Page 30 of Lucky Laces
But I didn’t figure out an answer to what was bothering me, hadn’t discovered all the pieces to the puzzle that is Hudson by the time I fell asleep.
And now…
Shit.
I’m pressed to him.
Stillpressed to him.
God, I’m such an idiot.
I jerk back and I do it so abruptly that Hudson grunts in discomfort.
“Dee?”he rasps.
“I’m sorry,” I say, unable to stop myself from opening the laptop.It has more juice left and with my phone only at five percent, I’d rather drain the computer.“How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” he says, and even though the screen isn’t exactly casting natural light, it’s easy to see that for the lie it is.
I reach out, trail my fingers over his forehead.
Hot.
“You have a fever.”
“We’ll be out of here soon enough.”He grunts as he sits up.“Still no cell service?”
I pick up my phone, press the button on the side.
Then sigh.“No.”
“All good,” he mutters.
“Are you this optimistic by nature?”I ask.“Because I’ll admit I haven’t seen this side of you.”
He tilts his head, studying me.
“What?”I ask.
“Nothing,” he murmurs.
“No, tell me.”I lean closer.“Why are you looking at me like that?”
A long blip of quiet.“No,” he finally says.“No one has ever considered me optimistic, not even myself.”
“What doesthatmean?”
“It means...”He sighs and shakes his head.“This isn’t shit you want to hear.”
I wave a hand at the blocked door of my office.“I’ve got nothing but time.”
He chuckles dryly, shakes his head.“Seriously using my line on me?”
“It was a good line.”I smile, gently touch his shoulder.“And I mean, how bad can it be?I already told you about my orphan status and Grams never getting to see me coach…”
I trail off.
Because his expression—however much I can see of it from the laptop’s illumination—tells me that it’s bad.
