She wasn’t talking about choosing between can’t or won’t. She was talking about choosing between Finn and Will. His heart twisted.
He nodded and stood. “Let me know how the scan goes.” He didn’t wait for her answer before leaving.
Cleo waited by the door, keys in hand. “Everything okay?”
He nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. Her sad eyes watched him leave. Back at the hockey house he sank onto the sofa, bottle of cold beer in hand and turned on the TV for background noise.
“Knock, knock.” Russell poked his head around the door.
“You know you’re supposed to knock before you come in, right? What if I was naked?”
“Obi, I’ve seen you naked more times than I’ve seen you with clothes on. And you’re in a communal space – that shit’s on you.” He dropped onto the couch next to Finn. “Day drinking? Man, why so blue, schmoo?”
Finn shook his head and took a drink. “What brings you to the common folk here at the hockey house, Stewie?”
“Ah. Classic deflection. Maybe I just wanted to hang with you.”
Finn clicked off the TV and turned to face Russ. “What gives?”
Russ shrugged and plucked Finn’s bottle from his hand to take a drink. “You having girl trouble?”
Finn took his drink back. “I don’t have a girl.”
Russ picked his feet up and planted his heels on the coffee table. “You sure about that?”
“What are you talking about?” Finn forced calm into his voice, but his pulse ticked up. Had he said something or done something in front of Russ that had given him away?
“At ease, soldier.” Russ held up a hand. “It’s nothing you’ve said or done.”
Finn’s mouth dried up and his stomach soured.
“He doesn’t know. Fuck, Finn, breathe. You look green.” Russ shook his head.
“Nothing happened.” Finn rubbed at the knot in his chest. Was that weird feeling what a heart attack felt like?
“I know. I think that’s the problem.”
Finn arched an eyebrow and chugged the last half of his beer. He needed way more alcohol if he was going to talk to Russell about anything to do with Molly Morrison. “Bre?”
“She put it together and dumbed it down for me. We met Molly one night a while back, she was drunk and upset so we offered to take her home. We got to the parking lot and you were there with some blonde. Molly made some kind of cryptic comment and I don’t speak “Woman” so it went over my head.”
Finn chuckled. Sometimes men were pretty fucking dumb.
“Sabrina explained to me that Molly must be upset over something big. Someone big.”
“Betchurass I’m big.” Finn puffed out his chest, but his bravado was 100% false. His stomach sloshed.
Russ patted Finn’s shoulder. “Everyone knows you’re a big boy, Obi. But not everyone knows you are in love with Molly Morrison.”
Every muscle in Finn’s hand twitched to slap itself over Russell’s mouth to shove it back in, in case someone heard. Sweat pricked down his neck.
“She loves you too. It’s clear as day. Well, it’s clear once a smart woman points it out.”
Finn didn’t answer. His heart took up all his energy racing in his chest like a stampede. She loved him? Like he loved her?
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Move to Mexico and change my name?”
