That’s all it was to him.
“I’m going to hit the gym. You coming?” Finn ambles to the house without sparing me a look, and Theo follows suit.
“It’s eight in the fucking morning the day after a party and you want to work out? Dude, you need help,” Theo scorns.
I’m still seated on the grass, watching them walk away, when Finn stops by the sliding door and shoots me a glance over his shoulder. I’m almost foolish enough to believe he’s going to make this up to me somehow.
Maybe smile.
Anything to help shake off the feeling of being used and thrown away. But his features remain as cold as can be.
“Don’t forget to take Lexie to the groomer,” he reminds me.
After making it clear that I was never anything more to him than his errand girl, he trails back inside.
I’m stunned, embarrassed, but mostly…
I’m livid.
I can’t believe I gave this asshole so many of my firsts, and for what? He couldn’t care less about me. The sad truth dawns on me as I push to my feet and ball up the blanket into my arms.
I have to leave.
I stayed for Lexie before when I thought Finn was a terrible owner, but Theo was right—the only fucking thing Finn Richards loves in this world is his dog.
She’s safe with him.
My heart, however?
Not so much.
* * *
A week later
I did the right thing.
Words I’ve been force-feeding myself since the day I packed my bags in a hurry and left the Richardses’ house. I called Finn’s dad to quit when I was walking home. Except, I didn’t have the guts to turn in my resignation and ended up faking a bad cold instead.
My performance earned me seven whole days of lying in bed doing absolutely nothing. I told my parents I was sick, too. I knew my dads would get suspicious if I quit now with only two weeks of work left, and I couldn’t handle the questions.
I’ve had a lot of time to think while a prisoner of my own bedroom, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t stomach the thought of never seeing Lexie again.
I miss her.
I miss her so much it hurts.
I’m going to offer to watch her for free once Mr. Richards gets back into town. Chances are, Finn will be crazy busy with basketball as soon as school picks up. I’m sure I can figure out a way to see her without running into him.
Granted, I doubt I’ll be able to avoid him now.
Mr. Richards called me this morning to tell me a friend of his was in town and I could take an early leave if I wanted to. At first, I was worried maybe he wanted to get rid of me and he wasn’t satisfied with my house sitter services. But then he gave me a huge bonus for work well done.
I’ve decided to go back to the house to gather the rest of my stuff and see Lexie again before I officially close the book on this summer.
Hey, Finn might not be the one, but at least he helped me gain a bit more experience. And he might’ve taken most of my firsts, but he’ll never get the big V.
My new car roars loudly as I drive up to the house for the last time. I finally had enough to buy my bug car from Brenda a few days back, and my dads drove it home to surprise me. She’s a bit noisy, but she only has to last me through senior year—the plan is to ditch the car expenses when I go to college.