Chapter 41
~Riley~
No one should look as good in a reindeer sweater as Hudson Baker does.
The party, like everything about Victoria’s house, is elegant and understated while still being festive.
The women are mostly in dresses, the men in dress pants and semi-formal shirts.
Not Hudson, though; he’s wearing the loudest, brightest red sweater that makes his red hair stand out more than ever, with a matching red nose on the reindeer that seems to be made of sequins as it shimmers in the soft light of the living room.
He looks completely out of place and yet completely at ease, and that confidence, that sense of security in himself, makes him the best-looking man in the room in my eyes.
Part of me wants to link my arm through his and announce to the entire room that he’s mine.
Imagining the way his eyes would light up if I did makes the urge almost impossible to resist.
Before I can, though, the feeling I had the day I found Trevor and Evelyn together resurface. Knowing that I lost not only my relationship and my best friend, but also the sense of belonging in the club where I trained for two years, is enough to hold me back.
Riverbend is everything I hoped it would be and more, and if I lost Hudson and the club at the same time, I’m not sure I could recover.
I need to protect myself. I have to keep my personal life separate from my professional one.
Those are the lessons Trevor taught me.
“We’re going to play Naughty or Nice,” Hannah squeals. “I asked Victoria and she said we could.”
Lewis rolls his eyes. “You and your games. She’s obsessed, Riley. Don’t get sucked in.”
“You don’t even know what it is,” Hannah tuts at him. “And you’re definitely going to be on the Naughty side.”
I glance over at Hudson to see if he’s following this any better than I am. “What’s Naughty or Nice?”
He shrugs good-naturedly. “No idea, but I’m game.”
Of course he is. If there’s ever a man up for anything, it’s the one in front of me.
With at least one person in agreement, Hannah turns to the room at large. “Hey, everyone! Time for a game.”
Her voice easily carries over the gentle hum of conversation and people turn her way, some curious and others sharing Lewis’ wariness.
Someone turns down the music and Hannah steps up onto the coffee table so she can be seen above the crowd.
Lewis immediately mutters a curse and comes up behind her, placing his hands on her waist to make sure she doesn’t fall.
“Everyone has to come to the middle of the room,” she announces, drawing a line with her arm to indicate the midpoint.
“I’m going to read out a list of actions that are either naughty or nice.
For every naughty one you’ve done, take a step to my left.
For nice ones, take a step to my right. At the end of the game, we’ll see whether you fall on Santa’s naughty or nice list.”
Murmured comments and some laughter sweep over the room but most people step to the centre of the room readily enough. Hudson steers me to a spot between him and Hannah.
“Number one,” Hannah calls out, her eyes sparkling with delight as she relishes her game host role. “This year, I intentionally ran into someone on the ice.”
Another round of laughter circles the room, and I hear a bit of shuffling behind me, suggesting some people are moving. I stay where I am.
“I volunteered my time with younger kids on the ice,” Hannah says next.
More people move that time, including Hudson. I can feel him step away from me before he grabs my hand and pulls me to the side with him. “You helped those kids at West Ed with their spins,” he reminds me in a whisper.
“I don’t think that counts,” I whisper back over my shoulder.
“Sure, it does. We gotta take the nice ones where we can get them.”
Some of the items she lists are clearly naughty or nice while others are a little greyer. When she calls out, “I fucked at least one of my fans,” I gasp, as do a few other people, and we all turn to see who’s actually going to admit to that.
A couple of the women and at least four of the men take a step. Keaton takes several, putting him far beyond anyone else on the naughty side. The room erupts in laughter.
I’d heard rumours about Keaton being a bit of a player before, but I didn’t know how true they were. Looks like he just confirmed it.
I’m ridiculously relieved to see that Hudson doesn’t move for that one. In fact, he’s a few steps further to the nice side than I am.
“I bought a Christmas present for someone else at the club,” Hannah announces.
The thought of my present for Hudson still sitting underneath his tree makes me smile as I take a step.
“I went down on someone from the club,” Hannah states next, and there’s another gasp, this one accompanied by quite a lot of nervous laughter.
Hudson confidently takes a step towards the ‘nice’ side while I hesitate.
“Is that one naughty or nice?” someone in the back asks.
“Depends how it ended,” Hannah replies, earning another round of laughs.
Shit. What do I do? If I take a step, Hannah will demand to know who I was with but if I don’t, will Hudson be hurt? Trying to fight down the blush in my cheeks, I debate long enough that the game moves on.
“That’s the last question,” Hannah pronounces after a couple more statements. “But it’s not the end of the game! Now, everyone on the nice side needs to find someone on the naughty side to kiss to balance everything out.”
She claps her hands gleefully while everyone else glances over at the opposite side of the room. I’m on the nice side, just barely, which means I can’t kiss Hudson even if I wanted to. We both have to choose someone else.
As confidently as he does everything, Hudson walks straight over to Victoria, our party host, and plants a loud, wet kiss square on her lips to the delight and amusement of the whole crowd.
She swipes at her mouth with the back of her hand when he’s done but I can tell she’s trying not to smile.
Even the ice-queen herself can’t resist his goofy charm.
I’m not that confident, unfortunately. From my spot, I survey my options, and as I’m debating with myself, my eyes meet Keaton’s.
He winks at me and my cheeks immediately heat.
He’s barely said two words to me since I started at the club and as one of Hudson’s main competitors, not to mention a self-proclaimed man-whore, staying away from him seems to be the smartest plan.
Keaton, however, has other ideas. When I don’t move, he does, coming towards me and giving me a sly smile. “So, you’re a good girl, Riley?”
“No, I’m not,” I protest. “I lied.”
He laughs. “Even better. I don’t usually go for the good girls.”
Without waiting for any further invitation, he wraps a hand around my neck, tilts my chin up with his thumb, and places a soft, lingering kiss on my lips. This is definitely a guy who knows what he’s doing.
After a couple of seconds, when he shows no intention of ending the kiss on his own, I pull away. “Uh, thanks.”
Keaton simply chuckles and walks away while I scan the room for Hudson. I find him in the doorway that leads into the kitchen, an uncharacteristically pensive look on his face. When our eyes meet, he turns around and walks into the kitchen, out of sight.
Fuck.