I don’t see the tears on his face, but I think I hear them in his voice. I feel them in the way he holds on to me for dear life.
“Everything but you,” I choke out.
There’s a beat of silence.
Then Finn pulls away. He stares at me through the darkness of the maintenance closet, disbelief written all over his face. He looks like he’s wondering whether or not his mind is playing tricks on him. I lift my palm to his cheek, and my pulse quickens when I realize…
His cheek is damp.
He is crying.
Because he’s scared.
No, he’s terrifiedthat this won’t be enough.
That I’m going to leave him anyway.
You’d think I just handed him the antidote to an incurable poison when I grip his shoulders and smash my lips to his. I’ve heard Finn grunt before. During sex, mostly. But this? It sounds like a grunt of relief. Almost like my kiss is banishing the fear from his system, breathing life back into him. He kisses me like he’s thanking me. And I pour all I have into matching his gratitude. I throw my arms around his neck, crushing our bodies together as though I’m hoping a part of his soul will rub off on me. Just so that I can carry him with me.
Now and forever.
I part my lips for him, and his tongue immediately slips past my teeth, deepening our connection and sending a wave of shivers down my spine. I can feel his body relax with each passing second, but that’s not all I can feel.
“Did someone miss me?” I glance down at the bulge in his pants.
Finn’s lips are back on mine in a heartbeat, but his hand envelops my fingers before I can muster a comeback. He guides my hand to his cock, and sure enough, he’s rock hard.
“This is how much I’ve missed you,” Finn whispers against my mouth. Heat explodes in my stomach as my palm wraps around his length. I want to touch him, to taste him for the first time in a week. If I had it my way, I’d drop to my knees right now, but Finn has something else in mind.
I barely hear my phone buzzing in his pocket when Finn undoes the button of my jeans. My zipper is next, and I’m quivering with anticipation by the time his fingers crawl down my stomach toward my pink thong.
“Did you miss me?” he rasps inches from my ear.
I’m about to get finger-fucked in the janitor’s closet at two in the morning. You can’t make this shit up. My phone buzzes a second and third time, but we pay it no mind—well, I pay it no mind.
Finn, on the other hand…
“Who the fuck is texting you?” he growls, his patience wearing thin, and pulls my phone out of his pocket. At first, I assume Aveena is to blame for the messages. Until Finn glances at the sender and his features darken. This is someone else.
“Unlock it,” he shocks me by saying.
“What?”
His only response is to hand me the phone, his expectations as clear as the irritation on his face. Confused, I flip my phone over and swallow hard at the senders. I have a few messages from Vee. And two messages from Axel. I swear the guy is incapable of taking a hint.
I slide the screen unlocked and select my conversation with Axel—does it even qualify as a conversation if I never answered him?
Axel: Playing hard to get, I see.
Axel: You know you want me, baby girl. Just give in.
One word: Ew.
Finn doesn’t miss a beat, prying the phone out of my hands to read Axel’s messages. I notice the corner of his mouth twitching in anger as he scrolls through Axel’s unanswered texts. Then he clicks out of the conversation.
“What are you doing?” I worry about what he’ll find in my messages. I’ve been texting other boys while we were broken up.
“Just making a list of all the traitors I have to beat up.”