“Finn, s-stop,” I choke out and grab his arm, trying to capture his attention. He immediately whisks his head to the side to look at me. I feel like I’m going to die, damn near suffocating, and for the first time since I met him, Finn isn’t the one who needs help getting through a panic attack. This time, I’m the one who needs him…
He catches on right away, letting go of Chance and gripping my shoulders firmly. “Breathe, Dia.”
I catch the expression on Chance’s face as Finn cups my cheeks and says, “Look at me, you’re okay. It’s going to be okay.”
Chance looks gutted. Like he can’t believe I turned to Finn for help instead of him.
“Hey, hey, focus on me.” Finn stares so deeply into my eyes I fear he can see the thoughts behind them. “Whatever’s going on inside your head, it’s not real. I’m real. Me. Nothing else.”
I manage to get my shit together an eternity later. Memories of that day on the lake slowly fade to black as Finn rubs my face with his thumb, and I let out the longest sigh of my life, air flocking back into my lungs.
“Better?” Finn whispers, his hazel eyes plunging into mine, and I give a small nod. That’s his cue to release me.
I’m confident Chance and I are done for when I turn and see the sheer betrayal gushing out of him. If me bailing on him right when we were about to have sex didn’t convince him to end things, my ex comforting me in the middle of a panic attack definitely will. Then, without a word, Chance gives me a final look and walks away.