Page 70 of Cabin Fever Baby

“Think it’s the dude under your skin.”

“He was under my sheets at least.” I knew it would make him uncomfortable, which made me laugh like a lunatic. “Your face.”

“I know you’re an adult—you’re almost thirty, for fuck’s sake, but I don’t want to think about that.”

“It’s okay, I don’t want to think about you and your love life, either. Or lack of one.”

“You don’t know that,” he grumbled.

But I knew.

Ever since Kent’s fiancée had up and left three years ago, he’d shut down. It was why he traveled so much these days. He’d been happy to do most of his work in the Catskills until then.

Now he wanted to be anywhere but back in Rawlings.

Personally, I didn’t think it was any loss. Joanie had been a user from the jump. Nothing Kent had done had been good enough for her. We’d all been relieved not to have her attached to the family permanently.

Kent, not so much.

“I really do have feelings for Hudson.”

He sighed. “Even though you were trying to hide him when I called?”

“It’s complicated. I didn’t really tell him about my family.”

“Oh, sis.”

“I know. I just got so used to not telling people about Q and now with Rio blowing up…”

He sighed. “I think your mama bear might be worse than Mom’s.”

I tipped my head back, the rolling guilt making my chest hurt. “I talked about all of you plenty. I just left a few things out.”

“Oh, that our brother is a gazillionaire, and he has paparazzi jumping out of the bushes everywhere he goes?”

“Yeah, that part.”

“Sure it wasn’t your instincts leading you?”

“Actually, my instinct was to tell him, and I kept stuffing it down.”

He sighed. “Well, shit. Had to happen eventually. I still don’t like him.”

“You don’tknowhim.”

“Still don’t like him if he made you cry.” He pulled his Carhartt coat off the coat rack and shrugged it on.

Problem was, I’d given him reason to.

The guilt eating me alive was what had made me cry. And seeing Hudson’s face when he realized just how many things I’d left out.

The betrayal hurt more than any words he could have said.

And I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to fix it. I didn’t even have Hudson’s phone number. I was pretty sure the fact that I’d barely looked at my phone since he’d come in my life was a miracle.

I only hoped Rory would have a lead for me.

“I’ll be back.”