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Until now.
“I’m going to get a shower,” he said, kissing her softly on the cheek. “You let him in.”
She nodded numbly.
“We’ll talk later, Sunnie. I promise,” he said. “There isn’t time now. Not with Finn standing outside. The longer we stall, the harder this is going to be to explain.”
He was right. “Okay.”
Sunnie watched Landon disappear into the bathroom, waiting until she heard the water running. Then she stood on unsteady legs, smoothed out her sweater and skirt and opened the door.
Finn frowned when he saw her there, clearly expecting Landon. “Sunnie? What are you doing here?”
She dug deep, working overtime to keep her voice casual, natural. “Landon offered me a ride home, but we realized it was getting late, so we came here first so he could shower. You guys are dropping me off at the pub on the way to the game.”
Finn stepped across the threshold, glancing around the room.
She nearly winced when she spotted Landon’s shorts and T-shirt from the game, discarded on the floor near the couch.
Finn spotted them as well.
She wasn’t sure what she expected…but it wasn’t her brother’s tired sigh.
“What are you doing, Sun?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. You and Landon.” He gestured toward the couch. “What is this?”
“We’re just pretending to—”
“Don’t,” he interjected. “Don’t tell me it’s all just a game. Please.”
She was about to do just that when he reached up and ran his knuckles over her cheek, near her lips.
“You have a bit of beard burn there.”
Her fingers flew up to touch it. “I—” She blew out a frustrated breath. “I don’t know what this is,” she confessed, feeling a ridiculous amount of relief at having finally said those words aloud. Typically, she didn’t have a thought she didn’t share, either with her brother or Landon or her cousins.
This thing with Landon had thrown her for a loop. So much so, the words had gotten trapped inside with her jumbled-up feelings.
“Yeah. That’s what I thought.” There was no rebuke in Finn’s tone. In fact, it was the opposite. He gave her a sympathetic smile that comforted her. Her big brother was here, and even if he didn’t know how to make things right, he’d help her until she found her way.
“You’re not mad at me?”
He snorted out a hard breath. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re not acting out of character. Let’s face it. You never walk the straight and narrow. The wind blew you this direction and you went with it. Classic Sunnie.”
As far as helpful, Finn’s comments fell way short. Until she considered them more closely. Then she brightened up.
“You’re right. It’s not me who’s acting strangely. It’s Landon.”
Finn shook his head. “No. He’s not acting out of character either.”
Sunnie was lost again. “I don’t understand.”
