Page 195 of Bridesmaid By Chance
“Why would I be choking Hudson?”
“You wouldn’t,” I say quickly. “There would be no choking of Hudson.”
“Stacey, why would I be choking Hudson?” His voice grows with an intimidating edge.
No, don’t say it, Stacey.
Keep your mouth shut.
I fumble quickly to text her.
To warn her.
That’s what I should have been doing instead of checking to see if Hudson texted me. That motherfucker.
I nearly black out as my fingers move across the phone.
“Stacey,” Jude barks, scaring the phone right out of my hands.
“Um, did I say Hudson? I mean…uh, Hoo-done. Yeah, Hoo-done. It’s uh, one of those young-people terms you wouldn’t know. Anywho, um, what, uh what were we talking about?”
Jesus, Stacey.
Not even close to a good recovery.
“We’re talking about why you bought a house and how that would be connected to Hudson.”
“There’s no connection,” I say, bringing the phone close to my mouth so he can hear me loud and clear. “Yup, none, whatsoever. Don’t know why she said that. I think, wait… Stacey, did you take one of those gummies you were talking about trying?”
“Yes, yes, that’s right. Uh-huh, I took a gummy. Silly me. Should have waited until a little later. You know, I’m actually sort of not feeling well, so if I could just jump off this call, that would be great.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Jude growls. “Now, someone tell me what the hell is going on.”
Wanting to jump in and make sure Stacey doesn’t say anything, I quickly think of a reason and say, “I got a raise.”
But to my dismay, Stacey says at the same time, “They’re married.”
Oh.
Dear.
Fucking.
Jesus.
My ass puckers and my stomach flops to the ground while the linegoes dead. I look down at my screen to see if he hung up, but nope, he’s still there, probably suffering through some sort of conniption.
Finally, very slowly, very deeply, he says, “What the fuck did you just say?”
I swallow the lump in my throat and answer, “Uh, he gave me a raise.”
“Not you,” he yells. “Stacey, what the fuck did you just say?”
I sink down on the couch, tears welling up in my eyes as my sister softly says, “They’re married.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Jude says, the anger of three Scottish clans billowing out of him. “You married Hudson?”
“Sloane, I’m sorry,” Stacey says, her voice wobbling, no doubt she’s crying and feeling like total shit.
