Secret Hudson (A Finding Nolan Novel Book 2)

by K. S. Thomas

  He stopped chopping the veggies he had laid out on the counter for dinner. “What are you talking about?”

  “Ava and I ran into some local representatives of the media while we were out and I arranged for them to run it.” I grinned. “Pretty sure shouting out that I’m marrying a man will get us front page coverage. I know you were worried about some of your family back in Texas not hearing the news, so you know, thought I’d take care of that for you.”

  Hudson stared back at me, stunned. “Who are you?”

  “I’m still me. But with you.” My hands landed on his hips and I pulled him toward me.

  “If someone like you could love me, there must be something there that’s worth something.”

  He smiled, softening the contours of his handsome face. “It’s worth everything.”

  His lips came up to meet mine and I was about to taste what I’d been missing all day. Then.

  “Hey, boys. What’s cooking?”

  Having Max here was no different from living with Ava really.

  Hudson still brushed my mouth with his in a fast peck, but turned back toward his veggies and chopping board. “Stir fry. Gonna throw some shrimp in there, too. Should be plenty.” He glanced back at me over his shoulder. “Anyone else coming by for dinner?”

  I shrugged. “If you don’t close that window, yeah. Blaise gets a whiff of this over at their house and we’ll have at least three more people here.”

  “Three?”

  I nodded, crunching on a carrot I stole from his pile. “Ava’s sister, Addison, showed up just as we got home. She had a big ol’ bag with her, so you know, that’s not a good sign.”

  Max started pulling dishes from the cupboards to set the table. “Maybe she’s just here for the wedding.”

  “Doubt it. She goes to school at CSU, so no need to bring any luggage for a visit.” I went to grab another carrot, but got my hand smacked. “Ouch.”

  “Never mind your ouch. Do you need to go over there and make sure everything is alright?”

  I shook my head. “No way. I’m getting married in three days. ‘Ava drama’ is on her until after we get back from Bora Bora.” Our honeymoon, compliments of Ava and Blaise. They’d been going every six months since their first trip there and I felt both honored and scared that they wanted us to share in whatever it was they experienced when they went. As long as they didn’t wind up in a bungalow next door we’d be all good.

  “He’s right,” Max agreed. “I’ll go see.”

  I’m not gonna lie. I felt a twinge of jealousy as I watched her walk out of the room to head over to the Nolan/Jennison household to handle what had once been exclusively my business. But, I guess this was what expanding the family was all about it. And she definitely felt like family to me.

  The next few days flew by and we spent most of them indoors thanks to the swarm of photogs permanently camped out in front of our gate in hopes of capturing some new footage of me and the man they’d sought to ignore thus far. It was weird and sort of pathetic really, that after all this time and all of the media attention equal marriage rights and celebrities who were openly gay had already gotten, my marriage to a man was still cause for such a frenzy. Even stranger perhaps, was that none of it made me panic anymore. And it wasn’t like all of the attention we were getting was positive, but the fact that it was so newsworthy made me realize just how important going public with it had been. Two people falling in love, really shouldn’t make headlines anymore. Or, maybe, that was exactly the type of headline we needed more of.

  Then, before I knew it, I was waking up and it was April 2nd. Our wedding day. Hudson took off extra early with Max and Carlos, while Blaise, Derek and Angel came by the house to hang out with me. There’d been no bachelor parties what with the non-stop partying that accompanied our lifestyle the bulk of the year, so this little gathering was sort of in its place.

  “You ready?” Blaise was busy straightening out my collar. I’d been fidgeting with it for ten minutes and wound up making a mess of it.

  “Yes, I’m ready. Why? I don’t look ready to you?” Shit. I didn’t sound ready.

  He laughed. “Oh no, you look more than ready. But you may want to take off your shoes and put some socks on.”

  Damn. The one time I could have benefited from having Ava lay out my clothes for me and she was nowhere in sight. “Man, where’s your woman anyway?”

  “Why? You need her to pick your socks out for you? I can probably handle that. I’m thinking black with your tux, right?” He was still grinning when I turned away and made a beeline for my dresser.

  “Seriously though. How come Ava isn’t here?” Angel was leaning in the doorway eating one of the muffins Ava had delivered as part of our bachelor brunch...or whatever it was we were having.

  “She and Addison went to make sure everything was all set up and perfect for the wedding at the Portofino,” Blaise answered as he yanked the blue sock out of my hand and gave me a black one to match the one I already had.

  “Bam Bam’s here? I mean, I guess it makes sense she’s coming to the wedding.” Even in the midst of my sock fiasco, I could tell Angel’s tone was off. Blaise didn’t though. Nor did anyone else seem to think it was weird that after all these years, Angel was still referring to Addy as Bam Bam. Maybe he hadn’t seen her in a while because at twenty she was a far cry from the eleven year old who used to crash our band practice in hopes of getting a chance to bang around on his drums.

  “Addison’s here for the wedding and then some,” Blaise explained. “She’s staying with us until further notice. Had a bag the size of a U-Haul truck when she showed up here.”

  Before I could ask Angel about his sudden interest in Ava’s baby sister and welcome the distraction with open arms, Derek chimed in.

  “Car’s here.”

  “Perfect timing. Royce is fully clothed and ready to go.” He led the way out of my walk-in closet, then stopped and turned back. “You are wearing underwear, right?”

  I shook my head and smirked. “Going it Blaise and Angel style.”

  “I shouldn’t have asked.”

  From there, I couldn’t really say what happened. My mind was like in a fucking haze, mostly just replaying the last few months and how I’d gone from thinking I was destined to spend my life alone because I’d never be able to be figure my shit out enough to have someone else be willing to take it on, to being here, in the this moment where the man I loved was about to promise me a lifetime of partnership, family and safe haven.

  One by one, the guys hugged me and headed up to the altar to take their places. Angel’d wound up on my side next to Blaise, while Derek was lined up nicely beside Carlos, standing directly across from Sammy, who sitting right up front with Francis.

  “Hi, gorgeous.” Ava hooked her arm in mine.

  “It’s about time you showed up.”

  She grinned. “I left you in good hands, my friend. Tell me, how did Blaise handle it? Think he’d be down for being the groom at the next shindig we throw?”

  “You do know this day is about me, right?”

  “Uh-huh.” She stared straight ahead and I followed her gaze down the aisle. All three of the guys were still standing exactly where I’d seen them last, except now, as I stepped up to take my own walk down the aisle, they were all holding the pictures they’d showed me that night I proposed. Ava’d had them matted and framed, completely color coordinated with every other aspect of the decorations. Then she leaned in toward me, squeezing my hand and whispered, “And this is from me.”

  When she let go and I glanced down into my palm, I saw a tiny platinum baby rattle there. It was so small it looked like it could have been part of some weird new baby themed monopoly game. “What’s this?”

  “My uterus. I’m not saying you should run out and make lots of babies tomorrow, but when the day comes, just know you’ve got an oven for your bun.” She smiled up at me, eyes glossy. “You’re going to have it all, Royce. Anything you want. Anything you dre
am up. From this day forward, I hope you never hesitate to reach for it ever again.”

  I was speechless. And I stayed that way the entire walk down to the altar. Then, just as I thought I was regaining my composure, I looked up to see Hudson coming toward me and all I could think was ‘my cup runneth over.’

  ***

  “You look so handsome, baby,” my mother gushed.

  “Thanks, Ma. You look beautiful as well. I’m so glad you’re here with me, to walk with me.” I took her arm in mine.

  “Where else would I be?” She used her free hand to wipe her eyes and I knew it’d be a tear free-for-all before we even made it down the aisle. “You know, for a long time I thought you’d never be able to experience this day. And now here we are. Laws have changed. Rights are being acknowledged. It’s a better world than it was ten years ago. Just think what else will change another ten years from today.”

  She was right. Ten years ago, Royce and I would not have been able to do what we were doing today. It was strange and heartbreaking to think of what that might have been like. Ten years ago, marriage hadn’t exactly been on my radar. But now, the idea of being denied the freedom to stand up in front of the world and talk about how much I loved that man, to make promises to him that would bind us for life, was enough to make me want to scream. The ideals of marriage, the fantasy of that happy ever after and the tradition of the ceremony, simply couldn’t be compared to any other event or exchange. No matter how much some people liked to pretend that a commitment ceremony wasn’t that different. It was.

  So, as I began the last part of my journey leading me to Royce, I sent up a prayer of gratitude, that my world as I knew it, was not deprived or limited in any way. That I was loved, not only by my mother, and friends who were more like family, but also, and most importantly, by a man who had fought a war to be with me, when he’d never been to battle on his own behalf.

  Royce Lemmi was in love with me. And there was nothing secret about that.

  The End.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Aside from being an author, I am also a mom to a beautiful little girl. I tell everyone I named her after my great-grandmother (because that’s the mature answer), but really, I named her after my favorite princess – just so happens I got lucky and they had the same name...If I wasn’t a writer, I would work on a horse ranch – I’m an animal lover (in addition to dogs, horses are at the top of my list). I wear flip-flops pretty much everywhere I go. I would rather stay awake until 5 am than get up at 5 am (years of bar tending have left their mark), if I can, I’m going to the beach AND I will always be nice to people who bring me chocolate...or coffee...if you bring me both, I’ll probably love you forever.

  A gypsy at heart, I write the way I live, following the story wherever it may lead, always ready to start the next one. This is clearly reflected in my body of work which to date includes everything from Children’s Lit to Thrillers.

  I happily reside in sunny Florida (for now) and can be contacted via my blog, my website or the following social media sites ~

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/friedgatortail

  Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/friedgatortail/

  Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/friedgatortail

  Books by K.S. Thomas include ~

  Lost Avalon (A Finding Nolan Novel, #1)

  Save The Date

  I Call Him Brady

  Unhurt

  It’s Kinda My Thing

  Salty

  Country Girls

  Blood Bound

  Drive

  This Christmas

  Lucky In Love

  Getting Lucky (A Lucky Novella)

  Upcoming Releases for 2015

  BitterSweet

  Fallen Angel (A Finding Nolan Novel, #3)

  Did you love Secret Hudson? Then you should read Fallen Angel by K.S. Thomas!

  Angel Hollis has mastered two things in his life. Music and Women. And with the other men of Finding Nolan moving on to more long-term relationships, Angel's not complaining about picking up the slack and keeping the groupies happy and satisfied.

  Addison Jennison has been in love with Angel since she was eleven. Long before the fans were screaming his name and lining up to sleep with him, she was there. Only he never noticed. And why would he? She was just a kid.

  Then.

  Now, at twenty-one, she's finally old enough to catch his eye...provided he allows himself to look. Addison isn't just anyone. She's Ava's little sister. And Ava's family. There are rules. Lines that can't be crossed. Hearts not to be tampered with.

  Angel's determined not to screw up and hurt the people he loves most, but no one is prepared when he comes face to face with his undoing and...he falls.

  Read more at K.S. Thomas’s site.