"Love is waiting there within your own abundant being. You just have to overcome the fear of it, unshackle it, and trust where it will take you."
–– Unknown

H U D S O N

Matt Dennis is a clown, a glorified freak show. Not only is he a comedian on his show, he's also a comedian in reality. He has been gushing over us ever since we arrived, and he has also had us sign his glorified wall of autographs. By us, I mean all five of us, Myself, Alex, Nick, Terence and Aaron, who ran a bit late. And let's not forget the three-piece suits and over a thousand dollar dress shoes. Coach Mike stressed the importance of our representation of the NHL and the Kraken Team and made sure to tell Alex to avoid punching anyone who asked about his wife, or why she doesn't come to the public eye. Well, it's not just the public eye, it's the box, or even a single hang out with us as a family.

My Mom was excited about my appearance here and promise to sit in front row, cheering for me, as always. While she would be accompanied by Jodie, the rest of the women will watch from home, as Aaron and Liz protect their son from the public eye and Nick hides his pregnant fiancee from the scrutiny of fans. Aaron has frowned at any smile from every woman he has passed since we arrived her. Now while Terence and I may appreciate the attention, Aaron despises it, same with Nick. Alex on the other hand is good at giving cold looks, so as to scare the majority of the female population away from him, but the female species is a complicated one, no matter how much cold looks and distant responses, they still flock around him.

I on the other hand, I'm making conversation with two brunettes and a redhead. Yeah, I don't know their names. Redhead on the other hand has been trying to get me to the bathroom, so I've been casually declining while making weird conversation, trying.

And sneaking looks at Kim across the room.

She got here thirty minutes late and she's been talking to two women, one ebony and the other a redhead. One I remember hooking up with.

Sad but true.

"We are live in thirty!" Matt Dennis yells and excited sounds are heard across the room.

"Seating arrangement is Kim, Ace, West, Clayton, Tiles and Stones, the audience is super pumped for this and we are live on E!"

I sneak another look at Kim who walks towards Aaron.

"Alright girls,"

"Come on, you have thirty more minutes——"

"I gotta go,"

The only thing going on in my mind is to figure out how to be friends with Kim, that way, we'll ease all the tension that sparks whenever we're a few inches away from eachother. And that's what I plan on doing as I walk towards my team captain and ex.

"You look gorgeous, Kim,"
She looks stunned for a second, but then she wipes off her shock and greets me with a nod and a bright smile.

"Thank you," she smiles. "Aaron was just showing me how big my nephew looks,"

"He's nine months and he's already a chick magnet," Aaron chuckles and I join him. "What happens when he's seventeen?"

"You excited for tonight?" Kim's redhead approaches us, directing her question to me.

"Hudson, Aaron this is Jenna, my manager," Kim introduces her and Aaron nods.

"Ace and I know eachother, right Ace?" Jenna turns to me and I nod uncomfortably.

"Yeah, yeah, a charity auction in Prague," I hear myself say. I actually remembered.

"It was an unforgettable night, wasn't it?" Jenna smiles up at me, rubbing a hand on my stiff shoulder.

"Yeah, it was, everything was sold out at the end of the night," I look to Aaron for assistance but he hides his wicked chuckle in his palm. I look at him and little bit of shock and wonder masks her face and she struggles to understand.

Who I'm I kidding? Of course she fucking understands. I'm ruining my chance at being friends with her already.

My phone buzzes with a text, giving me the perfect excuse to walk away from my company. I pull out my phone to see a text that makes me smile.

Mom: I'm here!!! Can't wait to see how you look!!

And she never stops being my biggest fan ever.

"We're live in five!"

☽︎ ☽︎ ☽︎ ☽︎ ☽︎ ☽︎ 〇 ☾︎ ☾︎ ☾︎ ☾︎ ☾︎ ☾︎

The show went well, for the most part. The people decided it should be a movie. Matt Dennis spotted my Mom in the crowd, and I got to her how proud she is of me, in spite of my bedroom habits.

I sat next to Kim, and that was somewhere between good and bad. Our legs kept brushing against each other. On the bright side, I got to see her smile from a close range, I got to see her slay at what she does, I got to hear her laugh on a close level, I got to count the seven tiny freckles on her nose, I got to smile at her and I got to watch her smile back. And while I thought no one noticed this, I caught Alex gazing at me from his seat on the huge couch.

Some fans said Kim and I had some much chemistry, others said they didn't like my guts, some said they love Kim and they couldn't wait to see her working with me, some said they couldn't wait to see her as a romance lead.

And that's when it all hit me. I almost had a heart attack right there, right in front of all those people. My co star was going to be Kim, and I was just finding out, not from my agent, but from Matt freaking Dennis, who was given a go ahead to tell the world about my new predicament.

Kimberly Summers.

My college ex-girlfriend.

My costar in a steamy romance movie.

What the fuck have I gotten into?

Yes, I'm still in love with her, but I was hoping that being friends with her was going to help me deal with my feelings. But hell, I'm going to be kissing and touching her, I'm going to hang out with her on a daily/weekly basis, we're going to go on trips together and shoot scenes. This is fucking catastrophic. But for this to work, we have to be friends, because there's no way she's in love with me.

News has it that her and Tony have a mutual break up. A text from Jason says otherwise, and while I had nothing to do with it, I'm happy she's no longer dating the son of a bitch.  Not because I have a chance at her, but because he doesn't deserve her, no one does, not even me.

I get to choose who I wanna be with.

And I choose you.

You can't possibly mean that, Kimmie, I'm nothing, I have nothing.

There was a time when all my dreams came true; a time when I woke up to the sound of her steady heartbeat and soft breathing, the feeling of one of her legs thrown over my torso, a time when I could take pictures of her sleeping gorgeousness and send them to her later in the day. But I blew everything up, because I had to, because things got super fucked up and I did what anyone one in my helpless situation would have done.

That explains why I let the guys go home without me, why I'm standing a few meters from her, watching her sign autographs and take selfies from the shadows of the backstage.

Jenna, the redhead approaches me and I make an attempt to move in the next 360° direction. But she beats me to it.

"Look, Jenna, we had fun, crazy fun, you screamed so much that did crazy shit to my ego, alright, but I really don't want a repeat, okay?"

"Wow, you sure that's why you don't want a repeat, I can be louder this time," she winks at the same time I feel Kim's eyes on me. I don't know how, I just do. And when I look at her, her eyes are on Jenna and I.

"Your boss needs you," I say to Jenna who frowns as I take a step backwards, before she finally gets the hint.

I watch as she walks towards Kim, who says a few things to her. In a matter of minutes, Jenna is gone, leaving Kim, me and a few other staff members.

"You were a natural tonight," I say as I walk towards her.

"Thanks, you too, for a show you almost didn't attend, I'd say you nailed it," she replies with a smile as we walk down the stairs together, she, a little faster than me.

"Kim," I rush to stand in front of her, her blazing blue eyes stare at me in shock. "um.....are you mad at me, are we okay? I know I crossed a huge line the last time we were alo——"

"I'm not mad at you, I just need to go home," she breathes, walking past me.

"Kim if we're going to do this, we need to get along," I say and she stops in her steps.

"And we are getting along, Lee," she lets out a laugh and my heart warms at the fact that she just called me Lee.

"Prove that you don't hate me, that you tolerate me enough to hang around me just for a few minutes," I gulp, my heart racing a billion miles.

"What are you talking about?"

"Let me drive you home, Kimmie."

A U T H O R ' S     N O T E

are you excited for the next chapter?

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