I sigh and give them a speedy rundown of what happened—the fake-dating, the real feelings and everything in between.
“Holy shit,” Antoine breathes out as he leans against his locker. “All of that has happened in the past month and we’ve heardnothingabout it?”
“Work has been busy!”
“Excuses, excuses, Oakleigh. There were plenty of chances.”
“Oh, shut up.” I check my phone again.
“Do you have a plan?” Nicole asks.
“Nope, and right now I’m way too tired to think about one. I need to sleep and then I’ll sort it out.”
Nicole looks nervous. “You going to be okay?”
I flash her a fleeting smile and give her a hug. “I’ll be fine. Thank you so much for checking.”
She smiles and I say bye to both of them; I’m ready to get some sleep and let them discuss whatever it is that they need to talk about.
I feel bad that I took the time to explain things to them, knowing that Bash is most likely waiting for me outside. I’ve told him countless times that it’s not necessary for him to pick me up, but apparently when Finn transferred his self-appointed job, he also transferred his stubbornness.
I walk out the doors and my breath leaves me when, instead of a big red pick-up truck, I find a sleek, white Audi sedan. Finn’s white sedan.
“So, I heard some interesting news the other week.”
My body is at war with itself the moment it hears Finn’s deep voice behind me. Part of me relaxes at the sound of his voice, another part tenses up. One part wants to run, the other silently hopes that he’ll come and wrap his arms around my waist. In the end, all I can do is stay stock-still, waiting to see what Finn’s next move is. He does walk up behind me like I hope, but his arms stay with him, making me feel cold without even touching me. I can feel his chest brush against my back as he breathes. My body vibrates with the knowledge that he’s close to me and my chest aches with how much I’ve been missing him.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, breathless, my voice coming out as barely a whisper.
I feel him lean down, his mouth leaving only a fraction of space between his lips and my neck. I feel his breath fan the shell of my ear and I shiver so hard that he chuckles. Asshole.
“Would you like to know what I heard?” he asks, ignoring me completely.
“Yes,” I answer immediately, any ounce of willpower or stubbornness eradicated by my need to keep hearing his voice.
He places a kiss at my temple and the warmth of his lips travels down the side of my face.
“Then get in the car, Cherry.”
He walks around me to get to the car, opening the passenger-side door and waiting patiently.
A deep corner of my brain is telling me not to go, to simply get in my own car and drive home and pretend that this never happened. But curiosity has not just killed this cat, it’s taken every single one of its nine lives, and so I don’t have a choice but to follow and sit quietly in the passenger seat until we reach my house.
Arriving home, I move like I’m on autopilot, my eyes stuck wide with surprise and my hand shaking from the anticipation. We walk into the dark, and if it weren’t for Finn turning on the lights, it really would have stayed that way. At least then Finn wouldn’t have seen the tomato I’ve become.
Ollie walks over to Finn, bypassing me entirely. He nudges Finn’s leg with his head, purring contentedly. Finn bends down to scratch behind my black cat’s ear.
“Hey, boy. I missed you, too.” Finn smiles down at Ollie like he’s looking down at his own son.
I can’t take anymore of this.
“What’s all this about, Finn?” I ask loudly, the words bursting from me.
It’s beginning to annoy me how calm he looks. He’s completely unfazed by this meeting, his breathing deep and even, his face undisturbed by a frown or downward tilt of his lips.
“Finn,” I press, impatience making me need to move around. I busy myself with fixing the throw on the couch, with filling a glass with water and then leaving it beside the sink.
“My parents told me why you’ve really had a problem with me all these years.”
