“But I always thought you disliked her,” Dad says. “Especially with why she dislikes you in the first place.”
“Yeah, that…” I rub at the back of my neck. “That wasn’t my finest moment. I just…panicked. After that it just seemed easier to let her hate me because I didn’t see myself as enough for her.”
“What are you talking about, Finn?” my mom asks.
I frown at her. “What are you talking about?”
“She never told you?”
“We had agreed it was because of how I spoke to her the first time we met.”
My parents look at one another and I wonder if finally, I’ll know the oh-so-secretive reason why my woman has steeled her heart against me.
ChapterThirty-One
FINN
“So, do we need to have an intervention, or are you going to survive?” Bash asks as he sips his beer.
I give a low chuckle as I stare down the neck of my own bottle. “No, I’m fine. No intervention needed.”
“Oh, really?” Sam asks with a knowing look. “I’m surprised you’re not crying yourself to sleep every night, considering.”
I glare at him across the booth we’ve settled down in at the Locke. “I’m fine.”
He smirks at me, his eyes never leaving mine as he takes a long sip. I roll my eyes and ignore him.
“So, did she give a reason?” Raze asks. I decided to invite him out with us since he lives in town. After our conversation at work, we’ve been making an effort to get to know one another more on a personal level. Just as I expected, he’s meshing in just fine.
I scramble for something to say. “Just that the time had reached its end.”
All the guys wince.
“Oof, that’s harsh.”
I shrug and take another sip.
“So, what now?” Bash asks. “Is this now a shared-custody situation? Do we get you on weekdays and Oakleigh on weekends?”
“You’re hilarious.” I rub away the anxiety in my chest, the possibility of my whole plan failing sneaking into my body like drops of poison in the bloodstream. “Everything will be fine.”
“Sounds more like you’re trying to convince yourself,” Sam deduces.
I am.
I think the separation anxiety is really kicking into gear. I want to know she’s okay; that she’s finding a sliver of happiness, even though Wren is currently on an Oakleigh hiatus.
Ever since my mom and dad apologized to me, I’ve felt a little more lost. It threw me off. I was never looking for an apology from them. To me, they still have nothing to apologize for, but something still shifted inside me. Afterward, the atmosphere was a little awkward, so I left without another word, there was nothing I could say. I simply walked out and sat in my bedroom for hours, my thoughts bouncing off the edges of my mind. Everything that I had spent years wanting; craving. All of it could have been possible, not just if I’d pulled my head out of my ass long enough to go after what I wanted, but also if we’d simply resolved a single piece of fuckingmiscommunication.
“What you thinking about?” Sam asks, watching me closely.
There’s no playing it off cool, not when he’s probably been watching a million and one emotions slide across my face.
“Oakleigh,” I say simply.
“What about her?”
“Just hoping she’s okay.”
