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“Not helping the matter.” He turns to look at me. Holding both of my hands, Hudson’s eyes search mine.
“Is it because of us? Of course it is.” He shakes his head. “You wouldn’t be nervous to come to your friend’s house otherwise.”
“Yes. No. Uh…this isn’t coming out right. What I mean is that I don’t want to make a big deal about this.” I signal between us with my chin since my hands are warm in his, and I don’t want to break that contact.
“It is a big deal,” he states matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, but I don’t want everyone to make a big deal about it and put us in the spotlight. I want to have fun, spend time with my friends, and eat good food.”
“And meet me under the mistletoe?” His eyes gleam.
I chuckle and turn my face to the side, biting my lip. Hudson holds my chin and angles my face back to his. “I love your smile. Don’t hide it.”
My breath hitches and I blink up at him.
“Don’t stress about tonight. Ellie already caught us kissing. Tristan interrupted our date. Toby and Hope already questioned me when I took them house hunting. I’m pretty sure we won’t give them a shock factor.”
“I’m being ridiculous.”
“A little, but I like it.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “You’re freezing.” He knocks on the door with two firm taps, and it instantly opens with a smiling Hope standing on the other side. If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess she was spying on us. Who am I kidding? Of course she was. It’s Hope.
“Welcome, welcome.” She winks at me.
“Hi, Hope.” Hudson smiles at her.
“Hey.” I look at my best friend, who’s staring at me with a crazed smile.
“So glad you’re here…together.” She waggles her eyebrows. Her squeal matches the crazed look.
Hudson chuckles, keeping his hand in mine.
“We are, too,” Hudson says as we enter the house.
“We?” Hope’s eyebrows shoot up as she stares at me. If it’s possible, she’s narrowing her eyes at the same time. She looks like she got a bad botox injection.
I’ll be getting an interrogation soon. Hope will make it a point to sneak away with me tonight and ask me all the questions about information I haven’t shared. I’ll also get some smack for not running to her right away.
“Go on into the living room, Hudson. Lex, I need your help in the kitchen.”
Darn, that was faster than I predicted.
“Sounds good.” Hudson winks knowingly. He grabs the canvas bag from me and moves toward the living room.
“What in the world. Why haven’t you called me and updated me on this?” Hope’s voice is a shrill whisper, her eyes wide.
“I knew something was going on, obviously, but to show up together, holding hands, having him kiss your nose.”
“I knew it! You were spying on us.” I point at her.
“Of course I was. His lights showed through the window five minutes ago. I wanted to know what was taking so long.”
“I don’t want this to be the topic of conversation tonight. I want to have fun like we always do and allow things to flow.”
“Okay, but I want details another day.” She points at me and arches an eyebrow.
“I will give you that.” I smile and squeeze her arm.
“I think it’s great.” She loops her arm in mine and leads us to the living room, not even bothering to go into the kitchen to keep up with her pretense. We all knew it was a coverup to get me alone.
