Séb wasn’t wrong. Finn’s bare back stuck to the sheet.
“I think I’m also glad the light is off.”
Finn chuckled. “You wanna be me but you can’t be me. Thanks for coming to wake me up. Was I…? Uh. Did it last long?”
“About ten minutes. It wasn’t bad at first, but when you got worse, well… I had to come in.”
A new wave of heat scorched Finn’s skin. “Sorry, Séb.”
“It’s okay. Try to get some sleep, eh?”
Finn smirked. The French Canadian had picked up some Minnesotan intonation. It was the weirdest accent he’d ever heard.
“See you at early skate.” Sébastien left, pulling the door closed behind him with a soft click.
The green digits on Finn’s clock read 04:02. He’d never get back to sleep, and despite the bone-deep ache in his back and the heaviness weighing his muscles down, he sat up and rubbed his temples. Austin wouldn’t be awake yet to kick Finn’s ass in the gym which meant Finn’s options were either hit the ice early and take his frustrations out on a few slap shots or go for a run.
If experience had taught him anything, it was that no matter how fast or how far he ran, he could never outrun his past, so he got dressed, grabbed his kit bag, and hit the rink.
Chapter 3
Molly
“Alex? Alex! Can you check the TV please?” Mom’s voice carried through the house, despite Dad only being in the next room.
It was Wednesday night, three days after Finn had watched her make out with her date at the bar. A shiver rattled up her spine, hardening her nipples. If she hadn’t known better, she’d have said he was turned on by the sight, but she did know better. Unfortunately for her, there was no way Finn O’Brien felt anything other than annoying-little-sister vibes from her and over-protective-big-brother vibes for her. Shame.
Finn’s brother Liam’s birthday was coming up, Friday? Saturday? She’d have to check her calendar, and maybe drop by the hockey house with a pizza and some beers to distract him from the deep ache living in his chest. He didn’t like to make a big deal out of it, but, understandably, it knocked him on his ass every year.
“What the hell are you yelling about, woman?” Dad crossed the room and stepped up behind Mom at the sink. He slid his arms around her waist and dropped a kiss on her cheek. “I’m right here. There’s no need for all the hollering.”
Molly laughed. She’d rather drag her bare clit across broken glass before she caught feelings like those shared between her parents, but it warmed her cold, dead heart all the same.
Maybe if she kept repeating it to herself, some day she’d believe it.
She’d had exactly one serious boyfriend in her life, Justin Ashe, in high school. She should have known that a guy with two first names was going to be trouble, but she went along with it. At least until she’d walked into Chili’s with her family and found him on a date with one of her friends.
The pain she’d felt was so bone-deep, so visceral, that it brought her to her knees and in the moment, she’d vowed: never again.
Never again would she put herself in a position where someone had so much power over her that they could break her.
Never again would she allow herself to feel so deeply, expose so much of herself to someone, when the only likely outcome would be heartbreak.
Project Cold and Dead took a while. She’d cried over Justin for far longer than she’d cared to admit, and while she tried to harden her heart, it was only cold and dead until it came to the charming hockey player sitting across the breakfast bar from her.
Then she only wished it was cold and dead.
Mom turned to nuzzle against Dad’s beard. “All three of our kids are home at the same time, and we didn’t even have to threaten them. There has to be a hurricane… tornado… derecho, orsomethinggoing on. Maybe hell has frozen over.”
Dad’s deep chuckle must have tickled because Mom scrunched up her shoulder, and Dad backed away. “To what do we owe this rare pleasure, kids?”
“Rumor has it that Mrs. Mo was makin’ ribs tonight.” Finn grinned, but the mischievous sparkle from his eyes was missing. His shoulders were rigid, his pale skin somehow paler, and dark circles underlined his heavy, bloodshot eyes. “I was in the area.” He grabbed a chunk of cucumber from the top of a bowl of salad in front of him. “And ribs means my favorite watermelon salad.”
Molly wasn’t generally a fan of rabbit food, but she could change her ways if it meant she got to watch Finn wrap his lips around a chunk of cucumber again. “Same. You know I’d never pass up a free meal.”
Will sat at the dining table a few feet away. “Need any help, Mom?”
“Sure. You could move the salads from the breakfast bar to the dinner table before Finnegan ensures there’s none left for the rest of us.”
