The conversation with Grams plays on an endless loop in my head—during the drive to Rory’s apartment, through my attempt to sleep, and when I wake up the following morning and go to work. She’s right. I need to fix shit with Hudson, and I need to do it ASAP. The girl consumes my thoughts day and night, and I want her to be by my side as I attempt to tackle all of these goals. If that means I love her, well then, so be it.
Fuck, that word is scary though.
When we collide into each other in the back room at The Green Halo, her presence completely catches me off guard, and I end up acting like a tool throughout the short conversation. So badly, I just want to blurt out I’m sorry and want her back, and that I’ll do whatever it takes to fix everything, but I don’t.
I’m a fucking coward, afraid she’ll reject me. So I heehaw around my words, only drawing up enough courage to ask her about her arm as she’s walking out the fucking door.
Then she’s gone.
And I still haven’t apologized.
Forgetting all about whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing for Danny, I sprint out the door to catch her before she drives away, pride be damned, and to my surprise, she’s stomping across the parking lot, headed directly for me. And she’s pissed.
She pulls up just short of where I’m standing, with her hands fisted on her hips and an irritated scowl etched onto her face. “How did you know about my arm?”
Shit! Why in the world did I open my big, fat mouth?
“I’m the one who treated and bandaged your arm last night after I took you home from the party,” I reply quietly, knowing it’s time I start telling her the truth, even as I prepare myself for the angry outburst sure to follow. Knowing her, it’s inevitable.
“You did what?!” she shouts, her eyes bulging out of her head.
As I reach out to rest my hands on her arms, a futile attempt to calm her down, she side-steps out of my grasp with flared nostrils. “Don’t touch me! And you better start explaining what in the fuck happened last night. How did you even know where I was?”
Dragging my fingers through my messy hair, I inhale a fortifying breath through my nose and slowly blow it out of my wind-chapped lips. “I’m not sure how much you remember, but Rory—the guy I used to bartend with and whose apartment I’m staying at now—was at the party, and he called to let me know you were there and that you were drunk and hanging on some other guy.”
Shame flashes momentarily through her stormy blue eyes, but she quickly blinks it away and replaces it with stubbornness. “So? What business is it of his, or yours for that matter, what I do or who I do it with? I think somewhere between you calling me a whore and sleeping with trash from the bar, you lost that right.”
“Hudson, please.” Swallowing up the distance between us in one stride, I lift a hand to her face and brush the pad of my thumb across her cheek, my heart swelling with hope when she doesn’t jerk away from my touch again. “Please, hear me out. I have so much to say to you. I need to apologize and—”
“Crew!” Danny shouts with his head sticking out the backdoor, drawing both mine and Hudson’s attention to him. “I’m drowning in here, dude. I need your ass inside now. Oh, hey, Hudson!” He smiles and waves when he sees his niece, his eyes hone in on where I’m cupping her face in my hand. “Sorry to interrupt whatever’s going on, but we’re getting slammed. I need Crew inside.”
“No problem, Uncle Danny,” she calls out to him while putting space between us. “I set that container Grams had me drop off just inside the room there.”
He tips his chin in acknowledgement and thanks her, then slips back inside, allowing the door to close behind him. Our eyes lock onto each other again, but before I can continue on with my unplanned speech, she holds her hand up in the air to stop me.
“You need to get inside, and it isn’t the time or place to do this. If you want to talk later, you know where to find me.” Her voice is thick with melancholy as she backpedals toward her car.
Nodding in frustration, I watch her climb in the driver’s seat and start the car. Then, as she drives off away from me, the determination inside me spikes and I know exactly what I need to do to get her back.
That evening, when I arrive at the apartment, I’m completely drained from the lack of sleep the night before, the unexpected run-in with Hudson, and working pretty much nonstop for ten straight hours. I think every pot-smoker in the state of Colorado hit up the shop today; I literally couldn’t keep the display cases stocked fast enough for the rate Danny was selling it.
Tossing my wallet and keys into the bowl on the bar, I flop onto the couch with a groan, too tired to even get up and fix something for dinner. My stomach growls angrily with disapproval at my plan for a foodless evening, but I ignore it for the time being. Maybe after a nap…
“Crew? Is that you, man?” Rory hollers from behind the closed door of his bedroom.
I want to say something clever or funny back to him, but my brain has checked out. “Yeah, it’s me!” I shout back.
His door swings open and he saunters out in a pair of sweats, an old beat-up t-shirt, and hair looking like he hasn’t gotten out of bed all day. Stretching his arms up in a big yawn, he shuffles over to the refrigerator and grabs the milk, drinking straight from the jug. I make a mental note to purchase all of my own drinks in the future.
“I thought you were working tonight,” I state, not bothering to move from my planked position.
He smacks his lips together and nods, shooting me a wicked grin. “I knew after being up all night and morning there was no way I’d have the patience or energy to put up with the rowdy day-after-Christmas crew, so I switched shifts with Dustin. Now I work tomorrow instead.”
“Yeah, I noticed your Jeep was missing outside when I left for work this morning. I’m assuming you had a good time after I left last night,” I probe.
Smirking, he circles around the bar and heads back into the living room, falling back into his favorite chair. “Dakota proved to be a little better than a good time.”
I shoot up to a sitting position, suddenly wide awake. “Dakota?! Are you fucking serious?”
“Shit, calm the fuck down, dude. We had sex. That’s it. It was cool. She was cool. Everything’s cool.”
“But that’s Hudson’s sister,” I argue, scrubbing my hands over my face. “What if she—”
“Nothing,” he cuts me off. “What if she nothing. What happened between Dakota and me is between us. We’re both very clear on what it was and what it wasn’t. Neither you nor Hudson has anything to do with it, but I do hope that your caveman rescue mission last night helped earn your way back into her good graces.”
Swallowing back the shock of his Dakota news and the concerns I have about it one day affecting me and Hudson, I shake my head. “I wouldn’t say I’m in her ‘good graces’ by a long shot, but we’re at least speaking…I think.”
He laughs hard. “You think?”
“Well, after I took her home, I talked to her grandma for a while, and she really helped put some things in perspective for me,” I admit. “Then this morning, Hudson unexpectedly stopped by the shop, and although she didn’t remember anything about last night, nor was she too happy to learn I’d taken her home, she did tell me if I wanted to talk, I knew where to find her.”
“So what the fuck is your ass doing here? Go get your girl.”
“I can’t just barge into her house and demand she accept my apology and take me back. I’ve gotta show her how sorry I am—grovel a bit and prove myself to her. Ya know?”
Nodding, he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “What’s your plan then?”