Hudson smacks a hand to his face. “I am never going to live this down, am I?”
Ryan chuckles. “Not yet, I’m afraid.”
Hudson sighs and looks over at me. “Well, it was freshman year and Allie was new to school. I accidentally tripped her, and she fell. When I tried to help her up, I got bumped and ended up knocking her into the lockers and breaking her nose.”
Ryan cringes and turns to me. “Ouch. That had to be hard, especially on your first day at a new school.”
I snort. “You have no idea. And as you already know, I spent the rest of my high school years with those lovely nicknames.”
Ryan nods. “I can see why you hated him after that.” This makes Hudson shift uncomfortably in his chair and I smile. Ryan glances over at Hudson. “You have a lot of making up to do if you want this to work, Hudson.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Hudson peer over at me. “Trust me, Ryan, I plan on it. A lot’s changed since high school. All I wanted was Allie’s attention, but I tried getting it the wrong way. As you can see, it backfired on me.”
Ryan chuckles again. “Are you trying to say you liked her back then?”
I freeze. Do I really want to hear his answer? Hudson is still looking at me, but I can’t bring myself to turn my head toward him. “I did,” he confesses. “I was even going to ask her to the senior prom, but then I overheard her talking in the library to her friend about how much she hated me. That was when I realized just how badly I’d screwed up.”
Gasping, I jerk my head toward him. The solemn look on his face is back and he shrugs. “It was the day I came back from that two-week trip I told you about at dinner tonight. Sometimes it takes something like that for you to see things clearly.”
It just so happens, I remember that day as if it was yesterday. Hudson had gotten back to school and it was all anyone could talk about, even Crystal, who was my friend, sitting with me in the library. I remember her talking about Hudson and how cute he was, and my reply on how I hated him. I had no clue he was close by. I want to tell him I’m sorry, but I don’t get the chance.
Ryan points at the TV screen. “Let’s see another clip. This time it’s from your date at the private pool. I have to say it’s pretty hilarious.”
Uh-oh. Hudson’s brows furrow in confusion and I bite my lip. I’m curious to see what he’ll think about his new sunblock tattoo. The video shows us lounging in the sun with our drinks and then me getting in the pool. Fast forward a little bit, and there I am with my sunblock, tracing the word badonkasnonk on his back. Hudson moves closer to the screen and touches his shoulder. When he turns to me, he stares at me in awe. “Did you seriously do that?”
Ryan bursts out laughing and shuts off the screen. “Isn’t badonkasnonk what Hudson and his friends used to call you?” he asks me.
“Yes,” I reply, squeezing my eyes shut. “I thought it would be good payback.”
Hudson laughs so loud it echoes across the room. I jerk my eyes open and stare at him. He’s obviously not mad in the least. Ryan laughs along with him. “Guess this means you’ll be spending the rest of the vacation with a shirt on.”
Hudson shakes his head. “Not at all. It’s my payback and I’ll pay my dues. If this is what Allie wants, she’ll get it. I deserve it.”
Ryan focuses back on the camera. “Well, this should be an interesting couple of weeks. Stay tuned because I’ll be right back with Makayla and Jake.”
The cameras shut off and Ryan shakes Hudson’s hand. “Nice job, you two. I have a feeling you’re going to be the favorite couple.” He shakes my hand and Erin escorts us out.
“Want me to walk you to your room?” Hudson asks.
I nod but Erin holds up a hand. “I just need one minute with her first.”
Hudson steps away and Erin moves closer to me. “I pitched a new idea to the crew this morning. We’re going to switch things up tomorrow night.”
“What do you mean?” I whisper.
“I’m giving you the chance for an out. That is, if Hudson takes it. If not, you’ll be stuck with him.” She hugs me quickly. “I have to get the next couple. We’ll talk tomorrow.” She hurries off and I walk over to Hudson.
“The first thing I’m going to do is go to my room and take off my shirt. I need to see my new tattoo.” We walk down the hall to the elevator.