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Sebastian might be dull, but he didn’t do anything wrong. He and Finn aren’t close, so it’s not like he betrayed a friend by texting me.
“Brie is at the door.” Lacey brings me back to reality.
Finn cringes. “The fuck is she doing here?”
“I forgot my cheer uniform at her place last night. She’s just dropping it off.”
Right. Lacey and Brie are best friends again. They’d drifted apart when Lacey and I were close. Funny how quickly Lacey replaced me. To think that just a month ago, she was bad-mouthing Brie every chance she got.
“And she couldn’t drop it off at your place?” Xavier sighs, not exactly thrilled by the idea of seeing his ex-girlfriend.
“Finn’s place is closer to her house. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that nobody fucking likes her,” Finn argues.
“Relax, she’s not staying,” Lacey slurs, nearly slipping on her way out of Finn’s hot tub. She’s had so much it’s a wonder she’s still able to walk.
“She better not.” Finn’s hand finds mine in the water.
This is his way of letting me know that he hates her, too. He knows I can’t stand the girl. And it doesn’t exactly help that they slept together before. The worst part is Xavier still doesn’t know what happened between Finn and his ex.
“Lacey, I swear if you get water all over my house,” Finn warns.
“I won’t. Jesus,” Lacey says and trails to a lounge chair to pick up her towel. She quickly dries herself and walks inside Finn’s house. Not even two seconds later, the guys decide to connect their phones to the patio speakers and put music on. A phone rings just as the beat is dropping.
Xavier’s phone.
He’s quick to get out of the hot tub, making a beeline for his phone on the backyard furniture. Disappointment flashes in his gaze as soon as he checks the caller ID. I don’t know who’s calling him, but one thing is certain… it’s not who he was hoping for.
“Hey, Dad,” I barely hear him say over the music. “Hold on, I can’t hear you.” He heads inside the house the next second.
“We’re out of booze,” Finn realizes shortly after. “I’ll be right back.”
Finn smacks a long kiss upon my mouth and gets out of the hot tub, too. I watch him amble inside the house, biting my tongue to keep myself from saying something. He’s had more than enough, but he doesn’t seem to realize it. His drinking habits have been bothering me lately. Granted, he’s a social drinker, but it doesn’t change the fact that he drinks a lot. Is it a coping mechanism? A bad habit he picked up after his mom’s death?
Looking back, I realized he was drinking the night he almost died on Silver Bridge. And the night I found him standing at the library window. Come to think of it, he was also drinking the first time we kissed in the wine cellar. Jesus, has there ever been a moment in our relationship where this boy was sober?
Five minutes elapse before I start to wonder if Finn got lost on his way to the liquor cabinet. I tell myself I’m overthinking it. Until five minutes become ten. We’re nearing on twelve minutes by the time I decide to go investigate. I slip out of the hot tub while Theo and Axel bicker. The dining room is empty when I walk in.
Then I notice him.
I smother a gasp at the sight of Xavier in the corner of the room, standing with his back against the wall. We immediately make eye contact, hesitation and doubt smeared all over his face. He looks torn. Wait, is he hiding?
Why would he need to—
“You don’t know shit about us, Randall.” Finn’s voice cuts through the air.
That’s when I connect the dots. Finn is talking to Brie by the front door. And Xavier is eavesdropping. I consider saying something or joining Finn in the hall, but Xavier lifts his index to his mouth to shush me.
“All right, maybe I don’t know everything, but I do know that if you wanted her, you two would be official by now,” Brie spits.
An alarm goes off in my head. This is going to hurt, my heart says, but my feet are practically embedded into the kitchen tiles.
“That’s why you say you’re friends with benefits, isn’t it? Because you don’t want her to see somebody else, but you also don’t want to be tied down. You look at her and you see a fucking cage.”
“I’m sorry, are you still talking?” I hear Finn open the front door to show her out.
“Just admit it, you’re scared. You know Dia is a forever gal. She’s the kind of girl you marry, and you’re not ready for forever. Not even close.”
