“I don’t need the fire.” I grinned. “At least, not now. Not while I’m still in the hospital. Unless they say conjugal visits are okay.”
“Hudson!” she gasped, and I laughed.
“Kiss me,” I demanded, and she leaned down and gently pressed her lips against mine. “Hmm,” I muttered, grabbing her head and running my fingers through her hair as I kissed her harder.
I slipped my tongue into her mouth and we kissed each other eagerly. I closed my eyes and breathed in her smell. This was what I had missed when I’d thought I was dead. The realness of this moment didn’t compare to my memories. The smell of her was so strong and vibrant, the taste of her so sweet, the feel of her so warm. There was nothing that could ever compare to the real thing.
“Hudson.” She pulled away, slightly breathless. “That’s enough.”
“I can never have enough of you, Riley.”
“Well, we’ll have to save the rest for the moment you leave the hospital.”
“Yeah, I suppose so.” I frowned. “You’re so mean to me.”
“Has Channing been to see you?” She changed the subject. “It’s been a week since you woke up, and I was just wondering.”
“No, he hasn’t.” I shook my head. “Nick has though. Channing’s out of the club.”
“What?” Her eyes widened. “So what does that mean? He’s not going to the championship?”
“Nope.”
“Oh wow. So Justin’s going.” She looked at me thoughtfully. “He was next up, right?”
“He was next, but he’s not going.”
“He’s not?” She looked in me in confusion. “Then who’s going?”
I took a deep breath and grabbed ahold of her hand. “I have something to tell you.”
“What?” Her face went pale. “Oh my God, no, Hudson. You can’t do this. You nearly died. You have to stop letting your guilt take over your life. It’s not your fault that Clara died. Your dying isn’t going to solve anything.”
“Riley, listen to me. Please.” I squeezed her hands, my heart breaking at her obvious pain.
“Why? So you can tell me that you’re going back for round two? Do you think I want to go through this again? I can’t go through this again, Hudson. I don’t like it. It’s not right.”
“Riley, I wanted to talk to you about the night that Clara died.” I took a deep breath. “Please listen to me.”
“What?” She glared at me. “I’m getting so fed up of going over that night. I know that makes me a horrible person, but will we ever get to move past that night?”
“I saw you delete the texts.” I bit my lip, and her eyes flew to mine in shock. “I’m not the saint you thought I was, Riley. I know Clara wanted my help. I saw you delete them. I didn’t want to leave you that night. In fact, I was happy you were jealous. I thought it proved to me that you really did care for me like I cared for you.”
“I didn’t know.” She kissed my forehead. “That’s why you feel guilty? That’s why you thought I’d hate you?”
I nodded, and tears filled my eyes. “We both made mistakes that night. I knew she had an alcohol problem and I gave her more alcohol before we left. I just wanted us to be together.”
“Oh, Hudson.” She stroked my cheek. “I’m sorry. I understand why you feel a responsibility to her mom.”
“About that.” I took another deep breath. “About the fight.”
“I don’t know if I can go through this again.” Her eyes were bleak, and my heart broke at the scared look in her eyes. “What if they kill you this time?”
“I signed up for the fight because I felt guilty about that night, but there’s something else you need to know.” I took a deep breath and was about to continue when the door opened.
“Can I come in?” Luke walked into the room and I nodded, still unsure as to how I felt about our friendship.
“Luke, you need to talk some sense into Hudson. He said he’s going to continue with the fight.” Riley’s voice rose. “How is he going to continue with a fight? He has no shot at winning.” Her voice cracked, and I saw Luke give me a questioning look. I shook my head as he sighed.
“I’d hoped Hudson would have told you already.” He sat down and stared at Riley.
She looked at him in confusion. “Told me what?”
“I’m the one going to the championships, Riley.”
“What?” Her jaw dropped and she looked at me in shock. “What are you talking about?”
“I spoke to Nick and he’s sending me.” His voice sounded sad. “I never should have convinced Hudson to sign up. I should have been man enough in the beginning. I should have signed up myself.”
“No, Luke.” She walked over to him. “You don’t need to do this either.”
“Yes.” He jumped up. “Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“I need to win the million dollars. I need to give some it to Clara’s mom.” He looked at me and gave me another apologetic smile. “I’m the reason she’s dead, Riley.” Tears started rolling from his eyes as he spoke. “She wasn’t driving home from the bar when she crashed. She was driving to meet me.”
“But that doesn’t make sense. Her text message said she needed a ride home from the bar.” Riley looked confused. “She needed Hudson to take her home.”
“I think she was testing him to see if he would leave you.” Luke’s voice was distraught. “I asked her to leave Hudson. I asked her to date me. She knew he had feelings for you, but she wanted to see if he was really going to choose you over her. And when he never responded to her texts, she realized it was over. She called me and asked me to come to the house, but I didn’t want you guys to know I was in town. I didn’t want Hudson to suspect I was chatting up his girlfriend. So I told her to come and meet me.” His voice cracked as he started crying. “Only she never made it.”
“Oh, Luke.” Riley’s voice was filled with shock, and I could see in her eyes that she was as taken aback as I had been when I heard the news a few days prior. I watched as she took him in her arms and hugged him, and my heart filled with renewed love for her. The fact that her first thought was to comfort him at this time meant the world to me. “Luke, this isn’t your fault.”