Page 30 of When We Were Us
“Come on, baby. Come on, baby… GOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLL!” he hollers and throws his hands in the air, dragging the word out for so long that Finn throws her hands over her ears.
Hudson holds up his hand to Finnley, and she quickly switches her beer to her other hand to high-five him. He clinks his beer against hers and looks back at the TV, shaking his head, with a wide grin on his face.
“Noah fuckin’ Cameron, man. Guy’s a beast.”
Finn rolls her eyes and laughs at him, shooting me a look. “Hudson has a bit of a man crush, don’t you buddy?” She smirks at him and pulls a long drink from her beer. I laugh and do the same, watching as the camera zooms in on the back of the player that just got the goal.
“That guy right there is a legend.” He points an outstretched finger at the TV as he holds his beer bottle, looking at her in disbelief.
“He looks like he needs to retire,” she says with a laugh, but I know she is just trying to rile Hudson up. Although the guy is more salt than pepper, he looks to be about our age, and he is in amazing shape if his ass in those soccer shorts is any indication.
Hudson groans. “You’re killing me, Finn.” He grasps his heart and falls back against the couch cushions.
Just then, the soccer player turns toward the camera with a smile, blue eyes, and white teeth. Finn nearly chokes on her beer.
“Damn.” She wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, and I let out a low whistle. “I stand corrected. Noah Cameron is balls hot.”
“Fuck yeah, he is.” Hudson nods, smiling at the TV. “Dude is one of the best right wingers in the league, and one of the nicest guys I know.”
The doorbell rings. Hudson jumps up to get it but fist pumps right as the clock runs out on stoppage time and the Brooklyn United FC wins the match.
“I’ll get the pizza. Finn, you and Wren pick the movie. Will it be Statham and Liotta or Statham and DeNiro?” Hudson asks, clapping his hands in front of him and rubbing them together as he walks backward to the door.
Finn cocks her head at me, and I shrug with a laugh. “I have no idea what that means.”
I follow her into the kitchen while she explains and grabs a few more beers from the fridge.
“Anytime we get together, we only ever watch older movies. Usually nothing after 2005. But we always,alwaysmake an exception for Jason Statham. Hudson and I are obsessed. It’s kind of our thing. That and chess. I’ve been trying to beat him for years without luck.”
“I don’t know about chess, but I wouldn’t kick Jason Statham out of bed.” I shrug and we both laugh.
We set about grabbing paper plates and piling them high with salad, delicious combination pizza, and ooey-gooey cheesy bread. We decide on Statham and DeNiro and settle into the couch with fresh, ice-cold beers to watch “Killer Elite.”
After we eat, I grab a blanket and settle into the corner of the sectional, with my feet tucked up under me. It's cozy, just the three of us, and I realize for the first time since coming back that I feel more content than I have in a long time. Sure, things are still uncertain with my business, but I finally feel like I’ve found my footing. I’ve felt so out of sorts and unsettled since my life all but fell apart a month ago. However, sitting here in the dim light of Finn’s comfy home, with two of my oldest friends, things don't seem so bad.
I glance over to see Finn stretched out on her side of the couch, with her head on a pillow near Hudson’s thigh. He’s reclined back, legs spread wide like guys do. One hand is behind his head, laid back against the couch cushions. But it’s what is happening with hisotherhand that makes me suddenly wonder if maybe something more than friendship is going on between the two of them.
Hudson has his arm resting on the pillow behind Finn’s head as she lays on her side, and he is methodically sifting his fingers through her hair, all the way from scalp to ends. Over and over, he does it, and every once in a while, he looks down at her, then back at the screen. It feels intimate, like I’m intruding on something I shouldn’t be witnessing. Then again, neither of them seems to be bothered by the show of affection. So, why should I be?
I know Hudson is divorced, having asked Finn previously, but I don’t know the whole story. I do know it’s only been a year or so. But given how Hudson has always seemed more enamored with Finnley than friendly, and the easy way they have with one another, it isn't too far of a stretch to see something developing between them.
I move my gaze back to the movie as a wave of something like longing hits me. It could be the state of my recently failed relationship, or it could be that I haven’t had much physical connection with anyone in just over five months—with the exception of the occasional hug from my ex-fiancé. But the tug on my heart and the way my mind immediately lands on Hank has me shaking my head. It's probably just because Hudson is here, and with the three of us together again, I’m just feeling a little nostalgic.
Right?
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
wrenley
THEN
Pullingup in front of Finnley’s house in my granddad’s truck, I honk the horn twice and flip the visor down to check my lip gloss while I wait. As of yesterday, Finn and I are no longer high school seniors.
With a graduating class of only fifty-two students, the commencement ceremony at Timber Forge High isn't the big affair it is in other towns. Graduates walk across the stage in the small cafeteria to accept a leather folder stamped with the Timber Forge High School logo on it, shake the principal’s hand, and stop for a photo op before heading out to celebrate with friends. And now, we have the entire summer ahead of us.
I glance at my watch and beep the horn again.
We have to return caps and gowns to the school by ten a.m. Then, pick up our actual diplomas and turn in any books we might have forgotten. Per usual, Finn is running late.
