Page 67 of Wilde's End
Kennedy trails me to the bike. “Don’t fight him.”
“I won’t.”
“Your fingers are still broken.”
“Well aware.”
He hovers in front of the bike as I climb onto it. “Don’t sleep with him either.”
I tug on the helmet, already hating myself. “Don’t need to. He got me off last night.”
“Hudson!”
“I know, I know. Stupid choices are nothing new for me. But I’m really going to talk to him and hopefully get to some kind of resolution.”
Some of the worry leaves his face. “Do you think that’s possible?”
“I dunno.” I start the bike up, the loud growl of the engine filling the street. “But I need to do something.”
He pats the handlebars. “Good luck, then.”
Something tells me that I’m going to need it.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FOUR
WILDE
The sound of the motorcycle isn’t unexpected, but I’d hoped it wouldn’t come. I don’t want to see Hudson.
Giving the tools back was an … error in judgment.
I’m scared of who I’ll become if I leave.
It’s like Hudson plucked those same words from my mind seventeen years ago and made me face them. The person I am now would look very different if I’d headed back to LA and stayed there.
I push through my front door and wait on the porch for him, not wanting to risk him inside with any of my things. There’s enough room on my porch for the two chairs to the right of my door, but I ignore those and set my arms on the railing, hoping that I give offI’m not here to talkvibes.
He pulls up behind my truck, and something twists in my gut as he pulls off the helmet. His blond hair is a mess from being covered, and that same lock kicks up in the front, just as obstinate as the rest of him.
The T-shirt he’s wearing shows off his arms, the shorts hugging his powerful thighs, and even though I tell myself not to, I can’t stop my mind from filling with images of him naked.
Hudson attempts a smile as he approaches. “I got your present.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“My tools.” He tucks his hands in his pockets. “You gave them back after all.”
I drop his gaze and refocus on the trees behind him. “Changed my mind about needing them.”
He paces a few steps forward, and I want to tell him to stop, but I lock my jaw anyway. “You know what we’re going to use them for, don’t you? The whole reason you took them in the first place?”
He already knows the answer to that, so I don’t bother responding.
“Wilde …” The crack in his voice tugs my attention back to him. “Why did you give them back?”
“Better things to do with my time.”
