Holy hotness overload.
I have to clear my throat twice before I can speak. “How is it that you freaked out over blood in the pool, but are okay with it on my skin?”
He laughs, loud and deep. “Good point. My obsessive tendencies don’t always make sense. Blood, mud, and other dirty things in the house or in the pool drive me mad. But blood, mud, and other dirty things on you? I think I want to see it.”
Good lord. Is he flirting with me? Because it feels like he is.
“Don’t think I’ve ever seen you this quiet before.”
I laugh, and it’s loud to my own ears. Why can’t I be one of those girls who knows what to say and do in moments like this? Hello, this is why I’m still a virgin. A guy says something to me, and I get all weird. Then they get weird. Before I know it, we’re both trying to get out of there as fast as we can. Might as well skip a few steps. I stand, but maybe I’ve lost more blood than I realize because I feel woozy.
He stands, too. “You okay?”
“I think I need to lie down.”
“Here.”
He scoops me into his arms, even though I’m like two steps away from the bed. Maybe he’s going to take me back to Atticus’ room. I mean, he likely doesn’t want blood to get on his white sheets. I snort. Again with the white. But he surprises me by putting me in his bed, under the blankets.
“What if I bleed everywhere?”
He shrugs. “I’ll buy new bedding.”
His bed is harder than Atticus’ bed, but it’s not terrible. Kind of fitting, since Finn is uptight.
“Why don’t you have anything colorful in here?”
I’m not sure he’s going to answer, but he moves to sit next to me on the bed, pulling my non-injured shoulder against his chest.
“Our mom loved colorful things. I can remember going to flea markets with her when we were younger. She’d browse for hours and come home with bags full of knickknacks of all shapes and sizes.”
“Sounds lovely.”
I don’t remember much of my own mom, and I wish I did. Just to have stories like this.
“When she married Wolfe, he insisted she get rid of everything. Said it made the house look tacky. When she didn’t do what he wanted, he went on a rampage, breaking everything in sight.”
“That asshole.”
“After they were divorced, we took her to a flea market, but her heart just wasn’t into it. She died shortly after they divorced.” He sighs. “Seeing her lose herself made me want to protect myself. Neutral things can’t hurt you.”
My heart aches for him.
“I get it. But think of all the fun you’re missing out on.”
“Such as?”
“Rainbow ice-cream at Navy Pier.”
I might not remember my mom, but I have plenty of memories of Red eating the multi-colored and multi-flavored ice-cream on warm days as we walked around the pier.
I continue, “Fields full of flowers.”
He laughs. “Don’t think there are many fields in Chicago.”
“No,” I agree. “But there are flowers in the parks.”
“What else?”