Page 36 of The Sweetest Cruelty: Hudson (A Sawyer Brothers Story #1)

“Who?” she blurted, mirroring my words from earlier when she half confessed her crush.

I arched an eyebrow. “We’re not girlfriends, remember?”

And then the mean girl smiled. A real one. Not that fake kind where there were too many teeth on display.

“Touché.”

A line in the sand was drawn between us.

It felt good. The tide was finally turning.

Yes, I was the principal’s daughter but I wasn’t a suck up.

Hopefully, people would start to appreciate that.

I was also about as far away from a slut as you could get.

Another message I hoped would eventually sink in.

I decided my reaction to Hudson was one of those crazy moments.

And then the verbal diarrhoea started. My goodness, it was like the girl had never had a conversation. Pent-up banter came spewing out. Storm didn’t even come up for air when Tate and her followers walked past our table, giving her the sharpest stink eye I had ever seen.

“The team and I have decided to practice after school tonight. Meet you at the bleachers at four?” Tate said, folding her arms across her ample chest. I kept my head down.

“OK. I’ll see you guys there.”

“Oh, and I don’t need you to pick me up on Saturday. I’m going with my date, so I’ll see you there. Good luck with your little project.”

As she walked away, I wondered what was happening on Saturday. And then I remembered the party Laura and Lily had mentioned. Maybe it was the same one

I thought back to Tate’s resting bitch face which never wavered. For such a pretty female, it made her look incredibly ugly; like she was sucking on the sourest lemon.

I recalled her words: Project? Did she mean me? Before I could say anything, Storm started speaking again.

“Are you going to Nash’s party on Saturday?” Storm chelped, jiggling about in her seat. The girl couldn’t sit still.

So, it was Nash Straker's party, number sixty-nine. I shot her a lopsided smile. “I’m not usually the partying type.”

Storm snorted. “Sure, you are. And from the sounds of things, Hudson will be there.” My eyes narrowed as she turned her head and glanced at Tate. I didn’t miss the slight smile on her face.

“Maybe that’s a good reason why I shouldn’t go. He was the one who put the target on my back, remember? All that rubbish about me being a slag.”

She grimaced, clearly confused. “Slag?”

I translated what was probably not a universal word to, “Slut.”

“Oh. Well, his actions last week have changed that. I’ve heard there’s a video and it’s hot.”

“There’s a video?” I don’t know why I was so surprised.

“Yes, everyone was talking about it. Tate was fuming. I’ve never seen her so mad. She thinks she has a claim on all the football players. She’s been trying to ensnare Hudson to make her ex jealous. You’ve met him; he was all over you your first day on campus, if I remember. Cash Ryan?”

So, Cash was the boyfriend who watched me like I was his next meal, and he was Tate Parker’s ex; interesting .

“I take it she’s trying to get him back?”

“I think so. Although it’s not going so well.

I’ve seen him eye-fucking other girls, and Tate’s on the warpath about it.

She caught him watching the video of you and Hudson.

He had it saved on his phone. I heard her say it’s in his spank bank.

Now she’s out for blood.” The thought of a guy getting off to a video of me was weird, but I didn’t say anything.

“Why are you telling me all this? Isn’t she your friend?”

“Hmm, kinda, although I use the word friend loosely. Daddy encourages our association. She’s a means to an end, and if you ever repeat that, I will deny I said anything,” Storm said, glancing around nervously.

“As I said before. I’m a loyal friend. That means I don’t talk behind people’s backs.”

After omitting an unladylike snort, she added. “Then you’re the only one in this school who doesn’t.”

Storm started chewing her thumbnail as she sized me up and then dropped her hand.

“Anyways, you have nothing to worry about. Hudson is un-snare-able. At least I thought so. Maybe you’ll be the girl to change him.

” The girl flitted from one opinion to the next so quickly that it was giving me a headache.

Scoffing, I batted back with an arm gesture to highlight the busy lunchroom. One, minus a Hudson. “I can hardly do that when he isn’t even here.”

I had hoped she’d tell me where he was.

“Not now, but he’ll be back.”

“Do you know why he’s off?” I asked.

“Hudson’s attendance has always been poor. He studies from home sometimes. He can’t let himself get behind, or Coach Rutherford would bump him from the team.”

“How does he get away with that?”

“I’m not sure of the ins and outs, but it’s an arrangement based on medical grounds. His therapist set it up.”

My tummy flip-flopped. “Hudson has a therapist ?”

She looked at me like I was stupid. “Of course. Doesn’t everyone?”

Shrugging, I replied. “I don’t.”

Storm grinned. “You will after a year in this place.”

Her words had bit into me like bullets. Medical grounds? What the heck did that mean ?

“Is Hudson sick or something?” The thought of him suffering didn’t sit well with me at all.

“Not physically. Fucked up in the head is more like it,” Storm raced on, the filter that kept her from sharing other people’s business was slowly unravelling. She would have said more, but a shadow fell over our table. Glancing up, just behind her shoulder stood Reed Prescott.

He cleared his throat noisily, and Storm paled and glanced over her shoulder at the giant looming over her.

“Reed?”

“Summers,” he deadpanned. “Why are you in here shooting your mouth off? Don’t you have somewhere you’re supposed to be, teacup?”

“Not that I know of,” she tutted, clearly unnerved.

He blew out a breath. “Coach Sheldon is looking for you. Something about lunchtime detention?”

Storm’s face switched to confusion and then panic. “Shit. I totally forgot.”

I sat back as I watched the girl flapping around as she gathered her bag, leaving her lunch tray and the food she’d hardly touched.

“I’ll see you later, Molly,” she panted, pushing up from the seat and scurrying past Hudson’s brother.

I wondered why she had detention. Reed followed her departure with a smug smile before lowering his large, rangy form into her vacated seat.

He must have read my thoughts as he said. “It’s her punishment for almost murdering you,” before picking up Storm’s fork and tucking into her salad plate. I wondered why Tate wasn’t going with her. They were both involved.

It was now just the two of us on that table; the other girls there had left just before Storm did. It felt oddly intimate, even with Tate and her posse glancing back and forth from their table across the hall.

Reed shovelled some chicken between his lips and then started speaking with his mouth full. Nice.

“So, I take it she apologised,” he stated, waving his fork towards the door she had left through.

I rested my elbows on the table. “Yes. She did.”

He glanced at me occasionally as he continued to eat Storm’s lunch. “Good. So, she can take instructions. ”

My heart sank. So, Storm had been told to say sorry to me. God, I was naive.

Reed swallowed, his expression shifting to one of amusement. “Don’t look so disappointed. She was sorry. Teacup just needed a little nudge to encourage her to tell you that.”

“Teacup?”

“Yeah. You know the saying, storm in a teacup ? It describes that woman perfectly. She’s a drama queen and gets worked up over the slightest thing. Overreacting to shit is Storm’s MO.”

I knew my idioms and what storm in a teacup meant, but I didn’t make a snarky comment after his colourful explanation.

Tugging my mask back, my eyes roamed over his handsome features.

I wondered if he was the boy Storm had been talking about.

The guy had a pet name for her after all.

But surely, she wouldn’t use her crush’s brother to make him jealous.

Then again, knowing what I did about Storm and her morals, maybe she would.

The silence stretched, and I was done beating about the bush . “Where is Hudson?”

Reed’s body stiffened briefly, and then he shrugged. “How should I know? I’m not his keeper.”

“No, but you’re his brother.”

“Not biologically,” he pointed out with a lazy grin.

“But you’re tight.”

“I suppose so. Why do you want to know?” he asked.

“Maybe I’m worried. Is he OK?”

“He’s avoiding people,” he explained with a shrug.

“Why?” I shot back.

“For a multitude of reasons.” Reed’s tone suggested I was getting on his nerves with all the questions, but I ploughed on regardless.

“One being?”

His expression became clouded. God, this boy was cagey. “It’s safer that way.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Reed sniffed before transferring the fork to his left hand. He then washed a hand down his face before lifting his jaw to stare at me. “What did Storm say?” His tone had dropped, a dark edge filtering into that cavalier attitude he was trying to project.

Flicking back a chunk of hair which had fallen forward, I stated. “Nothing. Just that he’s home-schooled sometimes. ”

His lip curled into a semi-sneer. “Why don’t you ask dear old daddy?” Great. We were back to that.

Our eyes remained tangled. I, too, could answer a question with a question. “What makes you think he knows anything about it?”

Reed scowled. “He runs the school, so he should know everything.”

I ignored the raised voice and added softly. “I’m not sure he knows personal stuff about all his students. And if he did. He wouldn’t be able to tell me. Teacher, pupil confidence and all that.”

Dragging his gaze away, he stabbed a bit of cucumber and popped it into his mouth. Taking his time to chew it, he pointed out with a cocky grin. “Well then. Don’t expect me to either. Brother to brother confidence, and all that.”

Rolling my eyes, I huffed. “I was supposed to tutor Hudson last weekend, but he bailed.” Fuck, I hoped I wasn’t breaking Hudson’s confidence by telling his brother that.