“I hid it somewhere safe,” he murmured. His smirk widened as his fingertip trailed down the shell of my ear, leaving sparks in its wake.
I blinked when his hand pulled back—phantom tingles spreading across my skin—until I saw what he’d apparently retrieved from behind my ear. Sitting innocently on his sun-kissed palm, like a sacrificial lamb awaiting its fate, was a Hershey’s Kiss.
Wrapped in tinfoil and shaped perfectly like it’d been 3D printed from my very dreams.
I swallowed and glanced up at Finn’s dancing eyes before looking back at the chocolate in his waiting palm. I didn’t have to think twice before snatching the treat from his hand and unwrapping the treasure in record time.
Pushing thoughts of sparks and ear tingles out of my mind, I popped the chocolaty goodness into my mouth and tried to focus on anything but the way Finn’s smirk made my legs feel like Jell-O.
“Ten points,” I said after a moment of satisfaction. I rubbed my stomach as the Kiss made its way down to its new home. I pictured it being very happy there with the butterflies.
“Huh?” Finn asked.
“I’m awarding you ten brownie points,” I said, nodding more confidently. “Ten wonderful, chocolate-melting brownie points.”
Finn chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. “That means I only need twenty-five more points, right?”
“Plus that cupcake you owe me.” I licked at my lips to make sure I got every last drop of the chocolate treat. My fingers were clean, but I was still tempted to lick them just to be safe. Maybe later. “And I think there was a promise of a Milky Way, too.”
Finn’s grin widened, and I barely blinked before another treat was held in front of me.
A Milky Way.
“You mean this one?” His tone was all kinds of suave, and I felt a laugh bubbling out before I could stop it. I covered my mouth with a hand, trying to stifle it as I glanced from the Milky Way up to him.
I swiped it up before Finn could change his mind and stuffed it in my pants pocket for safekeeping.
“Thanks, Finn.”
“Anytime.” He tilted his head to the side. “So, what do you think about meeting up outside of these snoozefests sometime? Grab a couple snow cones and hit up some mini golf?”
His directness threw me off, and my mouth opened, then closed before opening again. “You mean like a date?”
Finn’s smile widened until the dimples in his cheeks winked back at me. “Yeah, I do.”
Oh boy. This was the moment I’d been dreading, but I went with my gut. “I’m actually seeing someone.”
Finn’s eyes widened comically, and he frowned before shaking himself. “Well, I didn’t expect that. But we can still be best friends, right?”
I laughed, surprised by how quickly he bounced back from rejection. If only high school girls everywhere could be like him. “Sure, Finn.”
“Unless… Do you think I could take him?” He raised a brow and gazed at me expectantly. Looking down, he made quick work of rolling up his sleeves and flexing the muscles in his arms. I tried not to stare, but his arms looked too lean and smooth to be real. “I’ve been trying to work out more to balance out all the cupcakes. Is he a big guy?”
“Um.” I stalled, gaping at his forwardness but also a little curious myself. Could Finn take Noah? Honestly, the thought of them rolling around on the ground together as they figured out who was stronger… I wasn’t opposed to it.
“I’m not sure,” I said, which was true. My imagination could guess, but until I saw them battle it out in the flesh, I wouldn’t put my money down. “It’d be close, though.”
He nodded and then I nodded, and then we both just kind of stood there nodding at each other.
Finn’s smile grew even wider.
“I should get back to work,” I said when the silence stretched too long. I inched around him toward the door and reminded myself the macaroni wasn’t going to serve itself.
“Sure,” Finn said, stepping to the side. “You’re not getting paid to flirt, after all.”
I pretended I didn’t hear that as I hurried down the hall, but my smile lasted long after I returned to the macaroni table.
* * *
