Hudson groaned but he knew there was no point in denying it now. “Yes, okay. Fine. I spoke to the neighbor and acted like a person, and he talked to me a little bit about his whole…situation.”
“Situation,” Rain echoed with a laugh. “God, you sound like someone from the fuckin’ fifties.”
“His asshole was sealed shut. Is that better?” Hudson snapped. “He didn’t get into detail, but I looked it up online and I was thinking maybe we should start working on a prototype that has both penis and external prostate stimulation.”
Rain’s brows furrowed as his face fell into his thinking expression. “We sort of have something like that. It’s kind of…we’ve had complaints because it’s needlessly complicated. It was something Aspen was working on with that intern design team.”
Hudson frowned. He vaguely remembered Eli setting something up a year before, and he wasn’t quite sure what it said about him as a boss that he didn’t remember what the outcome was. “Alright? That was a while ago, though. Was there any progress?”
“I’m not sure. It wasn’t at the top of our priority list, so I think it went to market as-is. Let me talk to my brother and ask,” Rain said. “If it’s still fucked, I’ll get the design team back on it and maybe put a call out to a couple people who’d use it.”
Hudson breathed out a sigh of part frustration and part relief, and he nodded. “Great. And when you’ve got something, let me know? I think we should send him one since it would be the neighborly thing to do.”
“Yeah, sure. Sending your neighbor a sex toy? That’s totally normal,” Rain said.
Hudson’s lips thinned. “He made me fuckin’ brownies and cookies and shit to welcome me to the neighborhood.”
“And you respond with sex toys,” Rain said with a shit-eating grin. “Have I told you lately how much I goddamn love working for you?”
Hudson folded his arms. “Get out.”
With a salute, Rain hopped to his feet and started toward the door. “I’ll get back to you by the end of the week.”
Hudson said nothing, only because he wasn’t ready to let it show that he was more than just pleased—he was actually eager to do something that might help his neighbor.
Hudson was just getting ready to shove a bite of his massive sandwich into his face when Eli strolled into his office and flopped down on the chair, hooking one leg over the arm. Hudson grimaced and appreciated that even when he’d had the ability to sit like that, he didn’t.
“Stop judging the way I sit. It’s bi culture,” Eli complained.
Hudson rolled his eyes and finally took a bite of his sandwich, chewing and swallowing before addressing his friend. “What do you want?”
“Are you ever happy to see me? Genuine question,” Eli said.
Hudson scoffed and almost choked on a few crumbs of bread that hadn’t made it down yet. “Are you ever going to give me a reason to be?”
Eli sat up properly and leaned toward him. “Undying love? Loyalty? Years of friendship based off sarcasm and judgment?”
Hudson raised a brow.
Eli sighed and crossed his arms, sitting back. “I found a product tester for your newest toy idea that is absolutely not at all about your massive crush on Peyton.”
Hudson felt his cheeks heat up, even as denial rushed to the tip of his tongue. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Save it. Rain told everyone. Anyway, this new guy’s name is Hendrix, and he’s more than willing to test out a few ideas,” Eli went on, like Hudson hadn’t full-on tried to lie.
Hudson set his sandwich down and swiped a napkin over his fingers to clean up any stray mustard. “How do you know him?”
“Friend of a friend,” Eli said, waving Hudson off. “He’s a former marine.”
“And that qualifies him…how?”
Eli shrugged. “He was discharged after his injuries. I didn’t get the full extent apart from the fact that he’s a double amputee. But he mentioned that he can only get off with external prostate stimulation. I didn’t dig too much deeper than that.”
Which was fair, Hudson knew. He didn’t ask any of their product testers to disclose the nature of their needs or disabilities. All he wanted was genuine feedback. He folded his arms over his chest and only pretended to consider Eli’s offer because he already knew he’d trust anyone who Eli brought through the door.
“Don’t be a dick,” Eli said, giving him a pointed stare.
Hudson’s lip twitched. “Fine. Bring him in this week?”