The Sudden Love (Hudson Brothers #3)

by Emma Vikes

  I couldn’t help but smile at that and then I began to take a quick shower and get ready as fast as I could before they asked him any questions. But just as I was about to open the door, I heard Eleanor ask Everett a question. “This might sound rude, Ev, but you’ve always seemed to be allergic to commitments. What changed your mind?”

  A moment of silence passed before Everett cleared his throat. “Didn’t everyone tell me that there would be one girl who would make me change my mind? I guess it’s her. I never wanted to be with anyone as much as I want to be with her, in every way possible.”

  The idea of Everett wanting me, in every way possible, seemed so tangible and within reach, as if his lips spoke a truth that I had been longing to hear. Even though a part of me knew that it was all part of the act. Yet another part of me wanted to reel in the words spoken, so I let it. My heartbeat raced, fireworks exploded in my chest.

  Somewhere in my apartment, my phone began to ring.

  I had no choice but to turn on the knob of the door and duck out of the bathroom. Three pairs of eyes were on me, and an unfamiliar set of blue ones that I had yet to meet. “Hi!”

  Everyone stood up and Eleanor gave me a quick hug before pushing the other girl forward. She was pretty in a Barbie kind of way, if Barbie had been brought to life. Her golden hair rested on her shoulders and her brilliant blue eyes looked bright and alight with happiness. “Hi, I’m Megan!”

  She pulled me into a tight hug and I awkwardly returned it, surprised at her sudden warmth. Behind her, I saw Everett chuckle in amusement. The incessant ring of my phone made her pull away. “Sorry, I have to get that.”

  I excused myself and I went to my bedroom and picked up my phone from the nightstand, and saw Mother flashing over and over again on the screen. I glanced at Everett and his sister-in-law’s and bit my lower lip, gently closing the makeshift door. I had to answer my mother’s call. “Hi Ma.”

  “What took you so long to answer, Alexa?” Mother’s voice sounded so soft and concerned that I almost melted at the sound. I missed her. Hell, I missed my family so much, back in North Carolina, but I needed to be here in Irving, for their sake too.

  I swallowed and sat on my bed. “I was in the shower, Ma. How are things there? How’s Aaron?”

  There was a moment of silence from her side, and then she let out a shaky breath. “Aaron had a severe seizure the other day. He hit his head on the table and had to undergo surgery because of it. We’ve been meaning to call you since, but everything happened so fast and your Dad’s been at work for the entire day, just so that we could have some money for the hospital.”

  I could barely breathe as I listened to her. “Ma, you should’ve called! I would’ve sent money right away!”

  My family was not very well-to-do. It wasn’t that we couldn’t make ends meet, but Aaron’s medical bills kept piling up from time to time, as well as my mother’s, so my family ran on a tight budget. I had to go to community college for a year before my scholarship was finally granted. The reason I flew to Irving for the job was because the pay was far better, as long as I ran myself on a tight budget. Which is why I lived in such a cramped studio apartment.

  “I know, Lexi,” Mom cooed, trying to shush me the way she always did when I had an outburst, “but you’re living all on your own and I know you have your own things to do over there.”

  I sighed. My mother sent me off to Irving with the idea that I was going to live a better life than the one I grew up in. But I was here in Irving to make sure that they got to live a more comfortable life than the one we had. I had my savings and I wanted to make sure that I saved enough so I could truly get my family to live a comfortable life.

  “Don’t worry, Ma, I’ll send some money into Dad’s account.”

  “Lexi, you don’t have to-,”

  “Ma, please.” I heard the door open and met Everett’s eyes. He motioned his head over to where Eleanor and Megan were, and I caught them glancing over at us. I raised a hand, signalling him to give me a minute. “I’ll send the money and I will call you after I do. Give Aaron and Dad my love. Take good care of yourself. I have to go. I love you.”

  Everett stepped inside the bedroom and sat down beside me. He tilted his head to the side and pouted. “Why so serious?”

  I sucked in a breath and chuckled, blushing at how cute he was. “My brother had a seizure. Hit his head on the table and the doctor had to stitch him up.”

  He stared at me for a moment and then reached out for my hand and squeezed it gently. Everett had no idea about my family’s situation. There was no reason for him to know. “You up for having lunch out with the girls then?”

  The concern in his tone caused another round of butterflies to explode in my stomach, as if the softness with which he looked at me wasn’t enough to make my heart miss a couple of beats. “I’m up for it. It’s a welcome distraction.”

  Everett was staring at me again and I wasn’t sure what I was meant to feel. But then he shifted his position and opened his arms wide, softly mumbling, “Come here.”

  And I did. I leaned over to him and Everett wrapped his arms around me tightly, letting me rest my head on his shoulder. I closed my eyes, inhaling the now familiar scent that I never knew I’d learn to love. I looked up at Everett who had the softest look on his face as he looked at me. “Better?”

  I nodded my head slightly and buried my head on his shoulder just a little bit more. “Yes.”

  Suddenly, a flashing light filled the room, and startled, we pulled apart. Eleanor and Megan were leaning on the transparent glass, grinning like fangirls, as Eleanor waved her phone teasingly at the two of us, clearly having captured the moment we had just had. Everett shook his head and chuckled, looking at me and then tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I better go.”

  Everett pouted and I couldn’t help but laugh at how silly he looked. He stood up and then pulled me up after him. “Have fun, alright?”

  I eyed him playfully. “You’re mistaking me for you, Ev. I may focus on work a lot too but I do know what fun means.”

  He laughed and then motioned for me to go, but just as I was about to meet with the two girls that were watching us with curious eyes, Everett grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him and planted a quick kiss on my forehead. He smiled shyly and then whispered in my ear. “For the record, that one’s not for show.”

  10

  Everett

  I stood in front of Alexa’s apartment door, unsure of whether I should knock or not. The smell of dimsums tickled my nose and made me even hungrier than I already was. I had skipped lunch today because Wang had been called out on to the field and Alexa hadn’t come to work. So, I used the extra time to work on the research I had going on.

  The moment I signed out of work, I decided to pick up Chinese takeout and head over to Alexa’s. I wanted to know if she was okay, since I hadn’t had time to call her after her lunch out with the girls on Saturday. All I knew was that Alexa had been a little bit worried after she had gotten news about her brother; and I had a feeling that was the reason why she hadn’t come to work. She always seemed to be extremely family-oriented and I understood why she must’ve been worried sick, especially since she was in a different city than them.

  All throughout the day, she was on my mind, no matter how much I tried to distract myself. The research work was able to distract me only for a while. So I decided to get Chinese and have dinner at her apartment, a spur of the moment decision that I wasn’t really sure was the right idea, as my fist hovered before her door.

  Just as I was about to turn back and eat the takeout all on my own, the door swung open and a pair of hazel eyes stared at me, wide and filled with surprise.

  “Everett?”

  I chuckled nervously and then scratched the back of my neck. “Hi, Lexi.

  Alexa was wearing flannel pyjamas and a white tank top with a gray cardigan wrapped around her shoulders. Her red hair was tied in a messy bun on the top of her head and she was we
aring thick-framed glasses that I’d never seen before. She pulled her cardigan closer and she tilted her head to the side as she looked at me. “What are you doing here?”

  Holding out the food I had in my left hand, I shrugged. “I wanted to see if you were okay. Up for Chinese?”

  Alexa’s eyes softened and without a word, she pushed her door wider to let me come in. “The place is a mess because I decided to be lazy today,” There was a momentary pause as she tucked a stray hair and then sighed, pulling her cardigan close again, “and I was just really worried about Aaron all day. If I had come for work, I’d have been too distracted and I didn’t want to worry anyone.”

  I set the food on her table and then reached for her, pulling her by the waist and letting her rest her head against my chest. I stroked her back gently. “Well, you had me worried. Don’t do that again, please.”

  She looked up at me, her arms wrapped around my waist, her chin resting on my chest and the corners of her lips twitched into a small smile. Then she let go and dropped on to the loveseat in the middle of her living room. “You’re really getting into the role of being my fake boyfriend, Ev. Careful, you might end up believing it too.”

  I stood in front of her, head cocked to one side as I let her words sink in. For a moment, I wondered if she meant it. I searched her eyes for any sign that might tell me that there was some truth in her words, but I couldn’t read her eyes. Instead, all I could see was tiredness and worry. Without a word, I opened my arms wide again and motioned for her to come closer. Alexa stared at my open arms for a moment and then stood up again and stepped into my embrace, burying her head against my shoulder and sighing.

  “How are you?”

  Alexa pulled away and looked up at me. “I feel like crap. Useless. I’m here in Irving while my little brother is there in North Carolina, still in the hospital, while my family is struggling to make ends meet. I would fly there in a heartbeat if I could, Everett.”

  I pulled her in for another hug and hugged her as tight as I could, swaying us around for a little while before I let her go and led her to the dining table. I handed her a pair of chopsticks and she accepted them but didn’t break them in two just yet. “What happened?”

  All that Alexa had told me was that her brother had a seizure and hit his head on a table in the process, which had caused him to undergo surgery. Alexa sighed and then broke the chopsticks and stared at the two sticks. “My brother was diagnosed with Angelman Syndrome when he was a year old. We always thought that there was something wrong with him since he wasn’t like other kids. But Ma was in denial.”

  Angelman Syndrome. It wasn’t something that I had heard of. I nodded as I began eating and Alexa ate along with me, a faraway look in her eyes. We sat in silence while eating, until she sighed and then leaned back on her chair.

  “Angelman Syndrome is a genetic abnormality that causes severe intellectual and developmental disability. There’s also a deficiency in balance and movement and causes seizures too,” Alexa was absentmindedly playing with her food as she spoke, “for a while, his seizures had stopped. We were always told that it was not curable, but when he hadn’t been experiencing them for a while we all thought it was a miracle, until last week.”

  A tear rolled down the corner of her eyes and she hastily wiped it away. “My Mom had a stroke at the beginning of this year. After her therapy, Dad and I discussed that it was better if I worked at a place where the pay was far better. I had heard through Olivia that the Irving Police Department was looking for another forensic scientist. The pay was good- better than the previous salary I had- so I took it.”

  Alexa didn’t look at me and I knew she was trying really hard not to cry as she resumed eating, trying to act like she was fine. I put down my chopsticks and then reached for her hand, gently clasping them in mine. A lone tear fell down her cheek and I wiped it away, smiling at her slightly.

  “Sometimes I wish it was me,” Alexa whispered and then looked down again, “sometimes I think of Aaron being able to do all sorts of incredible things- thing I know he would be able to do because if you met him, Ev, you would be certain that he’s capable of it. But he can’t and it just makes me ache for him even more. It makes me want to desperately switch positions with him.”

  Alexa was crying now and seeing her in so much pain made my heart ache for her. My hand clasped her wrist and I gently tugged at her arm, forcing her to stand up and then allowed her to crash on my lap as I wrapped my arms around her waist, cocooning her in another embrace. I let her cry, to let all of the pain she was burying in the bottom of her heart to unfold, while she clung to me tightly.

  When she finally calmed down, she didn’t push herself off of me. Instead, she stayed seated on my lap, her arms circling around my neck and she sighed, her head resting on my shoulder still. “Remember what I told you the first time that we met?”

  Sometimes I just want to be selfish and allow myself to give in to the moment and not worry about the outcome. Sometimes I wish things were easier and I was allowed to do the things that pop into my head, no matter how reckless they might seem.

  Slowly, I nodded my head. Alexa regarded me seriously. There was a long pause in which she traced my lips with her thumb, ever so slowly, her touch so light that I barely felt it.

  “After Aaron’s diagnosis, I knew that my life would be different. Whatever happened, my brother was my responsibility too, especially since it’ll be just us one day,” Alexa’s voice was quivering as she said this and her thumb was pressed on the side of my lips, “I can’t burden someone else with that, Everett, but sometimes…”

  Her voice trailed off and, in that moment, a part of me understood what she meant, what she was trying to say but was failing to do so. She was not able to form the words because she didn’t want to admit them. Before I knew it, my hand found the back of her neck and I gently pulled her close until my lips were pressed against hers.

  And there it was again, that sharp spark of electricity that flowed from my lips the moment that it touched hers, sizzling throughout my entire body, jolting every nerve awake. The current seemed to have energized the entirety of my being, awakening a part of me that had long been asleep.

  Gently, I carried Alexa from the stool that we were sitting on to the loveseat in her small living room. I pulled away from her, still in a daze, as I began to remove the shirt I was wearing in a swift motion and I heard her gasp beneath me, her eyes lingering slowly at my body. “Everett…”

  I wasn’t entirely sure what had come over me. All I knew was that in this moment, I wanted her in the same way that I knew she wanted me. I took off her tank top and my mouth latched on to every inch of ivory skin that I could find, and Alexa moaned softly, her quiet mewls echoing in my ears over and over again, fuelling my desire even more.

  My heart raced erratically in my chest as I unhooked her bra and I marvelled at the sight of her breasts. I pulled away from her slightly and Alexa reached out to touch the side of my head, her eyes dark and glazy with the same lust and desire that was raging a storm inside of me. “Alexa…”

  And then there was a loud crash outside and the two of us sprang apart and I hit the back of my head on the edge of her table.

  “Oh god, Everett, are you okay?” Alexa said, springing up from the couch and hastily covering her naked upper body with a pillow as she looked at me. All traces of desire were gone from her eyes and I felt as if I had been doused with cold water, waking me up from an inappropriate dream.

  Groaning, I looked at Alexa in a daze. “I…I’m fine, Lexi. God, that hurt though.”

  She nodded her head and then looked down at the pillow that was barely covering her. She blushed furiously and then turned around and hastily tried to put on her shirt. I sat up straighter from where I was and couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “For the record, it’s not like I didn’t see it, Lexi.”

  Alexa turned around and glared at me with narrowed eyes, shaking her head as she held out a hand to pull me up. “An
d for the record, Eleanor and Megan were very inquisitive about the ‘private’ aspect of our relationship.”

  We got up to clear the table, knowing that eating was probably the last thing on both our minds. “What do you mean? Did they ask about our ‘non-existent’ sex life?”

  At the word non-existent, a shy smile spread on Alexa’s lips. Maybe that wasn’t the right word to describe what was going on between us. But Alexa brushed it off in stride, threw away the trash, patted her hands together and shrugged.

  “You could say that. It wasn’t an awkward conversation but it’s like they both expected me to share what was happening between us. So I just had to imagine how...” her voice trailed off again and she paused, looking at me up and down. I watched as her hazel eyes slowly darkened and how she was suddenly tried hard to be nonchalant, “you’d be in bed, based off our heavy make-out session.”

  I cocked my head to the side. “And what do you mean by that?”

  Alexa stayed where she was. I guess she knew that our conversation was veering into dangerous territory. We had never discussed that first time that we had made out and I guess that both of us had simply ticked it off as an alcohol-induced make-out session. I guess neither of us knew how we were meant to open it up for discussion and it was better left off as something that had happened in the spur of the moment.

  But what had happened just moments ago…that was a different story.

  The atmosphere was still filled with sexual tension and I could still feel the way she tasted. The memory of her body pressed against mine, the taste of her skin on my tongue, how softly she moaned beneath me, it was enough to turn me on all over again. My eyes fluttered close as I struggled to keep myself in check. The last thing I wanted was for Alexa to reject me and turn me down because she didn’t feel the same thing. I was never the kind of guy who acted on his emotions and I wasn’t going to start now.