“Because I…” Sweat beaded at her hairline.
“Say it, Molly.”
Why was this woman her best friend again? Could she file for friend-divorce? Sighing, Molly covered her face with both hands.
“Say. It.”
“It felt like I was going to cheat on him.”
“On who?”
“Finn.”
“Why?”
Her heart flickered and she met Cleo’s dark and intense stare. “Because.”
Cleo didn’t speak, she simply raised her eyebrows.
“Because I have feels for him. Happy now?” Molly flopped back on Cleo’s bed.
“What kind of feelings?”
Molly was going to hurl in less than ten seconds if she couldn’t find a way out of the conversation. “The four letter kind. I have four letter feelings for Finnegan Aiden O’Brien.”
“This is like pulling teeth. Be specific.”
“Ugh.” She threw her arm over her eyes. “Why?”
“Because you need to admit it to yourself if nothing else.”
“Maybe I admitted it to myself and I just don’t want to admit it to you.”
“Stop stalling.”
“I love him, okay?” Chest in knots, she swallowed. “I’ve loved him for almost as long as I’ve known him.” Her body burned, her mind raced, and her heart had taken off out of her body and galloped into the next state. She groaned. “I don’t do love, or commitment.”
“Everyone loves. And just because one asshole treated you like shit doesn’t mean they all will. So that asshole cheated on you in high school, is that really a good reason to keep everyone at arm’s length for the rest of your life?”
Her heart still bore the scars of that summer. Mom had sent the boys after Molly while she ordered takeout instead of sitting in like they’d planned. The guy she’d been dating, Justin Ashe, was one of Finn and Will’s teammates, which had just made everything worse.
“If Finn ever hurt me, Will would kill him, Cleo. You didn’t see Justin after Will got done with him. His face was so swollen… so messed up with multicolored bruises. If he ever did that to Finn…”
“I think this every time we talk about it, but I honestly can’t imagine your brother – that Will beat someone to a bloodied pulp. Not even for you. He’s just so… placid.”
“Which is why I have to make sure he never Hulks out on Finn. If things went badly between us, and he got hurt because of me… I’d never forgive myself.”
“Except you’ve been friends for years. Some of the best relationships out there grow from friendship. Finn has had your back forever. You just need to let him.”
“I don’t know that I can.”
Cleo leaned over on the bed and flicked Molly’s forehead. “Stop being a stubborn wench and try.”
Molly stood with another groan.
“Do you still want batteries?”
“No. It’s fine. You killed my horn with all that real talk. I’m going to eat my feelings instead.” She pulled the door closed behind her as she left the room before limping to the kitchen. She pulled out a pint of ice cream and attacked it with the ferociousness of a pregnant woman in her second trimester.
