Starstruck - Book Three (6 page)

Hudson’s homecoming was a sweet reunion. I’d missed him more
than I cared to admit, and two weeks was two weeks too long.

“I never want to be apart that long again,” I said as I
threw my arms around him the second he walked in the door.

He laughed as I nearly knocked him over, and he covered my
mouth with soft, cinnamon kisses. It was late in the evening on a Friday night.
I’d been on pins and needles all day waiting for him to come home. His flight
was delayed a few hours, which only made the anticipation worse.

“Here,” I said to him as I handed him a whiskey sour I’d
prepared. I clutched my amaretto and Diet Coke in my other hand. “Let’s go sit
outside by the pool. I want to hear all about your trip.”

Hudson smirked. “It wasn’t a trip. It was work, remember?”

“Whatever,” I teased. “Come on.”

He was exhausted from his day of traveling, but I didn’t
care. I had other plans for him.

I let him set down and take a few sips of his drink before I
slowly unbuttoned my white shorts and slid them down. I kicked them across the
patio and bit my finger as I stared down at him.

“What’s this?” he asked as he began to grin. He sat back in
his chair as if he were ready to enjoy a show.

I pulled my tank top off over my head and shook my long
hair. I tiptoed backwards, towards the water, as I slid off my pink, lacy
panties and unhooked my bra. His backyard was a private oasis, and I fully
intended to take advantage of that.

I waved my finger at him to follow me as I dipped one toe
into the warm pool water and stepped in. He slowly got up from his chair,
taking another swig of his drink, and began undressing.

I was waist deep in the water by the time he climbed in, and
I swam over to the grotto, taking cover and waiting for him. I waited patiently
and it felt like he was taking forever, until suddenly I felt his strong hands
slip around my waist. He had snuck up behind me.

“You scared me,” I said as I patted his chest.

“Sorry,” he said as he nibbled at my neck.

The soft water of his saltwater pool trickled around us and beaded
down our skin as we couldn’t keep our hands off one another. My mouth waited,
wanting and open, for his kiss. My body anticipated his hands and where they
would go next.

He scooped me up and held me against his hips as he hoisted
me against the wall of the grotto. I could feel his member, hard and throbbing,
and longed for him to be inside me once again.

“I missed you so much, Brynn,” he whispered before reaching
down and positioning himself.

With one fell thrust, he was deep inside me. His hips moved slowly,
deliberately as he took his sweet time with me. We had to make up for lost
time, and that was just fine with me.

The water lapped around us with every move as the waterfall
splashed in the background and the dim lights of the pool set the ambiance.

I rested my arms on his shoulders as he continued thrusting
and plunging himself into me.

“I love being this close to you,” he whispered. “You’re so
addictive.”

I said nothing as I smiled with sweet satisfaction at his
words and enjoyed the sensation of riding him in the pool.

I could tell he was getting close.

“Just let go,” I whispered.

A few hard thrusts and his body tensed and then relaxed as
he released himself inside of me. He leaned against me, pinning me to the wall
of the grotto, as we became undone, and I slid myself back to a standing
position.

“How was that for a welcome home surprise?” I asked.

“Amazing,” he sighed, his hands still traveling the length
of my body. We were done, for now, and he still couldn’t keep his hands off me.

We swam back to the patio and wrapped ourselves in fluffy
towels as we sat down to finish our drinks.

He ran his fingers through his damp, dark hair as he stared
at me in amazement.

“I was thinking,” I said. “I should probably go back home at
least once a month.  You know, just to visit my mom and Piper and stuff. I
haven’t been back in a few weeks. Would you care if I went next weekend?”

“Of course not,” he said as he scrunched his face. “You can
go home anytime you want. In fact, I’ll join you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to come with,” I said. “Rock River is so
boring.”

“Brynn,” he said as he cocked his head. “I can’t be away
from you again. Not this soon. And last time you went home, I almost lost you.
I won’t let that happen again.”

I laughed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m coming with you,” he insisted.

“That’s fine,” I said. “I just don’t want you to be bored.”

“With you? Never.”

“You know you have nothing to worry about with me and Luke.
Ever,” I said. “If that’s what this is about.”

He instantly looked offended. “Who said anything about him?”

“I thought that was what you meant,” I said. “Anyway he’s
not a threat to you. To us.”

“How do you know this? Have you been talking to him?” Hudson
asked, his eyes almost flashing with jealousy and a hint of contained temper.

“No,” I said. I wasn’t going to tell him that I sought Luke
out at the bar last time I went home. Not in a million years. He would never
understand. “Piper had just mentioned when she was here that Luke basically
hates me.”

“Why would you care about that?” Hudson asked. “Haven’t you
moved on?”

“Of course,” I said as I reached across the table and placed
my hand on his. “You need to calm down.”

Hudson was annoyed.

“Clearly you’re taking this conversation in the wrong
direction,” I said. “I was just trying to tell you that you have nothing to
worry about whenever I go home.”

“So Luke hates you,” he said, going back to the topic of
Luke. “But do you hate Luke? Are there still feelings there?”

I rolled my eyes and buried my face in my hands. “No.”

Hudson was quiet, and I wasn’t sure that he entirely
believed me. I wanted to ask him what was up with this sudden insecurity, and
then I remembered what Alec had told me about celebrities needing constant love
and attention and security. Hudson was no exception to that rule.

“I have no feelings for Luke,” I told him. “I swear.”

I wasn’t going to mention that Luke was my first love, my
best friend, and a part of me would always love him. He wouldn’t understand. It
would just take things to a whole new level.

He glanced over at me, making eye contact once again but
saying nothing. I stood up from my chair and climbed over into his lap,
wrapping my arm around the back of his shoulders.

“I’m with you,” I said. “I want to be with you.”

I held up my right ring finger and showed him the canary
yellow diamond ring he’d given me two weeks prior.

“Remember?” I said with a smile. “We’re in this together.
You and me. You’re mine and I’m yours.”

His face lightened up a bit as he slipped his arms around my
waist.

“I’m still coming home with you,” he said.

“That’s fine,” I said. “You can meet my mom.”

He laughed a bit. “Okay.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted,” I said as I
stood up and led him by the hand back inside the house. Two weeks with him gone
and I never got used to sleeping without him by my side. All I wanted to do was
curl up in his arms, close my eyes, and drift off. Saturday was going to be a
new day with a fresh start and something we both clearly needed.

We arrived in Des Moines on a Friday afternoon and rented a
car. I opted to drive, having missed my familiar Iowa roads once again. Mile
after mile, hour after hour, we finally arrived in Rock River.

My homecoming was bittersweet, not knowing what to expect.
I’d left in such a hurry last time that I was almost afraid to show my face
around some parts.

“Do you care if we pop into the coffee shop first?” I asked
Hudson. “I want to say hi to Piper and let her know I’m in town.”

“We’re here for you,” he said as he kissed my hand. “We’ll
do whatever you want. You just lead the way.”

We pulled up to the shop and climbed out. Piper’s weekend in
L.A. started out rough, but eventually we were able to get on the same page. We
both missed each other, and we both wanted to have fun. When I took her back to
the airport that Sunday, I felt like we were finally getting back on track. We
were in a good place.

As Hudson and I walked hand in hand into the coffee shop,
the last thing I expected was to see Luke standing up at the counter talking to
Piper. Even from across the room I could see the way her face lit up in his
presence. His back was towards us, but he was leaning into her, resting on his
elbows, like he didn’t have a care in the world, smiling big. He was clearly
smitten. I’d never seen him act like that with anyone else before.

I wanted to vomit, but I tried to compose myself.

“Let’s go,” Hudson whispered in my ear. “Let’s just get out
of here.”

“No,” I said as I jerked my hand away from him and
approached Luke and Piper. “Ahem.”

Piper’s face fell as she turned towards me and backed away
from Luke. Luke turned around, then spun right back around as soon as he saw
me.

“Piper, how could you?” I asked, my eyes pleading with her
for an answer. I’d loved Luke for years. She knew that.

“We’re just talking,” she said, as she tried to play dumb.

I shook my head. I didn’t buy it for one minute. The thought
of Piper and Luke flirting and hanging out and becoming close had floated
through my mind a time or two before, but I refused to believe she’d ever do
that to me. It was sort of an unspoken rule that Luke was off limits to her. I’d
cried on her shoulder countless times over the years when Luke had new
girlfriends or asked other girls to dances or rebuffed my attempts to take our
friendship to the next level.

She untied her apron and flung it on the counter as she
asked her coworker to cover for her.

She came around the bar and walked up to me, her arms
crossed.

“Let’s go outside,” I said to her. I was going to demand
answers.

Hudson watched us carefully as we slipped out the back. I
felt bad leaving him around Luke, but I knew he’d be civil.

“What the hell, Piper?” I yelled at her the second we were
outside. I searched for a hint of guilt or remorse on her face but found none.

“It just sort of...evolved,” she said.

“What evolved?” I asked. My eyes were burning hot and it
took all the strength I had not to break down and cry.

Piper sighed. “Luke and I have sort of had a thing for a
while now.”

My heart sank. “What are you talking about?”

“It just sort of happened. I don’t know. I don’t know how it
happened.” She studied my face.

“You’re not making any sense,” I whimpered. “I’ve only been
with Hudson not even a couple months. How long have you and Luke…?”

I didn’t want to know, but I did.

“A few months, at least,” she said as she bit her lip,
stifling a smile. She couldn’t hide the victorious look that crossed her face.
It was like Luke was a trophy she’d lusted after and finally wrangled out of my
hands. “It was mostly physical at first.”

The thought of Luke and Piper having sex flashed into my
mind, and once again I felt sick to my stomach. It made no sense. They hated
each other. They weren’t ever each other’s types.

“We got close,” she said. “Especially after you rejected
him.”

I rolled my eyes. “I didn’t reject him and you know that.”

She laughed. “Oh, so that’s why you ran off with Mr. Hollywood
and left Luke in the dust.”

“No. He had his chance and he waited until it was too late,”
I said. “You of all people should know that.”

I suddenly remembered that the guys were inside. I didn’t
want to leave Hudson around Luke any longer than I had to, but I still needed
to talk to Piper. There were still too many unanswered questions.

The sting of betrayal left a bittersweet taste in my mouth.

“I guess it is what it is, Brynn,” she said, arms crossed.

I couldn’t believe my best friend since kindergarten had
committed the ultimate betrayal and was standing before me with a smile on her
face. She was happy. In fact, I’d never seen her so happy before.

“Why did he cry at my apartment and why did he text me and
tell me he loved me the day I left?” I asked. My hands were on my hips, and I
refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

Piper shrugged as if she didn’t care that Luke did those
things.