AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Brushing the hair off my face, I sit back, stretching, waiting to see if he’ll come to me. Sure enough, he parks right in front of my knees.
“Easier to get attention when everybody’s here, huh? When it’s not just me.”
Not that either of us should be getting used to not being here alone. It’s not smart, no matter how much it seems as though Natalie and Finn might be open to sticking around, that they might want the same things I do.
What things, specifically? That’s a damn good question. I know what I want from Natalie; I’ve known that from the start. It’s too much, too soon, though, and I’ve got no idea where Finn fits in with all those feelings.
He does, though. He fits.
My head’s been going around in circles like this for days. Push-ups help, despite how much they annoy my cat. After a few obligatory minutes of pet maintenance—AKA petting and attention—Cat wanders off again, and I get back to the workout. It’s easier not to dwell on impossibilities if I stay busy.
My routine’s been blown to hell the last few weeks, starting with that fucking note on my car. Rand called from Atlanta of all places, following a lead. Something about a license plate number for a rental car that didn’t pass the sniff test. I hope to God whatever he finds stays there. Maybe we can all go back to our regular lives.
Whatever that looks like. I’m going to need more than push-ups to bury that line of thought.
A knock at the door gives my protesting muscles a reprieve. Toweling the sweat off my face, I skip pulling my shirt back on and open the door.
Natalie blinks, staring at my chest. Given the time it takes to get her gaze up to my face, I can’t help but smile.
“My eyes are up here, sweetheart.” She blushes, her cheeks beautifully red.
“Hi,” she says sheepishly. “Finn asked me to meet him here. Is he already inside?”
It’s my turn to blink. “No,” I say. “That’s the first I’ve heard about it. Come on in.”
I close the door behind her, kissing her soundly, appreciating her newfound fascination with my torso.
“Missed you.”
“We just left work a few hours ago,” she says, breathless.
“Even so.”
I set Natalie back on her feet and fix her a water with fruit in it the way she likes. She’s barely settled on my couch and slipping her shoes off when another knock sounds at the door.
I let Finn in. He’s flushed, a little out of breath, like he’s been running. He shuts the door behind him, does a double take at my chest, and pins me up against the wall with a kiss, almost exactly where I pinned Natalie not moments ago.
He pulls back, eyes hooded, tracing a finger over my lower lip, a satisfied look on his face as he heads to the couch. He bends down, kissing Natalie slowly and sweetly. When he finally stands back, Natalie is dreamy-eyed and flushed. I clear my throat, ignoring that I probably look just as lovestruck.
“Hello to you, too,” I say to Finn. I grab one of his beers out of the fridge and carry it to the coffee table, taking my usual chair. Much as I want to be close to them both, I have a feeling this isn’t just a booty call.
Finn’s flush comes back as he eyes my chest.
“Everything okay?” Natalie asks, watching him with amusement.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he says. “I didn’t come here for…” Finn waves a hand between us vaguely. Natalie and I glance at each other, and she giggles. I cover my smile with a hand. Finn glares at us.
“Okay, maybe I didn’t only come here for that,” he says. He’s actually blushing. God, it’s adorable. I want to find out if it tastes as sweet as it looks. “We need to talk.”
Natalie’s amusement dies, her eyes going round as dinner plates. I sit up straighter, wishing I’d grabbed that shirt after all.
“Talk about what, Finn?” says Natalie calmly, a subtle tremor in her voice. I can sympathize. I’m bracing myself for whatever the fuck bomb is about to drop. If he hurts her, if he’s shutting us down… I guess that’s his prerogative, but he will fucking live to regret it if Natalie gets hurt. My chest aches, and this time, the push-ups have nothing to do with it.
Finn squares his shoulders like he’s bracing himself. Fuck. Fuck.
“We’ve never really talked about what we’re, you know,” he says, gesturing between us again, “doing here.”
I raise an eyebrow. I can’t help it. “I thought that was pretty self-explanatory.”
