Chapter 26
Molly
We’re done.Molly’s heart had torn in two at her brother’s pained declaration. He’d picked up his keys and left without another word. Austin stood next to Finn, speaking quietly in his ear, but Finn’s face was flushed, his jaw hard set, and unshed tears glistened in his eyes when the light caught him.
Cleo said goodbye to Linc and Russ, who were probably leaving to find Will. Sabrina was nowhere to be seen, and Mom and Meabh made coffee, while Dad stood quietly next to the back door.
Molly’s entire body shook. Cleo rubbed Molly’s biceps, standing in front of her, brows drawn together in a deep frown. “It’s going to be okay.”
Molly tried to smile, but her lips didn’t offer up much more than a grimace.
“It will, you’ll see.”
“This isn’t a Disney movie, ChoCho.” She swallowed, but the bad taste didn’t shift. “Will’s stubborn. He clearly feels betrayed… Ironically we were going to tell him when you all went home. I just had to tempt fate, didn’t I? Couldn’t keep it in my pants.” A bitter laugh trickled from her mouth.
Neither of the mothers looked her way, were they angry with her, too? Dad’s soft smile only made Molly feel worse. “I’m so sorry, Daddy.” Though she whispered, the noise still carried. “I messed it all up.”
He walked to her and folded her into his arms. “That’s enough, Bug. Cleo’s right, it’ll all be okay in the end.”
Molly shook her head. “I ruined Finn and Will’s friendship. I messed up my interview and didn’t get an internship. I don’t even know what I want to do with my life.” With each thing she listed, she buried her head deeper into her dad’s shoulder.
“Will will come around.” He rubbed her back. “And you do know what you want to do with your life, you always have. It’s just tempting to give up because it’s not going your way right now. But nothing worth doing is ever easy, Molly.”
Molly sniffed, a fresh wave of hot tears coursing down her cheeks. “Will thinks I’m a whore, Daddy. He thinks I’m stealing his best friend. He thinks I’m going to hurt Finn. He thinks… He…” Her shoulders shook.
“Shhhh. Take a breath. Will doesn’t know what he thinks right now. And even if he did, what he thinks doesn’t matter. You and Finn are together, and Will just has to accept it. He saw what he saw and he needs to process. I think when he takes a minute to think about things, he’ll find that he feels guilty that he’s the reason you’ve been apart from Finn all this time.”
“I feel like I’m to blame.” Mom stepped forward, joining the conversation, cradling a cup of hot coffee. She offered it to Molly. “I told him… I…” She shook her head. “I asked him to take care of you. To make sure no other shitty hockey players broke your heart like that other jerk in high school.”
She rubbed Molly’s hair like she often did when Molly was little. “You were so broken, so sad, and it spurred you to become this…” She stroked Molly’s cheek. “Beautiful, strong, gladiator of a woman and I was afraid some other jock would dim your shine. I didn’t mean for him to put a blanket ban on his teammates. Or…”
She kissed Molly’s forehead. “Get in the way of true love.”
Molly’s cheeks heated and a snort lodged in the back of her throat, making her cough. Placing her mug on the counter, she covered her mouth as she spluttered. She didn’t do fairy tales or happy ever after. And if she’d ever needed a reminder of why she’d just gotten it.
Love shouldn’t be so difficult. Would it have been easier if she’d come right out and said it way back in the beginning? Perhaps. But there were no guarantees it would have gone any better. Looking backwards didn’t do anyone any favors. She had to figure out a way forward.
“I appreciate you looking out for me, Mom. But I think we’re all at fault in some way. Me for not being braver and telling Finn sooner. Will for being so damn overbearing when he had no real need to be. Finn for not telling me he was the one to hand out the beat-down to my piece of shit ex… There’s enough blame to go around.”
A throat clearing pulled her eyes back to Finn and Austin. She wanted to reach out and yank Finn’s anguish from his body and throw it in the garbage disposal. He looked inches shorter and years older. Head lowered, face pale, eyes sad. Her vibrant Finn, nowhere to be seen. Her heart pinched.
“I’m going to take him for a walk.” Austin’s damn near irritating calmness was oddly contagious. Like if she took a deep enough inhale, his soothing tone could curl itself around her insides, bringing some kind of peace.
She almost grabbed him by the shoulders and breathed him in like a goddamn Dementor from Harry Potter. But instead, she simply nodded.
“Finn?” Suddenly she didn’t care that her parents could see, that his mom could see, that Will had left in a blaze of ‘fuck you,’ she just wanted to make sure he was okay.
His red-rimmed eyes met hers. Did he blame her? Or worse, did he blame himself?
Without hesitation he closed the space between them, side-stepping Cleo and Dad, and pulling Molly to his chest. “I’m so sorry, Doll. I’ll fix this. Whatever it takes.” His mumbles into her hair made her tighten her arms around his body as he squeezed her against him.
“Not whatever it takes.” She pulled back enough to look into his eyes. “I’m not prepared to lose you.”
He smiled but the sparkle in his eyes was gone. “You sure? I figured you’d feel like being with me is too much trouble.” He brushed his lips against her forehead like their parents weren’t standing watching the entire exchange.
“I’ll admit, I’m freaking out.”
He nodded, his head against hers.
