I'm furious; raging inside like a bomb about to explode. But I swallow it, all of it, as I look at her sharply; "Fine. Let's go."
This is fucking ridiculous.
P A S T
"Hang on, are you serious?" Quinn glances at Chelsea, and they both turn to look at me skeptically.
"Yeah, I'm serious." I roll my eyes at them, "What, you don't think I can do it?"
"Oh, no, it's not that Ray!" Chelsea says quickly, shaking her head; "It's just, uh, I mean it's just that you're-"
"You're twenty-two, Reagan." Quinn says evenly, frowning slightly.
"So?"
She rolls her eyes; "Ok, you're twenty-two, and you have zero political experience. That might be a problem here."
"Quinn, I do have a degree in political science, and I've spent the last two years working with Chet on his campaign stuff."
Quinn snorts and Chelsea opens and closes her mouth quickly as if she's trying to figure out what to say to that.
"OK, OK, laugh it up, I know. Chet's … Chet, but the experience with the campaign is real, guys. It - I don't know - it got me moving and got me thinking about stuff like I never have."
"But Ray, the Senate?" Chelsea looks worried.
"State Senate, but yeah." I shrug; "If you're gonna dream, dream big right?"
Quinn grins; "You're actually going to do this, aren't you?" I nod and she rolls her eyes; "You're fucking insane, you know that right?"
"Well, with endorsements like that!" Chelsea laughs and turns to look at me; "So when do we start?"
PRESENT
"So I told you about getting my amateur pilot's license, right?" I raise my eyebrows towards Chet, nodding as I plaster a dopey, fake smile across my face. I'm not really listening to a word he says though, since I'm concentrating on not looking at the scowling Hudson standing right there with us. Hudson who's alternating between rolling his eyes at practically everything Chet says and glowering at me every time I very purposely laugh at it.
I might be laughing on the outside, but inside I'm scowling just as hard as he is now; I mean where the fuck does he get off being so possessively alpha about me talking with Chet when he's the one that had Samantha and her tits hanging off of him barely hours after we'd slept together. It's classic fucking Hudson, I grumble inside. But if anything, I'm more scared than pissed, as much as I don't want to admit it. In fact, I'm doing my damnedest to ignore it, since I'm scared what me being jealous of Hudson with another girl really means, especially after what I talked about with Quinn and Chelsea.
"So what do you think, Hud?" Chet's nodding his head and wagging his eyebrows at Hudson, who's piercing scowl and pointed silence he seems to be oblivious of; "Pretty soon you and I can get up there together and do a little ace piloting, huh Iceman?"
"Why would I do that." There's almost a humor in the way Hudson does nothing to hide the disdain in his voice or the plaintive ‘I don't fucking care' look on his face when he speaks to Chet, but I bury that humor with a scowl instead.
Chet sighs dramatically; "Well hell man! I thought they taught you guys how to fly planes in the Air Force!"
Hudson's eyes narrow at Chet; "I'm sure they do teach people to fly planes in the Air Force," He says, his voice icy.
Chet snaps his fingers and shakes his head; "Right, right! Ranger, right?"
Hudson's fist clenches at his side; "Marine."
"Ahhh, well, I was close!"
Hudson's eyes very plainly say "no, you weren't" but he mercifully keeps his mouth shut. Unfortunately, Chet doesn't; "Well you've still got planes with the Marines, right? Don't they take you up in them to get pushed out or something?" He chuckles and I see Hudson's jaw tighten; "I thought that was your guys' thing!"
Hudson smiles broadly at Chet, his eyes like a shark's; "Oh it is! I'd be happy to show you sometime if you wan-"
"Don't you have some other place to be," I hiss at him.
"Whatever you say, Princess," he mutters sarcastically to me, and I jump as I feel his hand quickly swat at my butt behind me where Chet can't see. He narrows his eyes like he's about to say something to me, but he turns sharply on his heel and walks away instead, without another word to either of us.
"I'm, uh, I'm sorry about that." I shrug and try to smile at Chet's smirking face; "He gets-" He gets, what, possessive? Dominant? My body hotter and my pussy wetter than anything I've ever felt before? "He gets feisty sometimes." Feisty, right. My mind is instantly flooded with thoughts of just how "feisty" he got the other night when his hands were on my ass, bouncing me up and down his cock. I swallow hastily, trying to force the flush from my face.
Chet just chuckles in this affected, eye-rolling way as he sips the martini in his hand; "Oh, he's just looking out for you." He arches a brow at me, giving me what I'm sure he believes is his most charming smile; "Can't say I blame the guy; if I had my way, I'd be looking all over you too." The thought of Chet looking at me anywhere close to the way Hudson does makes me nauseous, but I smile at him anyways as if I totally get what he's saying.
"Say, you know speaking of which, I've been thinking a lot, Reagan." Fuck; I think I know exactly where this conversation is headed, and it's not one I really ever need to have with him.
"Chet, I-"
"No, now hang on now, Ray," He puts his arm around my shoulders, and if we weren't surrounded by people and press, I'd already be pushing him off me and telling him where to stick it. But I know I'm supposed to behave myself, and after the near miss disaster of being found with Hudson in my damn bedroom, I feel like playing by the rules might be a good thing.
"You know-" Chet looks around before he leans close, "Can we talk somewhere a bit more private?"
I don't even know what to say as he's suddenly leading me to the side of the large ballroom and down a darkened hallway away from the crowds and music.
"Chet where are we goin-"
"Ray, baby, I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry you had to find out about that; before I mean, about me and that staffer."
I stare at him incredulously; "Wait, that's your apology?" I almost want to laugh at how insanely cliche this guy is; "You're sorry that I found out? Not that you were fucking one of your interns like some sort of politician cliche out of a movie-script?"
Chet smiles and nods his head patronizingly at me; "Now, let's not be crude, Reagan. You know these sort of relationships sometimes just happen in politics."
I roll my eyes; "No, Chet, I don't know that." But I'm also done having this conversation, and I just shake my head; "You know what, fine; apology accepted." I turn to leave, when I feel his hand grab my arm, tightly.
"Oh I'm so glad, Reagan." He's grinning that smarmy smile at me again, and I'm suddenly on edge; "I think we're going to have a lot more luck the second time, I can feel it." And then before I know what's happening, he's yanking me towards him and trying to kiss me.
I sputter and push away from him; "Chet!" I can feel my pulse racing, roaring in my ears like an engine as the adrenaline spikes; "What the fuck do you think you're doing?"
He's still holding my arm, and he chuckles; "Oh, com'on babe, don't tell me you haven't missed a little of the ole' Chet magic." I open my mouth to say something but he just keeps going; "You remember, Reagan, just like the old times huh?" He's pressing me back against the wall behind me, and I'm feeling every inch of my skin crawl as my throat freezes up. He leans close, running his hand up the front of my dress and making me cringe in revulsion; "You look so tense, bab-"
In the blink of an eye, his arm is suddenly getting wrenched away from me and behind his back. There's a snapping sound, and he's screaming. Hudson - Hudson - snarls like fucking wild animal as he brings his fist crashing down across Chet's face, sending blood splattering from his nose as he cries out and drops to his knees on the ground. He's holding his face and staring up at the utterly ferocious looking Hudson, and he's screeching as Hudson's fist crashes into his face again.
And then I'm yelling - screaming even - and suddenly there's the sounds of running footsteps as security comes thundering around the corner. Hudson snarls as two of them grab his arms; "Not me, you fucking idiots," He spits out, nodding towards the sniveling Congressmen on the ground cradling his limp arm as the blood pours down his face. I can barely nod as they look at me for verification, feeling as though I'm moving in slow motion as Hudson shakes them free and jerks his head around to stare at me.