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My head snaps up. What did he just say?
Jesus, he said it like he was talking about the weather.
“You broke his fingers?” I blurt.
“Damn right. Then I delivered his recorded confession to the cops on a silver platter. His prints were all over the car that hit Lexie. Turns out they already had a few warrants out for his arrest.”
“But… won’t he snitch on you for what you did to him?” I realize.
“Bastard tried.” Finn shrugs. “We passed it off as self-defense. Made up a story about him coming at me to finish what he’d started. At this point, it’s his word against mine. I’m no fucking saint, but I’ve never been accused of attempted murder.”
I didn’t think I’d ever be happy about a car trying to run Finn over—okay, maybe I would’ve been at the beginning of the summer. It’s one thing to kill a dog, another to kill a dog while trying to kill its owner. I have no doubt Mr. Richards’s million-dollar lawyers are going to do everything in their power to throw the monster in jail.
“He’s going down?” Tears flood my eyes at the thought of Lexie’s murderer rotting in a cell.
“We got him, Dia. We fucking got him.” Finn catches a tear rolling down my face with his thumb.
For a moment, I forget all about the five excruciating days I spent convinced he didn’t care about me and throw myself in his arms. I push to the tips of my toes, mashing my chest closely with his and reveling in the smell of his cologne.
Lexie is going to get justice. This is the best outcome we could’ve hoped for in this situation.
Finn doesn’t waste a second wrapping his arms around me, holding me so tightly it’s hard to breathe. His fingers brush hair off my neck as he drags a few desperate kisses up and down my collarbone, inhaling my scent like he’s trying to memorize it.
Everything is perfect.
Until it’s not.
“Finn?”
Finn pulls away from me like he just got caught committing a federal crime. I whisk my head to see Xavier, Theo, and Axel ogling us from around the corner.
“Dude, come on, not on school property. At least take the girl home.” Axel laughs into his fist.
I wait for Finn to tell him to fuck off, but he doesn’t react.
That’s what he wants people to think, isn’t it?
That I’m a hookup?
Because no matter how many times he promises to never let me go, Finn Richards still has an image to maintain. He’s still hiding behind his heartless persona, protected by a façade I thought I’d knocked down.
“Let’s go,” Xavier intervenes before it becomes awkward. “Fletcher, let’s fucking go,” he repeats and ends up having to force Axel away. Finn’s gaze finds mine as soon as we’re alone again.
I see it in his eyes.
He knows he fucked up.
I might be able to forgive him in unusual circumstances like him getting stabbed, but I don’t think I can handle a guy being ashamed of me.
“Dia…” He tries to step forward, but I step back.
“You can’t evenhug me in public,” I whisper, more to myself than him, and turn to leave. “I… I have to go.”
His hand flies to my wrist in a split second, and he spins me around, yanking me back to his chest.
“Hold on a fucking second. What does this mean?” he begs, searching my eyes for a clue.
“It means you were right.” It takes all the courage in my body to detach from him. “It’s called a summer job for a reason. After summer, it ends.”
