HUDSON SLIPPED HIS cell back into his pocket and stared aimlessly at the vacated stage.
He hated confrontation and would do anything to avoid it. Even as a kid he’d hide under his bed when he heard his father stumble in, bumping into walls and swearing vociferously, to avoid the inevitable skirmish that would take place.
At school, he’d used words rather than fists to work off his frustrations, and had taught Tanner to do the same.
Working odd jobs in Kings Cross as a teen had taught him the best life lesson to avoid confrontation: know how to read people. He’d been honest, savvy and dedicated to getting a job done, three qualities most people admired.
He saw those qualities in Mak and his admiration for her knew no bounds.
Now he had to be the one to tear her dream down.
‘Fuck,’ he muttered, dragging his hand through his hair.
Reg Grober had called, doing him the courtesy of letting him know first that the producer in New York had already filled the dance slot. Which meant Mak would be getting a call from Reg’s casting agency soon.
He’d asked Reg to give him half an hour before the agency called, as he wanted to be the one to tell her. He felt bad enough about how he’d been treating her the last few days, it seemed only right.
Because establishing emotional distance between them before their impending break-up was a hell of a lot easier in theory than in practice. It had killed him, watching her walk out of rehearsal each evening, knowing he’d chosen to let her go rather than take her home to his bed and ravish her.
But he’d had to do it, had to put himself through the torture of weaning himself off her rather than going cold turkey when she left.
Now, he felt stupid. Her audition had fallen through, which meant she wouldn’t be jetting off to New York soon. She’d be disappointed but he couldn’t help but feel relieved.
Mak would be sticking around. And that meant...what?
They could continue deepening their relationship, only for her to eventually leave anyway?
They could maintain the status quo, both ignoring the obvious—that they were in way deeper than they thought?
They could pretend that being emotionally invested in a relationship that had no future wasn’t the dumbest thing either of them had ever done?
Before he could mentally rehearse a way of letting her down gently, Mak stormed into the room and slammed the door shut behind her.
‘Why did you do it?’ She stalked towards him, her hands balled into fists and resting on her hips. ‘Do you have any idea how this undermines me?’
Confused, Hudson stared at five-ten of angry woman advancing on him. Had the agency already rung her and she thought he’d had something to do with the audition being cancelled? If so, it revealed what she really thought of him and it wasn’t good.
‘Look, I had nothing to do with—’
‘Don’t make this worse by lying,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘Do you think I’m an idiot? How else would they have found out?’
Okay, so this wasn’t about the audition. It didn’t make him feel any better considering she now stood close enough to jab him in the chest, fury radiating off her, making the fine hairs at her temples stand out as if she’d stuck her finger in a power socket.
‘You knew when we started up that I didn’t want people to know about us. You knew!’ Her chest heaved as she sucked in breaths to calm her anger. He shouldn’t have been turned on, but he was. It made him feel even worse. ‘Now they’re saying exactly what I thought they’d say if they found out—that the only way I got the lead role was by sleeping with the boss.’
‘Mak—’
‘Why can’t guys ever keep their big mouths shut?’
He’d been about to placate her but that jibe, lumping him with the rest of the guys she’d been with, stung.
‘I didn’t say a word to anyone about us,’ he said, sounding lethally calm when in fact he wanted to yell at her for not trusting him enough. ‘I wouldn’t do that to you and it’d be nice if you thought I was a good guy who wouldn’t betray you like that.’
Some of her anger deflated as her shoulders sagged. ‘It mightn’t have been intentional. You might’ve been swapping locker-room talk with Tanner and maybe someone overheard—’
‘I didn’t do this, Mak.’
Shit, if she was pissed at him about this, wait until he delivered the really bad news.
He could couch it in fancy terms, try to let her down gently, but he was seriously annoyed she thought he was a prick who’d talk about their relationship to others when she’d specifically asked him not to.
He’d give it to her straight.
‘While you’re hell-bent on blaming me for stuff I didn’t do, I’ve got more bad news.’
Her lips compressed into a thin, unimpressed line as she glared at him in condemnation. Her frosty silence spoke volumes. Sadly, it reminded him of the last time they’d had a major blowout five years earlier, when he’d hurled vile accusations at her and she’d done nothing but stand there and take it.
He’d wanted her to defend herself, to tell him he was wrong in assuming she’d chosen a life that could only end in pain. But she’d clammed up, staring at him with such hatred he’d had no option but to leave.
He hoped this time it wouldn’t mean the end of them too.
‘That call I just took? Reg Grober doing me the courtesy of letting me know that the audition for the Broadway show is off. The producer in New York found someone.’
Mak’s jaw dropped and she stared at him in disbelief. ‘What the hell?’
‘It’s showbiz. It happens.’ He shrugged, knowing he’d made a major mistake when she blanched and took a step back.
‘It happens?’ she mimicked, her eyes spitting so much fire he should’ve been fried on the spot. ‘Could you be any more dismissive of my dream?’
‘I feel bad for you but you’d be used to disappointment in the industry—’
‘Shut the fuck up!’ Disgust twisted her features as she strode towards the door, leaving him gobsmacked.
He’d expected disappointment.
He hadn’t expected this level of rage.
Like she blamed him somehow.
When she stopped at the door and placed her palms against it, bracing, with her head hanging, he wanted to go to her.
He didn’t.
Because he’d seen this kind of irrational anger before, when the seething person needed a scapegoat. He’d done it often enough with his dad in the past to know he wouldn’t put up with it again, even from the woman he loved.
So he stood there. Watching. Waiting. Knowing without a shadow of a doubt that when she turned around and spoke, they’d be over.