He could almost see the cogs in her head spinning with each message that appeared on his screen. Flummoxed Molly was kinda cute, he enjoyed seeing her soft, vulnerable underbelly.
Finn:Stand down, Commander. It’s all good. An open house? Like for a house sale?
Molly:Yeah, I thought it’d be fun to pretend we’re buying a house. Pick one, pretend we’re rich, schmooze with the realtor – and get free food.
Finn:You wanna pretend buy a house with me?
Maybe someday she’d really want to buy a house with him.
Molly:Too dumb, isn’t it? I thought it’d be fun.
Finn:Get out of your beautifully busy head and send me the address and time. You knew you’d have me at free food.
***
Two hours later, showered, shaved, and dressed in another fly-as-fuck suit, Finn rounded his car to open the door for Molly.
“You know I can open doors myself, right?”
Finn grinned. “I know if you really had an issue with me opening the door, you’d have beaten me to it – and then beaten me with the door.”
“Hashtag facts. Mmm. You smell good.” She leaned toward him, closed her eyes, and inhaled.
“Thanks. It’s eau de finally being able to change my socks.”
She smacked his chest. “There’s no way they let you wear the same pair of unclean socks for the entire duration of the playoffs.”
When he didn’t answer, her jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t. That’s too disgusting, even for you.”
He shrugged. “Hockey players are incredibly superstitious beings, Molly. You know this. You’ve seen the movies, you’ve lived with one, you’ve watched them up close and personal.” He ran his fingers up her forearm as it hung by her side.
She folded her arms. “I’d have smelled it. Or noticed your skanky socks last night.”
“Maybe I changed after the game.”
“Maybe I’m going to ask the team if that’s fact or fiction.” Her eyes narrowed.
He leaned over and brushed his lips against her cheek. “I love how invested you are in my hygiene, MoMo.”
They were on the outskirts of town, suburbia, with little chance of being seen, so he slipped his warm palm against hers and clutched her hand as they walked up the path that split the front yard.
A for sale sign stood outside, with brightly colored balloons tied to it, and a “By appointment only” sign hanging below it.
While he’d gone with wearing dress pants and a dark, button-down shirt, Molly had gone with brown knee high boots, skinny dark wash jeans, and an oversized, plum cable knit sweater that hung off one shoulder to reveal the strap of a tank top underneath.
Her hair had been set in loose curls, her make-up looked like she was ready for a night on the town, and she had aviators propped on top of her head. She looked like a movie star.
She squeezed his hand. “You wanna talk about our back story? Or do you wanna come up with something on the fly?”
The front door swung open. “Oh my God. Finn O’Brien?”
His stomach dropped and Molly’s hand shot out of his grasp faster than he could blink.
“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiii. I’m Mandy. I’m the realtor for this property. I had no idea you’d be coming here today to take a look.” She put a hand next to her mouth to speak behind it and widened her eyes. “I’m a huge fan!” Her stage whisper skills needed work, and he didn’t miss Molly’s Olympic level eye roll next to him.
“Come in, come in. Let me show you around.”
“Actually Mandy. Would you mind if we took a look by ourselves?”
