The blood rushed from his head and he clamped his eyelids shut. He took in a deep breath, reveling in the safety of Hudson’s arms. A hard-on might have been an issue if he didn’t feel so wiped out. So not happening right now. Still, he found comfort in Hudson’s partial embrace. The urge to lay his head against the man’s chest was strong. Instead, Shaney took a step away from Hudson. He wrapped his arms around his own chest, partially because of the cold, and partially as a protective barrier. Hudson was just too much of a temptation—a fucking forbidden temptation.
“You two get into the truck. While I lock up—again.” Hudson didn’t wait for an answer. Shaney looked back over his shoulder to see Hudson’s truck running with the driver-side door open. How had he missed that? He looked at where Hudson stood on the steps, locking the door.
“Come on,” Todd said, taking hold of Shaney’s elbow. “You’re shaking. The monster truck will be warm.” Shaney couldn’t miss the gentleness of his tone. Todd opened the passenger door. He mumbled something about the massive truck and overcompensation for something, and then motioned to Shaney to climb in first, which would put Shaney right next to Hudson. Shaney narrowed his eyes at Todd. “Hey, he’s your boyfriend,” Todd said. “You sit next to him. Besides, he looks like he’s about to throttle someone.”
Todd motioned to Hudson, who stalked toward the truck, his body language screaming ‘pissed off’.
“You’re the one whose infallible gaydar pinged him as straight.” Shaney scrambled up into the truck, followed by Todd.
“Yeah, well, I may need to take that in for a tune-up.”
Shaney’s opened his mouth to ask what the hell Todd meant, when the truck rocked as Hudson climbing into his seat. He slammed the door so hard, it was a wonder the thing stayed on its hinges. Shaney inched closer to Todd until the self-proclaimed gaydar-impaired man pushed back a little.
Hudson reversed the truck, slammed the transmission into drive, and then to Shaney’s relief, reached down and cranked up the heater. Even Shaney’s damn toenails were cold. Shaney bit back the pain as the truck rocked back and forth over the ruts, jarring his bruised shoulder. Soon another type of agony replaced the pain in his shoulder as the bumps kept throwing Shaney against Hudson’s side. Each touch was a reminder of what Shaney couldn’t have.
No one spoke as Hudson navigated the muddy road, but Shaney couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
“I thought you couldn’t drive your truck in here.” Shaney glanced at Hudson. The light from the dash threw blue shadows across his face.
The steering wheel actually creaked as Hudson’s grip tightened and there went that ticking in his jaw again. Shaney heard a sigh from Todd. Shaney looked in time to see his friend’s patented eye roll.
“Well, you see, normally I wouldn’t be driving here, seeing as the road is so muddy. First of all, my truck might get stuck and I’d have to get it winched out, and, second, it tears up the road when it’s soggy and then I have to fix the damned thing. And lastly, it gets mud and shit up on the undercarriage and sides of my truck,” he snarled as he ticked off his list.
“So why did you drive your truck in here?”
Todd gave Shaney a covert jab to the ribs, which would have been a strong enough warning for most. But couple that with Hudson’s darkened eyes and growing scowl, and message received.
Shit, I need to learn to shut up.
“I had a feeling two idiots were going to be out here causing trouble. Plus, I don’t walk around in thunder and lightning storms.”
Shaney almost asked him who the two idiots were. Thank God, he caught that one before the words had a chance to spill out. Instead, he asked, “Why did you think we were causing trouble?”
By now, Todd had rested his forehead against the window and shook his head.
Hudson actually closed his eyes for a moment, possibly summoning the strength not to pound Shaney. Shaney tended to evoke that response in many people.
“Mr. Anderson mentioned you could be trouble.”
Shane’s head lowered in defeat, and he wished for a dark hole to crawl into for the rest of his life. Like most everyone else, Hudson thought he was a pain in the ass. Shaney suddenly realized that it mattered way too much what Hudson thought of him.
“Hey, Shaney’s not trouble,” Todd growled, stabbing his finger in Hudson’s direction. “He may get a little too curious, but no one’s ever been hurt by it…Well, except maybe for Shaney, but he doesn’t do any of it to hurt anyone or to cause trouble. He’s a great guy, and if you’re too stupid to see that, it’s your loss, buddy. But don’t go spouting off about shit you’ve heard from other people as if it’s true.”