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Chapter Seven
Abel
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“I’m so full I couldburst.” Finley relaxes back into the booth, her hands sliding across her slender belly. “Why did you make me eat so much?” she playfully whines.
“Pretty sure the milkshakes were your idea,” I remind her.
“Well how could I resist after you raved about how fantastic they were for five minutes solid. Besides, I didn’t want to seem rude when Jack offered me one.”
My uncle seemed nearly as taken with Finley as I am when he came out halfway through our meal to say hello. Claudia, no doubt, was back in the kitchen giving him all the details the second she saw us walk in. It’s not often that I bring anyone here, especially not a girl. This has always been my safe space and as such I try to keep it separate from other aspects of my life. It’s the one place I can come when the rest of the world feels like it’s falling apart. It’s been that way since I was a kid.
“I think that might be a slight over exaggeration,” I respond on a grin. “And it wouldn’t have been rude to decline. But they lived up to the hype, did they not?”
“Oh my god, and so much more.” She groans and I feel myself twitch under the strict confines of my jeans.
This girl is driving me mad and she doesn’t even know it. More than once I wanted to pull her into the bathroom at the House of Blues and have my way with her. I’ve had the same thought several times as I’ve sat across from her in this booth as well. How could I not?
But Finley isn’t a bathroom sex kind of girl. She’s the real thing. The kind of woman that you take home and pray like hell she’s still there when you wake up in the morning so you don’t have to say goodbye. Finley is the forever type.
Even thinking it sounds crazy. I’ve known her only a few short hours and already I’m planning our future. I can’t help it. When she looks at me I feel at home in a way I’ve never felt with another person before.
Sure, I’ve had a couple relationships that I thought could go the distance, but none that ever felt this right, or this intense for that matter. It’s like there’s an invisible force pushing us together and we’re powerless to stop it.
Finley lifts her hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn. “Sorry.” She shakes her head. “I just got really tired all of a sudden. I think I’m going into a food coma.”
“Jack’s burgers will do that to you. If you want I can order a car and we can get you home. It’s getting pretty late.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” She cocks a brow and relief floods through me.
The last thing I want to do is take her home, but I also don’t want to selfishly keep her out if she’s ready to call it a night.
“Not a chance. Just testing out this whole gentleman thing.” I give her a cocky smile. “How am I doing?”
“Eh, you could use a little work. But good on you for trying.” She giggles, her shoulders moving up and down as she does.
“In all seriousness, though,” I start.
But she cuts me off before I can continue, “I don’t want to go home.”
“Okay.” I try to fight the smile that threatens to spill across my lips but fail miserably. If she didn’t already know that I’m completely enamored with her, there’s no way she’s not picking it up now.
“Okay,” she repeats.
“So then where should we go?”
“I thought you were the one with all the great ideas.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest.
I think on that for a moment, deciding I know the perfect place. “I may have a place in mind.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” she asks, snagging her coat off of the seat before quickly sliding out of the booth. “You coming or what?” she asks when I still haven’t moved from my spot.
“Are you in a rush?” I look up at her with amusement on my face.
“Time isn’t a guarantee. No need to waste what little we get.” Something passes over her face, something that doesn’t sit right with me, but before I have time to process it, it’s gone, replaced by an easy smile. “You coming or what?”
I chuckle, grabbing my coat as I slide out of the booth.
