The way I see it, I’ve got two choices. I can choose to accept it without a rational explanation, or I can stubbornly fight it, but either way, I know the truth; there’s no place else I’d rather be right now. And as terrifying as that should be, I’m not scared at all.
Okay, well¸ maybe a tiny bit.
“Hey, Hudson! Come check this one out!” Caleb hollers across the showroom as he dives onto one of the display mattresses. “I need to make sure you like it, since you’ll be spending so many nights on it with me!”
Crew holds up our joined hands in the air and extends his middle finger toward his brother as Mary hides her face in her hands, covering up her laughter. “Lord, there’s never a dull moment with these two,” she remarks through the smile she can’t hide.
“Imagine what it’s like for my parents,” I snicker, still shaking my head as we approach Caleb, who’s now making snow angels on the pillow-top surface. “By the time Denver’s a teenager, I don’t think anything will surprise them.”
Releasing Crew’s hand, I sprint ahead and vault onto the bed next to his little brother, joining in his silly, immature antics. “It’s supposed to snow tonight and for the next few days, so if you want to, we can make real snow angels later, or have a snowball fight after dinner with my sisters,” I offer as I do a horizontal jumping jack on the super soft surface.
Seconds later, Crew glides onto the mattress next to me, draping one strong arm around my middle while using the other to tickle me relentlessly. “You think you can just run away from me?” He buries his face into the side of my neck, nipping at my earlobe as his fingers frantically swirl in torturous, relentless movements up and down my ribcage.
Wiggling and writhing underneath him—partly to free myself from the tickling, but even more to escape my body’s reaction to him being so close—I gasp for air between the uncontrollable giggles and cries for mercy pouring from my mouth. “Stop…please…stop…” I squawk. “Ermagherd, Crew, I’m gonna pee in my pants.”
The last comment spurs him to release me, and I leap up from the bed the moment I’m free, struggling to catch my breath while Caleb and Crew continue to crack up laughing. “When you least expect it, I’m so gonna get you back,” I warn as I straighten my clothes back into place. Looking over at Caleb, I stick out my tongue. “You, too, just for encouraging him.”
“Oh, I’ll be waiting, my little snow angel. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got,” Crew mocks me with a playful, yet daring tone.
“Kids!” Mary calls out from near the exit doors while waving her arm wildly in the air to get our attention. “Come on; let’s go!”
After both guys spring to their feet, Crew takes my hand back in his and hauls me close to him, pressing his lips to my temple. I never knew how nice a simple kiss on the forehead could make me feel, but when he does it, I feel special. I’m probably reading way more into the action than I should—more than he intended—but I can’t help the warm, tingly response he kindles inside me, nor do I want to. It…he feels so natural.
“You need to find the ladies’ room before we go?”
“Nah, I’m good.” I smirk, sauntering away from him toward where his mom and Caleb are waiting. “I was just trying to get you to stop.”
Seconds later, I’m hoisted into the air, thrown effortlessly over his shoulder, with my butt pointed to the ceiling. “There’s gonna be a day real soon, Hudson that you’ll be begging me to never stop.” He chuckles roguishly while lugging me around like a sack of potatoes.
“Don’t hold your breath, caveman,” I jest back, knowing he’s probably right as I silently admire the way his ass perfectly fills out his jeans with each step he takes.
Despite both my and Mary’s protests, he carries me all the way through the parking lot, finally lowering me to my feet once we’re at their rental car. Proving chivalry isn’t dead, he opens the back door for me to climb in—just as he did when we were leaving earlier—before rounding the front of the car and sliding onto the bench seat next to me.
Light snow flurries begin to fall during our drive back to the resort as the three of them discuss the upcoming move and the earlier smoking session. Mary had returned from her errands not long after we finished the first bowl of Orange Krush, and it was safe to say all three of us were definitely feeling the effects, laid back and relaxed, talking about anything and everything that came to our minds.
Still perched in Crew’s lap when she walked in, secretly enjoying the lust-filled expressions that crossed his face each time I accidentally moved against his crotch, I attempted to jump up and sit elsewhere, but he held me snug up against him. He either wasn’t worried about what his mom thought of our seating arrangement, or he was more concerned about what she’d think of his erection fighting to break free from his zipper.
I know my parents wouldn’t be concerned at all about us being cuddled up with each other in the chair; in fact, they’d most likely encourage it, considering they’ve never seen me engage in PDA with anyone, but I didn’t know Mary that well, and I didn’t want her to think of me as some easy little whore. And though she did a double-take when she saw us together, instead of appearing bothered, she seemed almost happy, and then asked me to join them on their furniture shopping adventure.
“Hudson, everything okay?” Crew’s voice invades my daydream, forcing me to tear my attention from the familiar mountainous scenery coasting by outside the window. He rests his hand above my knee and skims his thumb back and forth over the denim.
“Yeah, sorry.” I jiggle my head around to wake myself up. “I was just wondering what Mel’s cooking for dinner. I’m getting hungry.”
Curling his mouth up in a wicked grin, his eyes drop to my legs then travel up the length of my body until they settle back on my face. “Me too,” he mouths, his intentions clear he’s not talking about food.
Heat pools in my core as I suck in a ragged breath, my body ignoring the part of my brain screaming that there are two other people in the car, only a few feet in front of us. I’ve never reacted like this to anyone before, and notwithstanding my lack of dating history or virgin status, I’ve flirted and made out with guys in the past. I even let Tommy Carmody kiss on my boobs and show me his dick at a few parties during my senior year, but never have I felt like this.
He doesn’t remove his hand from my thigh for the duration of the trip, which is thankfully only a few miles down the highway, but he doesn’t taunt me any more either. Gauging the bulge in his pants, he’s dealing with similar willpower issues, and though I’d love to torment him a little—maybe an unintentional brush of my hand over his zipper—I refrain, realizing it would be just as torturous to me as it is to him. Not to mention, his mom is in the front seat for chrissakes!
The moment the car pulls to a complete stop, I throw the door open and scramble outside, escaping the rapidly growing sexual tension threatening to suffocate me. Whipping arctic winds slap me across the face instantly, a welcome change to the stifling heat I was just trapped in, and provide the reality check I’m in desperate need of.
“Wow, the temperatures plummeted drastically just in the time we left the store until now,” Mary remarks as she climbs out from behind the steering wheel, the falling flurries now full-fledged flakes, gaining agreeable nods from both of her sons.
Through the snow quickly collecting on the ground, I begin to slowly backpedal toward my house, in desperate need of a little time by myself to catch my snap. A few minutes ago, I was all but ready to let Crew do whatever he damn well pleased to me in the backseat of a car that his mom was driving. Red flag, Hudson. You’re spinning out of control faster than Ricky Bobby on the track at Talladega.