Annika spluttered for a good ten seconds before finding her voice. “Incorrigible,” she muttered loud enough for him to hear, as she turned back around and began marching to the elevators again.

He laughed. “Admit it. It bothers you.”

Clutching her bag tighter, Annika picked up the pace and refused to respond, not wanting Hudson to know how right he was. “Hey!” she said to June, as soon as she rounded the corner to the elevators. “We’re riding together, right? You and me?”

June smiled at her. “Actually, Ziggy already said he’d take me and Blaire.” She leaned forward and whispered in Annika’s ear, “But I was sure you wouldn’t mind riding with Hudson.”

What? What? What had she ever said to make June think she wouldn’t mind riding with Hudson Craft?

“Yeah,” Ziggy said, before Annika could set her best friend right. “My car can only fit four, so would you and Hudson mind riding together?”

“Of course not!” Hudson replied heartily, from behind Annika. How had he caught up with her so fast?

She turned to him, trying not to glare. “I can drive myself, thanks.”

“Annika.” Hudson sounded shocked, though his eyes were twinkling. “Think of the environment.”

She glanced at June, who shrugged, as if to say, He does have a point. “I have a hybrid,” she said, eyeing him haughtily. “The environment will be fine.”

The tech forum was being held at the Manhattan Beach Library, a giant glass structure with views of the ocean from its top floor. The wide-open space had been converted for the event, with a small stage set up in the front of the room, complete with a podium and projector. The rest of the space was filled with about two dozen chairs, presumably for the high school entrepreneurs, who were yet to arrive.

Annika, June, Hudson, and his team fanned out across the space, the Break Up team talking among themselves about some award they were getting from Tech Now and how they should find a way to slip that into conversation with Rita Davenport, the CEO of Early to Tech, because it would definitely impress Lionel Wakefield. Occasionally, Hudson would catch her eye over Ziggy’s or Blaire’s heads, but she forced herself to look away immediately every time. She would not get sucked into the Hudson vortex.