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“Yeah, just give me a hand up,” I said, reaching toward him.
“No,” he said.
Then the man swooped down… and swept me up into his arms.
My belly felt like it bottomed out for a moment before my body was pressed tightly against him, his arms effortlessly holding me.
“You can’t carry me everywhere,” I insisted even as I went ahead and rested my head against his shoulder.
“Why not?” he asked as he walked me through the living room, then out onto the front step.
“Careful,” I warned as my arm went around his neck when he started down the steps. “I might just take advantage of that.”
“Works for me,” he said, not sounding the least bit strained or out of breath. “Can you run back and grab her purse?” he asked Perish. “Then maybe you could ride my bike to my place, then drive Lexy’s car back here. If someone is keeping an eye on her, I don’t want her car parked at my place.”
“Yeah, no problem,” Perish agreed, opening the passenger side door, so Finn could lower me in.
“You really think he would drive around looking for my car?”
“I dunno. I can’t pretend to know what’s in this sick fuck’s mind. But I’m not taking any chances,” he said, taking my purse from Perish, and handing it to me.
He exchanged keys with Perish, and then we were off.
“I could stay with my sister,” I offered, feeling like I hadn’t given him a way out of taking care of me. He was a good guy. Of course he would have offered, even if he didn’t want someone in his space.
“No.”
“I know you like your alone time,” I insisted.
“Rather be alone with you,” he said, making me turn to watch his profile for a moment.
Because… I liked that.
It wasn’t that I always wanted to be alone.
I wanted to have that level of comfort with someone where it felt like you were alone… together. No need to perform, to small talk, to do anything but coexist in the same orbit as someone else.
The crazy thing—especially given how short a time I’d known him—was that I was somehow sure that the only person in the world I could feel comfortably alone together with was Finn.
And I had no fucking idea what to do with that information.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Finn
I nestled her in my bed before grabbing all her bags, and having a short conversation with Perish about what to do if he saw anything going on at their place.
Then I took a moment to stop and breathe in my living room, trying to remind my body that I couldn’t be putting my hands on an injured woman just because she was staying in my bed for a few days.
I reached for my phone, shooting off a text to Malc to fill him in, so he could tell the others when they sobered up, and Fallon when he dropped by in the morning.
I didn’t plan on dropping in there tomorrow. It was top of my fucking priority list to go meet up with Junior, to see what—if anything—he’d figured out. Because I needed to find these fucks. I needed to ensure Lexy of her safety.
It wasn’t that I wanted her to go back to her house, to her life.
Despite it not being characteristic of me at all, I wanted her right where she was. In my house.
But I wanted her to know she didn’t need to look over her shoulder, to jump at shadows, to think that anyone could get their hands on her.
With no evidence of her at my place, I was confident she was as safe as she could be. And I had Perish keeping an eye out at their place, so if he saw anyone suspicious before Junior could point me in a direction, I could have him carefully follow that lead until I could meet up with him and take over.
“You need to stay off your feet,” I demanded as I saw Lexy tiptoeing down the hallway.
“I need a drink,” she declared, giving me a small smile.
“Yeah, me too,” I agreed, walking over, leaning down, and tossing her over my shoulder, hearing her startled gasp, then surprised laugh. “Told you that you aren’t walking with me around,” I told her, giving her ass a slap before dropping her down on the couch. “Now keep your stubborn ass there while I get you a drink,” I said, moving off into the kitchen to grab us glasses, doing a generous pour in each, before joining her on the couch.
We both sucked in and released deep breaths at the same time before raising our glasses for a sip.
“Thanks for letting me stay here,” she said.
“You don’t need to thank me for that. Unless you’re gonna leave wet towels all over the floor. ‘Cause I can’t fucking stand that,” I told her.
