My lips part, and his brows pinch as he studies my expression. “Finn…I love you.”
Finn’s lashes twitch as he takes in my slurred words. Ones that I’ve wanted to say for weeks, if not months, because it’s true. I love him. I love him so much, it’s painful.
The last thing I was expecting when I came to university was getting a boyfriend, but he’s the best plot twist I could have asked for.
“Say something,” I blurt when he stays silent.
Finn pulls back an inch, and nausea swarms me.Oh god. I shouldn’t have said anything at all.
“You don’t love me?” I murmur, allowing my drunk thoughts to get the better of me.
“Maya,” he says, voice cracking slightly. “Of course I love you.”
My chest quivers. “Then what?”
“It’s that I thought no parts of me were loveable after everything,” he confesses, and the agony in his voice is enough to make me break down because he believes it with such sincerity that it crushes me. “I just never thought I’d hear you say those words.”
Tears threaten my eyes as I throw my arms around his neck and press my lips to his cheeks, jaw, chin. “You are the most loveable person in the world,” I whisper into his skin, and he closes his eyes. “And you deserve to be loved in the best way.Because I do. I love you, and I’ll show you how easy it is to love you.”
“Fuck,” he curses as he brings our lips together, claiming mine with such intense passion that my toes curl in my shoes. “Maya, you are the one thing I’ll never deserve.”
“No. Don’t say that.”
“I love you, sunshine,” he whispers against my lips, and tears slip down my cheeks. “I love you, and I want it to be enough.”
“It is,” I gasp, nodding furiously. “It will always be enough.”
Finn blinks and swipes my tears away with his thumbs. “No, no. Why are you crying? You can’t cry on your birthday,” he says with panic.
I release a croaky laugh. “I’m crying because I’m happy. And I can absolutely cry on my birthday. It’s tradition for me.”
Finn rests his forehead against mine. “I don’t want any more tears on your birthday. I refuse.”
“Okay,” I sniffle. “As long as you stick around to be there?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
And I hold onto it because I don’t want a life without him.
CHAPTER 16
FINN THOMPSON
PRESENT - 1ST NOVEMBER 2025
Despite it being the start of November, it’s fairly warm.
Silas is demolishing a pizza while Ronan talks about this girl he met on some dating app that I didn’t even know existed, and JJ is glued to his phone. One more class and I can’t wait to get the hell off campus and visit Maya and Skye.
When JJ finally puts down his phone, he glances up at me. “Hey,” he says, catching my attention. “Ivy’s gonna come visit next week.”
My brows raise. “Oh,” I murmur. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He attempts to hide his smile but fails miserably. “It will be good to be together.”
