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“I should ask you the same thing. You weren’t even going to contact me? I had to find out you lived here from Jack.”
“Yeah, with good reason,” Finn said angrily. “What are you doing here?”
“What kind of a hello is that after all these years?”
“It’s not,” Finn spat. “You aren’t welcome here.”
The man folded his arms across his chest, and Blythe spied a sleeve of tattoos on his bicep. “You don’t even know all that’s happened since you’ve been gone.”
“I don’t have to know, Tommy. Jack should’ve never told you where I live. He knew that.”
“Well, he did. So whatcha gonna do about it? Move?”
“I’m not running,” he said firmly. Finn squared shoulders with the man, no fear evident in his eyes though he was less than half the size of the boulder of a man. They stood roughly the same height, but Tommy looked like he spent his life in a gym, while Finn was leaner.
Tommy scoffed, shaking his head. “You always were a stupid little shit, weren’t you?”
“Do you need something? I don’t have any money.”
“Figures,” he said, blowing a breath of air out his nose. “I can see you’re…busy…anyway.” He gestured toward the door. “What do you say I come back?”
“The answer will be the same then. Get out of my doorway and leave me alone.”
“We’ll see about that,” he said, but to Blythe’s surprise he stepped aside, letting Finn pass.
Finn put his key in the lock, looking over his shoulder to make sure the man was walking away before opening the door. When he entered the apartment, it was with a sudden burst of adrenaline, and he slammed it shut just as quickly, locking the two deadbolts. When he looked at her, his eyes were wild with fear. “Did he hurt you? Did he say anything to you?”
“No, I’m fine. Who was that?”
Finn leaned his back against the door, sliding down slightly and letting out a breath as he stared at the ceiling. The man had rattled him much more than he’d let on in the hallway. After a moment, he pushed off from the door, moving to the counter to empty the brown paper sack in his hand.
“Everything bagel and sweet tea, just like you requested.” He set the food down, walking down the hall away from her without offering an answer.
“Finn?” she called after him, not bothering to touch her food. “Are you okay?”
When he reached the door, he glanced at her, offering a small smile. “I’m fine,” he assured her. “Just give me a sec, okay?”
She nodded. “O-okay,” she replied, but the door was already creaking shut with him on the other side. She returned to her bagel, her stomach growling despite the fact that her mind was on anything but food at that moment.
She picked at her food, taking a sip of the tea that made her miss home so much. It had been so long since she’d even thought about home. New York consumed her mind. There was so much to do and see, think about and talk about, and Texas had taken a backseat to her new home. But the tea made her miss it, despite the fact that it wasn’t true sweet tea. Not the kind she was used to. The sugar had been added in once it had cooled, she could tell. A typical mistake in the North, but one her Southern tongue recognized immediately.
The door to the bedroom opened and Finn emerged, back in his pajamas. He walked past the food he’d gotten for himself and sank onto the couch, a haunted expression on his face.
She walked toward him, sitting on the cushion next to him and placing her hand on his knee. “Should I be worried?”
He looked up at her, and she expected him to cast her fears aside, but instead he frowned. “I’m sorry, Blythe.”
“What are you sorry fo—”
“I’m so sorry. I never should’ve left you here alone.”
“I was fine.”
“You might not have been. I’d never forgive myself if something had happened to you.”
She took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. “Nothing happened, Finn. I’m fine. I knew better than to open the door.”
“He’d’ve gotten in if he wanted to.” He sighed, running his palm over his face as he pulled away from her hands.
