Page 30 of Fragile Heart

CHAPTER12

Quinn

“Be nice,”I tell Holly after handing her the Tupperware container of cupcakes.

“I’m always nice,” she claims, her high voice letting me know she’s lying.

“Yeah, right.”

“I just want to know his intentions with my best friend.” She will not give up on her belief that Hudson wants to date me even after I’ve assured her multiple times that we’re just friends. It’s almost laughable that she thinks someone as high-profile as Hudson would want anything to do with plain old me.

“We’re just friends,” I reiterate. Her jaw nearly dropped to the floor when I told her Hudson wanted to go with us today. She immediately told me that no guy would go thrift shopping with a girl unless he wanted in her panties, which caused me to nearly spit out my water. “Like I’ve said, he’s just lonely here and needs a friend.”

“Where is Vaughn? You know, his actual friend?” We walk back toward my car, where Hudson watches through the window.

“I don’t know. Work maybe?” She rolls her eyes at me before heading to the backseat.

She slides across the worn leather and asks, “ Not even going to give up the front seat, Hollywood?”

Great. I guess this is her idea of being nice.

“I was here first,” Hudson replies.

“I was here first in general.” Oh, God. This is going to be a long afternoon.

Hudson turns to look at her over his shoulder. “You want the front seat because you’ve been friends with Quinn the longest?” There it is.Friends.If I needed reassurance that he doesn’t want me romantically, this is it.

“Yeah.” I watch Holly lean back on the seat. She doesn’t actually want Hudson to move. She’s just giving him a hard time. I wouldn’t expect anything less from her, honestly.

“Not gonna happen,” Hudson says flatly.

I reverse out of the driveway, and then we’re off to the next town over to see if we can find any hidden treasures.

“How was work today, Holl?”

“Good. Jake came in asking about you.” My body goes tense. I don’t want to have this conversation again, especially not in front of Hudson.

“Oh.”

“Who’s Jake?” Hudson asks.

Holly answers for me. “One of our friends. He’s got a thing for Quinn.”

“Oh, stop.” I try to brush it off. Holly knows I don’t like Jake like that.

She sighs. “I still don’t know why you won't just go on a date with him. Don’t you think she should, Hudson?”

He pauses, as if thinking about what to say. “I think Quinn should do whatever she wants.” I raise my eyebrows at her through the rearview mirror to find her smirking back at me. She’s trying to get a reaction from Hudson, but she’s not going to get anything.

Hudson and I have talked about a lot of things, but one subject we haven’t touched on is relationships. I don’t know anything about his love life, and he knows nothing about mine or the lack thereof. I’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible.

“All I’m saying is y’all would look cute together,” Holly says, trying one last time.

“I’ll think about it,” I tell her finally. I know I need to start dating eventually. I don’t want to be alone forever. I just don’t think Jake is the one. I don’t get that excited feeling when I’m around him. He’s a really great friend, but I think that’s all he is.

I catch Hudson’s fist balling up at his side from the corner of my eye, but he keeps his eyes on the road in front of us.

We pull up to the brick storefront a few minutes later, and thankfully, it doesn’t look too busy. Hudson puts his hat on and pulls it low like he usually does when he goes out. I imagine it’s just a habit for him at this point.

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