He’s always in a good mood.
Nothing seems to get him down. I’ve never known anyone like that before. ”
Trevor most certainly wasn’t like that. When things were going well for him, he’d be wonderful to be around, but if something didn’t go his way, he could turn cold and stand-offish in an instant.
I haven’t seen any of that from Hudson, not in the time I’ve been at Riverbend, and I want to know if I should be expecting it or if he really is just as even-keeled as he seems.
She shrugs right back at me, seemingly unconcerned. “You’ve known him longer than I have.”
Right. The whole pen pal thing. “Yeah, but writing to each other is different from seeing each other every day. I thought maybe he just waited until he was in a good mood to write to me.”
I’m rather proud of myself for how quickly I come up with that little lie.
“He is always in a good mood,” Natalie interjects from a few lockers away from us, making it clear she’s heard every word. “Seriously. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get mad, even when he has a shit skate.”
“I don’t trust people like that,” Lydia sniffs. “He must be pushing all the negative emotions down. It’ll blow up in his face someday.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.
” Natasha rolls her eyes on the other side of the room, slamming her locker shut with more force than necessary.
A dozen heads swivel in her direction. The entire room seems to be a part of this conversation now.
“Of course he gets mad. He just knows how to deal with it. When you go through something like he went through, you learn some perspective.”
A tightness grips my stomach at the mention of something painful in Hudson’s past. I don’t want to intrude, but the mysteriousness of it makes me curious.
Thankfully, Natalie asks the question before I have to: “What did he go through?”
“It’s not my place to say,” Natasha says flatly. “It’s no one’s business but his, but honestly? If you bitches want to gossip about someone, pick on someone who isn’t a better person than all of you put together.”
With that, she storms out of the room, leaving the rest of us in stunned silence. Nervous glances dart around, and when I give Hannah a questioning look, she simply shrugs again.
“Who peed in her Cheerios?” Lydia mumbles to break the silence.
“I don’t think her weekend with Alexei Razin went the way she was hoping,” Victoria suggests, her tone bored and detached. She hasn’t even bothered to look up from her phone, as if none of us are interesting enough to deserve her attention.
That sends the group into another round of gossip, all about who hooked up with whom at the competition in China over the weekend.
I lean in closer to Hannah, lowering my voice so as not to be heard this time. “Do you have any idea what she was talking about? What happened to Hudson?”
“No, but Tash and Hudson have been training here longer than Lewis and I have,” she whispers back. “Whatever it is, it must have happened before we arrived.”
Now, I’m more curious about Hudson’s cheerfulness than ever, but I also agree with Natasha: unless Hudson chooses to talk about it, it really isn’t anyone’s business, including mine. For his sake, I hope whatever happened wasn’t too bad.
“To get back to your original question,” Hannah adds, “I’ve never seen him really upset. Why? Did something happen while I was away?”
This is the point where I could tell her about the kiss and our conversation, and why I was worried he might be upset with me, but in the light of everything else, it suddenly doesn’t seem as important.
I settle on telling her a partial truth instead.
“We hung out at the mall for the day and had a great time. He’s so laid back and easygoing all the time, I was just curious.”
Hannah swings her locker shut and picks up her bag. “I’m glad you had fun. We’ll have to go shopping sometime soon when we both have the same off-day.”
“I’d like that.” Giving her a smile, I pick up my bag too. “Now, I want to hear all about Cup of China. Want to grab a cup of tea before we head home?”
“Sounds great.”
We leave the conversation about Hudson behind us in the change room, and he doesn’t come up again.
But once I’m at home, alone, he crosses my mind far more often than he should for a guy I am definitely, 100%, never going to kiss again.