Looking for You (Oh Captain, My Captain 1)

“Text me later, so I’ll have your number.” Before I can react, he leans in and kisses my cheek. He pulls back, giving me a smile, and heads back to the bar.

Chapter Three

Hudson

I almost can’t believe it. A girl, a very beautiful girl, doesn’t know who I am. She seemed nervous, but her blush was cute. After she left and I realized that she only knows me as the Hudson from the bar, I had to go after her. I laugh to myself knowing that she was about to pepper spray me. It wouldn’t have been funny if she had, but still.

When I walk back into the bar with a smile on my face, Jim asks, “Why are you grinning like a fool?”

My answer is a simple shake of my head. Now, I have to wait and see if she’ll text me. Someone slaps me on the shoulder before sitting down in the next seat over.

“Hudson, my man, who would have thought I would find you here?” Gerald says as he sits next to me.

“Where else would he be? This is the best place in town,” Jim brags.

“Exactly,” I confirm. “Plus, we’re about to leave for a few days, so I had to get my bacon cheeseburger fix.”

“I have never in my life seen someone love cheeseburgers like you do.” Gerald shakes his head.

I shrug instead of replying. Cheeseburgers are to me what cookies and cakes are to people with a sweet tooth. If possible, when we go on our road trips, I always find a burger joint to try. So far, my favorite place is a little diner in Dallas. Anyway, we’ve got two away games this week and I probably need to head home to get some rest.

Standing, I slap Gerald hard on the shoulder and smile at him. “Stay out of trouble.”

He laughs. “We’ll see.”

The first thing I do when I get home is take a shower. I feel better afterwards and it’s about the time I call Whitney anyway. The phone rings four times before she ever answers it.

“I asked him,” she answers.

“Asked who what?”

Whit huffs. “

The guy I was studying with, Hudson! You told me to ask him out and I did.”

Oh, yeah. Right. “Well, good for you. I’m assuming you’ve got a date?”

“You know it.” She’s probably wearing a smug smile. She goes on to tell me more about him, but after about five minutes, I zone out.

“Whit! Do I look like one of your little friends? I don’t need to know all of this. He’s a nice guy, right?”

“Yes. Sorry. You weren’t saying anything, so I just kept going.”

I laugh. If someone doesn’t interrupt her, she could talk for days. “Well, I actually met a girl today at Jim’s who doesn’t know that I’m Hudson King, hockey player extraordinaire.”

Whitney bursts out laughing, as if what I said was that funny. It was worthy of a chuckle, but not so funny that she would laugh for almost a full minute. “You’re so full of yourself. Who is she?”

“Her name is Ellie and all I really know is that she doesn’t live in Portland. I don’t think she ever said where she was from.”

“Hope she doesn’t turn out to be a crazy person or something. Are you sure she wasn’t just pretending to not know who you are? Anyone can use Google and find out where you like to hang out, Hudson.”

I shake my head even though she can’t see me. “I don’t think so. She never acted like she recognized me. Whit, she almost pepper sprayed me! Would a fan do that to me? No.”

“Wait, what? What did you do?”

“Sort of chased her down the street?” I chuckle to make it sound like I’m not the crazy one. “She didn’t even want to take my number. She handed it back to me!”

Whitney starts laughing again. “Then I guess she really doesn’t know who you are then. Or maybe she doesn’t like you.” Her giggles are getting out of hand now.