AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His tongue swirls around in hard peaks, not blinking. His scrutiny is not any less intimidating as he studies me. His disapproval evident, known.
“There’s food,” I remind him. Emphasizing that we are, in fact, at a farmers’ market.
A muscle underneath his eye jumps. “And this was allyouridea?”
I hate how he insinuates this, making sure it was only me. I bob my head anyway. The smile on my face stretched thin.
There’s a pause, a long, infinite, never-ending delay where neither of us moves or makes a sound.
“Well, go on then. Lead the way,” Finn decides, waving a less-than-enthusiastic hand back at the entrance. His tone as bland as it is slick. “Let’s go since you’ve seemed to make a habit of taking matters into your own hand before consulting others.”
I cringe. He’s right, I did do it again and I hadn’t realized.
“Finn—”
“—Go ahead. Lead the way so I can get this over with.”
My stomach is as airy as the breeze today, but I do as he asks, guiding us back through the entrance.
There is so much eased joy around us. Laughs, relaxed conversations, a calmness, but we have none.
“So, how’d she do it?”
His nose pinches with distaste, knowing what I’m referring to. Rory never got the chance to mention how she’d get him here, just that she would make sure he was.
I nudge his elbow and he rolls his eyes with a scoff. “Does it matter?”
Nope. I’m more pleased that he’s speaking to me at all…
He side-eyes me. “You aren’t going to drop it, are you?” I lift a shoulder, not disagreeing. He clicks his tongue. “I’m here, aren’t I? As you decided, asyouwanted.”
If he won’t explain, then I will.
“I asked Rory to help. I thought we could—”
“—Could what? Reconcile?” he says, cutting me off, kicking at a pebble of dirt. “You don’t know the meaning.”
“—start over,” I grit, finishing my thought.
He shoves his hands into his pockets. “I’m not the one who’s been manipulating people, Williams…that’s only ever been you.” Finn stresses the last part like I’m not already aware. Like he hasn’t forced enough reminders down my throat today.
He shoves himself underneath a tent and against my better judgment, I follow behind.
“Your head is too narrow,” he concludes, tossing back the hat he’d just put on my head and swapping it out with another. “Nah,” he decides, putting this one back as well.
I sidestep him when he tries a third, shooting him a warning glare. His ridicule clings, hanging off his every pore. This method of deflecting is a form of self-defense, and boy, does he adhere to it more than Aiden does to the toy rabbit Rory gave him.
Gripping the strap of my bag like it’s my one lifeline, I exit the booth. I paid for my ticket—both actually. I tried to make up for the other day by inviting him here, but now I understand it’s not enough. Demeaning comments or not,Ican at least have a good time.
I may not fully be in the right, but I also don’t deserve the continued animosity. One person can only take so much…
“Typical,” Finn mocks after the fifth tent. I guess he’d kept up after I assumed he’d left for good.
I continue to peruse the stand of fruit. Handing over a couple of dollar bills after I grab a few handfuls of strawberries. They’ve been Aiden’s favorite recently.
I move on to another booth.
The selection isn’t what I want, so I cross back to the other side of the path. Finn’s footsteps trail behind me like a bad smell.
