Page 210 of Bridesmaid By Chance
“Can you not watch me?” I ask as a tear slides down my cheek.
Once again, without a word, he moves away and heads into the living room, giving me the space I need. I pause in my packing, pull my knees into my chest, and rest my forehead on my knees as I allow myself to cry.
Letting it all out.
This is not how I expected this trip to end. Honestly, I didn’t have a cluehowit would end, but one thing is for sure, it wasn’t in tears. It wasn’t feeling lost and so incredibly despondent.What if Jude never speaks to me again? What if this whole farce destroys their business—the very thing we were trying to save? Why did I ever suggest this in the first place?
I take a few minutes to gather myself, to wipe at my cheeks, and to take a few deep breaths. When I think I’m ready to leave, I sit on top of my suitcase, zip it up, lift it up, and drag it out into the living room, where I find Hudson sitting on the couch, leaning forward, his hands digging through his hair. He glances up with just his eyes, and I see the same pain I’m feeling reflected in his irises.
I swipe at my nose with the back of my hand and move over to my sneakers. I put them on, one by one, and then grab my purse from the hook next to the door. Unsure of where I’m going, I turn my back and head toward the door, just as I hear a very quiet, “Don’t.”
It’s so faint, I almost just breezed right over it, but I heard it.
I glance over my shoulder, my eyes landing on Hudson, his hair sticking up in all different directions, his eyes heavy, his expression bleak.
Leave, Sloane.
Leave now.
Stop looking at him and just leave.
But my legs don’t listen as I remain still.
“Please,” he says, his voice shaking. “Please don’t leave.”
My lip trembles from the sound of his voice.
My stomach turns in knots from indecision.
My heart hammers drastically in my heart, begging me to move forward, to go to him.
He swallows and repeats, “Please…please stay with me.”
Chapter Thirty-One
HUDSON
I wait, pleading with my eyes, my heart, my mind, my fucking soul for her not to leave. For her to stay here with me, to listen, to give me a chance that I don’t fucking deserve.
I watch as tears fill her eyes again, and knowing I caused those absolutely destroys me.
Do you see what you’ve put her through?
You should just let her go.
Let her be.
But…but I fucking can’t.
Being back here, seeing her, being in her presence, it’s…it’s calmed me. It’s sent this pulse of soothing adrenaline through me, telling me that this is where I should have been the entire time. This is who I should have been with this entire time. I should have been leaning on her. I should have been relying on her. I shouldn’t have been scared. I shouldn’t have been hiding her. I should have been up front about my…fuck, about my feelings for her, but it wasn’t until I realized that I lost a piece of her that I found out how I truly felt.
And now…now I’m just hoping that she stays in this room with me. I’m not going to force her. If she wants to leave, she can leave, but I have to at least try.
“Please, Sloane,” I say, my voice breaking.
She squeezes her eyes shut and looks away, and for a moment, I thinkshe’s going to take off, that she’s not going to at least hear me out, but then she drops her purse and walks over to the couch, giving me an ounce of hope.
She takes a seat, pulls her legs into her chest, but doesn’t say anything, just stares at the coffee table in front of her.
