I zero in on his abs, my eyes tracing each of his muscles five times over.
“Get up,” he commands, offering me his hand, and I take it, pushing off the couch. He jerks me to his chest as soon as I’m standing, and my front hits his toned chest with a thud.
“See this?” Finn points to the diamond tattoo on his left pec.
My mouth goes dry at the sight of the ink inches above his heart. I saw it in the bathroom after we had semi-sex, but I convinced myself it had nothing to do with me. I may be confident in myself, but I’m not “this boy obviously got a tattoo about me” confident.
“I got it tattooed a week after I left town. Put every penny I had left into it. I got the equivalent of your name tattooed on my goddamn skin, Dia. So, if you think I was messing around with other girls, you’re wrong. Nothing happened between me and Brooke. She asked me out a few times, but I said no. I’m always going to say no, you hear me? Always.”
Tears steam up my eyes.
“Why here?” I graze the tattoo with my fingertips, and Finn takes my wrist, pressing my palm flat against his heart.
“Because it’s yours,” he breathes out. “It was yours the day I left town, and it’s been yours every day since then. It’s yours, Gem. Now and fucking always.”
I’m speechless.
Speechless and blind, thanks to the tears streaming down my face.
“If you still want it…” Finn croaks, sounding pained, and I suddenly lack the strength to deny myself of being with him.
“I’ll take yours if you take mine,” I barely say through the tears, and his hazel eyes grow. “Although you have to promise not to break it again.”
His mouth drops open, disbelief coloring his features, and I press my body to his. We’re inches apart at this point, and when Finn’s focus darts to my mouth, I have to talk myself into not running for the hills.
Kissing has always been an intimate thing to me. I gave Finn my cheek when he tried to kiss me on the rooftop because I thought if I gave him my lips, I’d be granting him access to my heart. But for the first time since the night I accidentally crawled into bed with him, I’m okay with being defenseless. I want him to kiss me, even if it means I get hurt again. Even if my walls are reduced to ashes. I want Finn Richards to kiss him even if it kills me.
I let out a gasp when his mouth crashes against mine almost violently, his hand crawling up my arm and exploring my hair. There’s a familiar urgency in the way I open my mouth to allow our tongues to meet, and the grunt sounding somewhere deep in his throat sets every nerve in my body on fire.
This.
Thisis why I ran.
This is why I wouldn’t let him kiss me until now. I knew if we went there and he shattered me again, I’d spend the rest of my life getting over him.
We’re desperate and messy in the way we cling to each other and completely careless in the way we drop onto the couch like horny high schoolers. Xavier and Aveena could walk in at any moment, but the voices in my head don’t compare to the pleas of my heart. Finn is on top of me from the second my back hits the couch cushion, supporting himself with his arms, and I jerk him closer for another kiss.
Nothing could rip us away from this moment.
Or so I thought…
Finn’s phone starts to ring just as his mouth is deserting mine to focus on my neck. I’m practically melting all over Aveena’s couch and grind my body against his, making him groan in my ear.
His phone keeps on ringing. Until it stops and quickly rings again a second later. Not that Finn gives a shit. He’s too busy giving me the mother of all hickeys and I’m too busy moaning every time his teeth graze my skin.
His phone rings again and again for the next three minutes, and we eventually have no choice but to pull away. A curse hisses between his teeth as he plants one last kiss on my mouth and grabs his phone in his pocket.
NO CALLER ID,the screen reads.
Finn frowns, checking his missed calls. They’re all from this unknown number. The strange caller even left him a voicemail.
“You should pick up,” I suggest, teasing him by rocking against his erection, and Finn curses again, pulling away from me and sitting on the edge of the couch.
“What?” he snaps as soon as he’s brought the phone to his ear.
I hear a deep voice down the line but can’t make out what the person is saying. I notice the color gradually draining from Finn’s face as seconds pass.
“What is it?” I rest my hand on his forearm.