Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149510 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
My nod is shaky, but it’s a yes, nonetheless.
Finn climbs off the bed and reaches into a drawer on the side of the bed, pulling out a neatly folded black T-shirt and tossing it to me. I pull it to myself gratefully, a small smile curving the corner of my lips upward.
It smells clean, but it has a hint of him too. Like maybe he’s worn it enough that the wash cycle never quite gets rid of his scent.
The bathroom door clicks open, and Julia emerges, the bottoms of her bare legs the only thing left in the dwarf of Ace’s huge shirt. Her own clothes are in her arms, and she drops them at the foot of Ace’s bed before climbing under the covers.
Ace is about to go into the bathroom to change himself, when Finn jumps up and grabs him by the back of his shirt between his shoulder blades. He looks over his shoulder back at me. “We’ll go use the hall bathroom. Scottie, you can use ours.”
Julia giggles as Finn drags Ace out the door and then smiles at me as I climb off Finn’s bed on nervous legs. I close the bathroom door behind me and lock it, and then I pause to stare at myself in the mirror.
My lips are flushed, a slight lingering tinge of Finn’s blood collected at the edges. I run the faucet to clean myself up, brushing my teeth with my finger and using the toilet, and then change into Finn’s shirt, leaving only my underwear underneath.
My heart races, and my fingertips tingle with adrenaline.
At this rate, it’s going to be daylight by the time I’m able to fall asleep.
Carefully, I open the door to the bathroom and walk over to Finn’s bed, dropping my clothes at the foot of it just like Julia did. Ace is back from the bathroom and in bed with her, and I swear, the two of them look like they’re already passed out.
Finn isn’t back yet, so I climb quietly into his bed and pull the covers up to wait for him. The door creaks open gently, and he steps inside in a pair of lounge pants and a clean T-shirt. Unlike the one on me, it fits snugly across his muscles.
He smiles gently as he flips off the overhead light and tosses his clothes in his hamper at the head of the bed and then turns, his destination of the futon clear. Impulsively, I reach out and grab his wrist, stopping his momentum.
“You can sleep in the bed with me,” I whisper. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
I’m a liar. It’s a huge deal, but I want him to anyway.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
I nod. “Yes, it’s fine.”
He lifts the covers, and I scoot all the way toward the wall to give him some space as he climbs in. It’s a small bed—twin-size, at most—and Finn is a big guy.
Nerves and excitement and a million other things flit around inside my belly. I never imagined I’d be ending the night in bed with Finn. It’s like my body doesn’t know what to do with itself.
I roll to my side with my back to the wall, and Finn rolls to his, facing me. Just enough moonlight shines through their window that I can make out his face in its entirety. It’s beautiful, as always, but undoubtedly marred by the fight.
“That looks…bad.” I wince as I gently touch my index finger to the broken skin on Finn’s cheek, a spot that showcases one of many blows he took tonight. “Does it hurt?”
“Trust me, I’ve had worse,” he whispers back, his eyes gentle on mine.
“You’ve had worse?” I frown. “What does that mean?”
He considers me carefully. “You have a good relationship with your dad?”
“My dad is awesome. Super supportive.” Now, my mom, on the other hand, she’s not even worth talking about.
His smile is soft, but mostly sad. “I’m glad to hear that, Scottie.”
“What about you? What is—” I start to ask him about his family life, but when he reaches around my head and gently pulls the ponytail holder out of my hair, I lose my train of thought.
“There,” he whispers softly. “That had to hurt to lie on.”
With a tenderness I didn’t even know was possible for a guy who just beat the shit out of an ex-UFC fighter, Finn pulls my body closer to his, adjusting us on the mattress so that our heads rest on his pillow. His brown eyes search mine for a beat before he presses his lips to mine.
The kiss is soft and sweet and everything I wish my first kiss as a thirteen-year-old girl would’ve been. But when he moves his hands into the strands of my hair, the urge to press my body tight against his becomes undeniable.