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No one questioned why the guys were here, so that told me it had been planned.
“I think I’m going to go,” I whispered to Everly.
She put her hand on mine and shook her head. “Don’t leave.”
It was then that the guys loaded into the living room, and I felt more trapped than ever. I glanced over at Poppy, hoping she’d take my expression and offer to drive me home, but she didn’t. Instead, Maya cleared her throat.
“I’m sure you can guess by now that this was planned.”
I avoided her eyes. She’d been the creator of this mess, and by the looks of things, she was going to end it, too.
“Yeah, you’re both fucking miserable as hell, so we thought we’d bring you two together so you could talk,” Joe said, coming into the living room a little more.
I could feel my body heating. It was going to be impossible to stop the panic attack that was threatening to spill over and consume me. Instead of saying anything, I looked from Poppy to Everly to Maya, and then got up and took off for Maya’s room.
With the door shut, I felt better. I was away from the confrontation, and somehow I brought myself down into my safe zone. I sat down on the edge of her bed, hoping and praying that they’d all leave and I could go back to being with my friends.
It was quiet downstairs, and I hoped that it had happened when I heard a knock on her bedroom door. I didn’t want to answer it, but then I heard another knock.
“Come in,” I muttered, getting up and making my way toward the window.
I hadn’t even bothered to look and see who it was. I wasn’t all that interested in speaking with anyone at the moment. Only when I felt a large hand on my arm did I turn around to see Hudson standing there.
“I’m not talk—”
He brought his finger to my lips to silence me. “Listen. We need to talk.”
I shook my head, but he once again didn’t listen. Instead, he grabbed my hand and brought me over to the bed, pulling me down beside him.
“You are hurting, and I made it worse. Way worse,” he whispered.
Instantly, his words brought tears to my eyes. Having him leave that morning after I’d confessed the entire situation had gutted me. I knew how I felt about myself after the accident, and it was the main reason I had told no one, because I didn’t want my friends to look at me the same way. It hadn’t helped that we’d spent the night before being so intimate with one another, either.
“It was my fault. I killed him.” I sobbed.
“No, you didn’t,” he whispered, pulling me against him, trying to comfort me.
“I did. I saw the look in your eyes after I told you about the accident. You thought it too.”
“Bex, listen to me.”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t think it,” I said, pulling away and wiping the tears from my cheeks.
“I won’t lie. At first, yes, I thought something horrible. Then I thought about it. I wanted to know exactly what happened, so I went to the office and looked into it.”
“I bet you did. I bet now you really think I’m a horrible person.” I sniffled. “They should have just charged me. Thrown the book at me.”
“No, Bex, they did exactly what I would have expected. The man you hit had many mental health issues. He’d been in and out of treatment and had stopped taking his medications. It wasn’t your fault. He intentionally stepped out in front of your car and left you no time to stop or avoid him.”
I turned and looked at Hudson. He stood and took a step toward me, holding his hands out. I met his eyes as the tears fell from mine. I slipped my hands into his and let him pull me to him. He wrapped his arms around me, pressing a kiss to my temple.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “Sorry, I jumped to conclusions.”
I said nothing. I just cried into his chest.
“I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I’d really like a chance with you, with us.”
I looked up and met his eyes. I nodded. “I’d like that,” I whispered.
