Page 30 of Commit
“Um… no, I have stuff at the house, but thank you,” I reply as he opens the passenger door for me. Once I’m seated, he buckles me in, making me tense. He closes my door and jogs around to the driver’s side before climbing in and driving us home.
Thankfully, he doesn’t make small talk. I close my eyes and let the hum of the engine calm my nerves. Unfortunately, we make it back home in no time. I don’t see Abbot’s car when we get back, making me wonder where he is. Or who he’s with, for that matter. I shake the thought from my head, having more than enough to deal with right now.
Hudson climbs out and opens my door for me. I undo my seat belt before he can, but I take the hand he offers me. As soon as I’m on my feet, I let go of his hand and move to the back of the truck.
“I’ve got the bags. Why don’t you go on inside and relax?”
I nod, taking the key he holds out to me, and head up the steps, hoping he’ll leave me alone.
I unlock the front door, letting myself in and leaving it open for Hudson. Hurrying upstairs to my room, I step inside and close the door behind me. I take a few deep breaths and walk over to the dresser, pulling out a pair of loose pink pajama pants and a black long-sleeved Henley and quickly changing into them. After grabbing a pair of fluffy socks and pulling them on, I climb onto the center of the bed and curl up into a ball.
I might not be on my period, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel emotionally and physically drained. I tug the pillow closer and bury my face in it. I’d love nothing more than to give in to the urge to scream. Instead, I will my body to relax until, eventually, I drift off to sleep.
The creak of the door opening sometime later wakes me, but I don’t tense. I keep my body relaxed and my breathing even as I hear bags being placed near the foot of the bed. When I don’t hear anything else after a few minutes, I wonder if he left. But I’m too much of a coward to check, so I keep pretending to sleep as I mentally snap at myself for being a chicken shit when I feel a hand on my hip.
How I stop myself from jumping and giving myself a way, I’ll never know. I wait to see what he does next, but all he does is pull the comforter up over me before bending down to press a kiss to my temple. The move is maybe even more bizarre than anything else he’s done, but I’m not in the right headspace to analyze it. I focus on my breathing until I hear him leave, pulling the door closed behind him.
My eyes snap open, the shadows in the room suggesting it’s early evening. I’ve slept far longer than I thought. I stare into the empty room until the shadows lengthen and the light fades completely, trying to come up with some sort of game plan. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a novelty or if it’s something else, but catching Hudson’s interest was not part of my plan. Ignoring him doesn’t seem to be working. The man pops up out of nowhere like he’s part ninja. The only other option is to make myself as boring as possible, which honestly shouldn’t be that difficult. I am boring. I keep to myself and am generally allergic to fun. Maybe once he sees that, he’ll leave me alone.
I mean, what could he possibly see in me anyway? I frown as another thought occurs to me. Maybe he doesn’t see me. Maybe this has more to do with Abbot.
I wonder if somehow Hudson has figured him out, and he’s going to use me to remind Abbot who has all the control here. Because it’s not Abbot.
And it sure as hell isn’t me.
Chapter Ten
Hudson
Imake up a tray of food when she doesn’t come down.
She was still asleep when I took her bags up a couple of hours ago, but I’m surprised she hasn’t woken up and come down for something to eat. She hasn’t had anything all day, and if she’s cramping, that’s going to make her feel even worse, especially if she needs to take some painkillers.
I add a bottle of water to the tray and move to pick it up when I hear the front door open and close with a loud thud. Leaving the tray where it is, I walk out of the kitchen and down the hallway to find Abbot kicking off his sneakers and tossing his keys on the hallway table.
“Where have you been?”
He jumps at the sound of my voice and looks up at me with an uneasy look on his face that sets my teeth on edge.
“None of your fucking business. I’m seventeen, not seven.”
“You wanna rein in the attitude? I only asked the fucking question because your girlfriend asked me, and I didn’t know what to tell her.”
I’m trying to cut him some slack here. His mom’s dead, for Christ’s sake, and I remember what a shithead I was at his age. But I’ve killed for less.
He crosses his arms over his chest—a defensive move if ever I saw one. Despite everything, he’s still just a kid.
“She has my phone number. She knows how to reach me, and she didn’t, so I’d say she wasn’t that worried.”
I cock my head. “Was she supposed to worry?”
Again, there’s something off in his tone. I don’t know him well enough to get a read on it, though.
“No. She has no reason to worry.” He swallows. I narrow my eyes on him.
“You didn’t think to take her with you? She doesn’t know me, Abbot, and you just left her here.” Which is fine with me, but it pisses me off that he just assumed she’d be okay with it.
“She knows where I usually hang out, and it’s not her thing. Starling’s a homebody. She likes to watch movies and read. She hates crowds, and the idea of a day out for her is going to the library.”