Promise Me (Asher Family #1)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

SADIE

After three weeks of living together, Hudson finally slept in his bed with me.

Sorry, couch, but it looks like you won’t be seeing any more of him.

The curtains are still closed from last night, but I can see a small sliver of the morning sun trying to peek into the room.

The former baker in me—I can confidently say that now—is the first to wake up. Now, I’ve seen Hudson sleeping before. As the early riser, I’ve had moments like this before, but whereas in those moments I was tiptoeing around the apartment, trying not to wake him, and only sneaking glimpses of him, today’s version of me is not hiding a single thing.

I know we fell asleep curled into each other last night, but right now, I’m on my side facing him as he faces me. Not a single body part is touching the other’s.

It makes me want to laugh, because in all the books I read, the couple is always touching when they are in bed. Those novels must not have a California king bed. I’m not saying that Hudson and I didn't cuddle, but at some point, we parted ways. But just having him be the first thing I see when I open my eyes is just as intimate.

His breaths are slow and even, and one arm is slung over his head. Look, he’s sexy, but I still have this urge to reach over and tickle his armpit. What a way to wake up the day after a night filled with sex, huh?

I let out a little laugh, and even though I thought it was quiet enough, Hudson stirs.

He doesn’t fully wake up, though.

I don’t want to wake him either. He hasn’t had the comfiness of this bed for weeks—I imagine he’s going to sleep in today.

I slink out of bed, quietly change into some clothes, and then sneak down to the bakery.

I need to see what kind of documents I have in the office that can help me determine our lease so that I can get an offer for Brooke. Until this moment, I’ve been grateful for autopay because the bills haven't gotten behind, but if I’m going to sell this place to Brooke, I need to know more.

There’s music playing when I step in through the back door. It’s just after seven, so I know the shop is open and most of her products for the day are finished, minus frosting or toppings to add here and there.

I hear the chatter of voices up front, so instead of going to talk to Brooke while she’s clearly busy, I step into the office and close the door slightly behind me.

There’s a photo of me and my mom when I was in fifth grade on the wall above the computer, and right next to it is a photo of me and Brooke standing in front of the store. We’re both smiling goofy smiles. Like most of the photos I’ve seen lately, I don’t remember it, but it’s clear I was happy.

Still, letting go of this place is what’s right for me.

I wake up the computer and click around between files before I find what I’m looking for .

“What are you doing down here?” Hudson’s voice startles me for the briefest moment. He’s leaning in the doorway with his arms crossed. No one has ever smiled at me the way that Hudson smiles at me. My heart races.

“I should have known you were going to follow me down here.”

He nods and then steps over to kiss the top of my head.

“I told you that I like to be near you, so my body knows when you leave.” He grips my chin, tilts my head back, and kisses me. “So, really though, what are you doing?” he asks again.

“I was just looking at the books. Brooke has been doing so well without me.”

“Does that make you sad?”

I take a breath and set the pen in my hand down.

“No. I think I’m going to see if she wants to buy this place from me.”

His brow rises in shock.

It’s the first time I’ve admitted it out loud to anyone. A part of me thinks I should be asking my father for permission, but the other part of me remembers what he said the other day: no matter what happens in my life, do everything with love. If I stayed on as the owner of the bakery, I’d be doing it out of guilt. The guilt that I gave up on my mom’s dream.

But at the end of the day, it was her dream and not mine, and I’d like to think she’d approve of my choice. This bakery needs someone to run it with as much passion as she did. Brooke is that person.

“You are?”

I nod. “I don’t love it the way she does. I think if I did, that passion would have come back by now.”

Hudson takes a seat on the corner of the desk. He leans forward and tucks a piece of hair behind my ear .

My heart races, and I cross my legs.

So that’s what that feels like.

“Is this what you want?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“Then you should do it.”

“What if she doesn't say yes because she’s worried I’ll remember one day?”

“Well, I guess we promise that you’ll remember how you felt back then and how you feel right now.”

He clears his throat and stands quickly.

He’s not just talking about the bakery.

“This is Brooke we’re talking about. She knows both versions of you. I think she’ll love the idea.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but do you know what I would love?” he asks, reaching for my hand and pulling me out of the chair. “If you’d come back to bed with me.”

His nose nudges mine as I ask, “Right now?”

“Right now,” he repeats.

He kisses me with so much passion that he pushes me against the desk. His hand slides to my backside and cups my butt. I feel the moment he starts to lift me, but the door swings open.

“I’m all for this, but this is a bakery. There is a legit kitchen right outside this door.” Hudson pulls back, and I swear I hear a growl come from him.

“Also,” Brooke goes on as she points at Hudson, “shirts are required here.”

I let out a light laugh, grab his hand, and pull him to the door.

“Sorry, Boss, it won’t happen again,” I tease and then leave through the kitchen with Hudson right behind me.

When I look back, my best friend is grinning and shaking her head.

She waves just as we exit .

Hudson wastes no time tossing me over his shoulder.

I smack his back.

“Hey!”

“Hey, nothing,” he says and opens the door to his apartment. “I said I wanted you back in my bed, and I’m making it happen.”

“I can go willingly,” I laugh.

“Yeah, but this way is more fun.”

“It’s more caveman.”

He ignores my comment and sets me on my feet at the base of the stairs.

“After you,” he says playfully and gestures to the stairwell.

I could stand here and just keep grinning, but when he reaches for me, I squeal and race up the steps.

His laughter is all I hear behind me.

And I love every minute of it.

We haven’t left the apartment all day, and you will not hear me complain about it.

I think we needed this. A day for just us. To bask in what has changed between us without the pressure of the outside world.

There’s no doubt my brother will have something to say, and I know that bothers Hudson.

“If you sell to Brooke, what do you think you’ll do?” Hudson asks, drawing soft circles on my back. I’m just coming back down from the high of another orgasm—I’ve lost count of how many I’ve had at this point.

Still, I don’t have to think over my answer.

“Is it crazy to think that even though the bar is in the spot I originally wanted Sips and Stories, I could still find another place to open it?”

“It’s not crazy. I think you can. ”

He grins, and my heart just can’t handle it. It beats faster as I lean over to kiss him.

I want all his smiles and all his kisses for as long as he’ll give them to me.

He reaches up to stroke my cheek with his thumb. “What was that for?”

“For the simple fact that you listen to me, and you believe in me.”

Instead of replying, he leans in to kiss me again.

“What was that for?” I ask, repeating his words.

“For reminding what it’s like to be happy again.”

For a moment, we just stare at each other, and then we both erupt into laughter.

“Wow, that was a sappy moment,” I say.

“We seem to be having a lot of those.”

I roll my eyes, push off him, and start getting dressed. We did pause to eat breakfast, but we skipped lunch, and I'm ravenous.

“But seriously, do you think I can do it? Sell the bakery and open my own place?”

“I do,” he says and steps into his briefs. “Tell me what you think it would look like.”

“Well, I still like the idea of mostly windows for the walls.”

He pulls on a shirt and then tosses me one of his to wear over my leggings. It swallows me, but I love it.

He heads for the door of the room, stopping only to gently press his lips to mine.

“I like the idea of windows too.”

“It’s not too lame to want it to look like the bar’s space? I just kept dreaming of that, and it’s hard to ignore it.”

“It’s not weird. If there were another option for the bar, I’d trade you.”

“Really?” I take a seat at the small kitchen island in his kitchen .

“Of course.”

“Hmm, this all feels too good to be true.” I tap my chin as he turns to face me.

“What does?”

“You.”

He chuckles. “Well, believe it, Sadie Baby, because you chose me.”

He places a hand on either side of me and traps me between his arms as he leans down for another kiss. It lingers, and he moves to step between my legs. It takes all I have to push him back.

“I need food,” I tell him. “But also, I like Sadie Baby a lot better than the last nickname you gave me.”

“I’ve never given you a nickname.”

“Yes, you have.”

“What nickname was that?” he asks and goes back to pulling out the ingredients for sandwiches.

“Sadie Snots.”

His head jerks to look at me. “I never called you that.”

“You, mister, started the rumor for it back in high school.”

He shakes his head. “Nope. That wasn’t me. The first person I heard call you that was Amber.”

“Amber?” My ex-best friend whom Hudson dated his senior year? We remained friends until we graduated a couple of years later, but she kept sleeping with my boyfriends.

“Yeah. She was mad that Parker Basin was taking you to prom. She thought she was the only sophomore invited by a senior.”

I narrow my gaze at him.

“She told me you started it.”

He spreads the mayo on the bread but pauses. “I think we all learned she wasn’t very trustworthy.”

I nod. “Huh. I’ve held a grudge against you for that one for a while. Parker wouldn’t even kiss me that night. I had to wait an entire year until I got my first one. With tongue, anyway.”

“Who was it?” Hudson snaps, staring at me intently. “Was it that soccer loser, Buddy?”

I laugh and shake my head. “I’m not going to tell you.”

“Tell me,” he demands, abandoning the food and marching over to me. He spins me in my chair and cages me again.

“Nope.”

“Sadie,” he says.

I press a hand to his lips. “I think you mean Sadie Baby .”

Now it’s his gaze that narrows on me. He clears his throat.

“Sadie Baby, tell me who your first kiss was, now.”

“Or what?”

In one swift motion, he grabs my left thigh, pulls it up to his hip, and brushes himself against me. His erection hits me right at my core, and I groan.

“I can hold out,” he teases.

I reach a hand between us and cup him.

“Can you?”

He answers with a hard kiss, and then, as if it’s just a typical Sunday, the two of us are stripped naked in a matter of minutes.

Without taking his lips from mine, he moves us to the couch, where he sits down, pulling me to sit on his lap. I rest a leg on each side of him and reach to place him at my entrance.

He stops my hand.

“I need to get a condom.”

“I’m … okay without one if you are. I’m clean.”

“I am too.”

His blue eyes settle on mine, and today they seem lighter. Calmer. And it makes me fall for him even more knowing that I make him feel the way he makes me feel.

I lower slightly, letting my body adjust to his size before I slide down fully .

He bites my shoulder when I’m all the way seated.

“Fuck, you feel so good.”

I turn his face to me so that I can kiss him.

He deepens it with his tongue and then grips my hips and starts to move me back and forth; I know I won’t last long.

And I don’t.

I’m shattering in his arms within minutes, and he’s right behind me.

But that's okay, because there will be many more nights for this.

For us.

This right here, this bond Hudson and I have—nothing can take it away from us.