‘Hudson,’ she said abruptly holding out her arm to halt his path to his car.
Hudson grasped her hand and she froze. She wasn’t expecting that or the accompanying electricity shooting violently up her arm. They both stared at their clasped hands for a fraction longer than was necessary.
‘Are you all right?’ asked Hudson, his voice soft and full of concern.
Liam forced a cough and they both looked in his direction.
‘I didn’t realise you two were …’ He pointed at their entwined fingers.
Anna’s eyebrows shot up and she opened her mouth to protest but something about Hudson’s expression stopped her. He gave a tiny shrug. ‘I’ll let Anna explain,’ said Hudson, giving her hand a squeeze and keeping hold of it. He let their clasped hands drop down between them. Was it some sort of code? Did he want her to say they were in a relationship? It would stop Liam coming on to her, which would be a bonus. It would stop her making a knee-jerk decision to take Liam back too. In her foggy brain it seemed like a good idea. She wanted to know what Hudson was thinking; did he have a plan?
‘No no, you explain,’ she said.
He twitched his head. ‘Err. Okay. Let’s just say it’s very early on in our relationship.’ He eyed Anna as if seeking approval. Her mouth twitched in response. ‘We’d really appreciate a bit of discretion,’ said Hudson, slinking an arm around Anna’s shoulder. She faltered for a second before she realised what he was doing and awkwardly snuggled into him.
Liam stared at them for what seemed like ages and Anna could feel herself heating up. For once Liam actually looked hurt. At last he seemed to snap himself out of his trance. ‘Mum’s the word,’ he said, tapping his nose. He clapped his hands together. ‘Die Hard on DVD in five minutes.’ He pointed inside before turning and heading back.
As the door closed behind Liam Anna let out a giant breath and Hudson removed his arm. ‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ said Anna, spinning around to face him.
‘I don’t know. I’m not even sure what just happened. You grabbed my hand and then—’
‘I grabbed your hand?’ Anna was indignant.
‘Err, yeah.’ Hudson threw up his palms.
‘No, you grabbed my hand.’ She had to physically stop herself putting her hands on her hips.
‘This is getting us nowhere. Whatever happened, we ended up holding hands. I thought you were trying to make him jealous or something. I don’t know.’ Hudson seemed flustered.
‘No, I just wanted a distraction.’ And to stop me doing something ridiculous like taking him back, she thought. It worried her how easily she had come to almost cracking. She thought she was stronger.
‘Great. You could have said that because I can juggle you know. That would have been a much better distraction,’ said Hudson, giving a small shake of his head.
‘Sorry.’ She felt stupid.
‘But now we’ve said we’re boyfriend and girlfriend I guess we’ll have to keep it going.’ He scratched his chin and she noticed it was a little stubbly.
‘Or we could say we were joking.’ They both pulled faces knowing this would make them look ridiculous.
Hudson seemed to be thinking. ‘You never know. Now he thinks he knows secret information about us it could put him on our team, give us a chance to find out what he’s going to do to our project.’
‘Or he’ll try to blackmail us,’ said Anna. Knowing Liam, he was more likely to think it gave him some sort of advantage. Anna realised she was asking a lot of Hudson as someone who was already in a relationship. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think about your personal situation. In fact, I didn’t think at all. If this makes you uncomfortable, I’ll put Liam straight.’ She shoved her hands in her pockets and turned to go.
‘Hang on,’ said Hudson and Anna spun around. ‘It is crazy but I’m guessing you’ll feel better having shown your ex you’ve moved on and maybe made him a bit jealous too.’ He gave a cheeky pout and Anna brightened.
‘I can’t lie, it would be a bonus.’
‘Then if you’re happy to pretend to be my girlfriend, I’m happy to be your boyfriend.’
She gave a slow nod. ‘I’d be honoured.’ Her voice held a hint of sarcasm.
‘Hey, I’m a very good boyfriend.’
‘I bet you are.’ A few unhelpful thoughts crossed her mind and she banished them. She felt like she was cheating on Sophie. It was bonkers.
‘Then let’s slay him,’ said Hudson, and he followed her back inside.
Anna was in her sleeping bag when she was disturbed by the sound of distant screaming and the light going on, which woke her with a start.
‘Anna, calm down, you’re having a nightmare,’ said Sophie, in her left ear. Anna turned to see her friend’s tired face. Anna’s pulse was racing and she could feel her hair was damp with sweat.
‘Sorry,’ whispered Anna. ‘Was I shouting?’
‘Yes,’ came Priya’s disgruntled voice.
‘Ignore her,’ said Sophie. ‘You okay now?’
Anna nodded. ‘Careful going back down the ladder.’
Sophie disappeared, the light went out and Anna settled herself back down. It had been a while since she’d had a nightmare. It was always the same one. And she was always too late to save them. She closed her eyes tight and tried to think of something else. Thanks to Liam stirring up long-hidden memories, it would likely be a while before she got back to sleep.
The next morning, she wanted to be one of the first in the showers as she didn’t want anyone to see her with dark circles round her eyes and mad post-nightmare hair. And she wasn’t keen on going in after Karl – she didn’t want to think about what he might have been up to in there. Anna crept down the ladder, grabbed her washbag and reversed out of the room.
‘Hey,’ said a hushed American voice behind her. She shut the door and turned to face Hudson who was wearing a bath towel tied around his waist. Her breath caught in her throat and she started to cough. ‘You okay?’
Anna took a deep breath and got her coughing under control. ‘Fine thanks,’ she said, trying hard not to stare at Hudson’s impressive physique. She knew gay men often looked after themselves but this was a whole new level in body workout. She’d only ever seen carved abs like his on male models.
Hudson ran his fingers through his wet hair and his muscles rippled, which was very distracting.
‘You sure? Only in the night I heard …’ Hudson tailed off.
Anna gave a phoney chuckle. ‘Yeah. I think I was dreaming about Die Hard.’ She broke eye contact. She was a bad liar, and she knew people could always tell.
‘As long as you’re okay.’
‘I’m fine. Are you acting the caring boyfriend?’
‘Absolutely.’
There was an awkward pause. ‘I thought I’d jump in the showers early,’ she said, waving her washbag as evidence and they both watched as a stream of tampons tumbled from the open zip.
‘Bugger,’ she muttered, whilst scrabbling to gather them up.
‘See you at breakfast,’ said Hudson, failing to hide his amusement as he slunk into the men’s bedroom. Anna hung her head. Sophie must have left the bag open after she’d returned Anna’s toothpaste. Thanks a bunch, she thought.