“Appreciate that, Gabe. Thanks.” Sam nodded.
“Well, good luck to you, Sam, and to Finn, of course.” Gabriel was gone before she could even say goodbye. Maya dashed over to her.
“Oh my God!” Maya gushed. “He’s as hot as ever. Although I think Italy suits him better than Japan—that man sure knows how to dress! Did you see him—he looks like he came straight off a catwalk. I don’t know anyone else who can pull off wearing a cashmere sweater the way he does—and charcoal is so his color.”
“Cashmere? You could tell that from over there?” Sam laughed as Maya linked her arm.
“Honey, I devour runway shows the way you do a cab double cork 1080—in my sleep!”
Sam burst out laughing. “That tracks! Remember how you convinced me to wear that blue dress to my prom?”
“Do I?” Maya lifted her chin. “Can I just say—I wasn’t wrong about that dress. You looked like an ice princess in it—and Finn couldn’t take his eyes off you that night.”
A warm glow wrapped around Sam. Prom night with Finn had been magical and completely unexpected. She allowed Maya to lead her down the snowy streets as the memory of being stood up on that night came back to her.
“I can’t believe this.” Sam had flopped down onto the sofa. Blue sparkly fabric had billowed around her like a cloud of blue candyfloss. “Prom is ruined! How could Will do this to me?”
“Get up!” Maya had grabbed Sam by the hand and dragged her into standing. “You’ll crease it!” She’d smoothed down Sam’s prom dress before carefully hugging Sam. “What do you want to do?”
Sam looked down at her dress, then at her best friend. Maya looked so beautiful. Her chestnut hair had been coaxed into curls in a half-up half-down style, her makeup was flawless, and her red dress made her brown eyes sparkle.
“You should go, go before you miss the photos,” Sam had said generously as a lump had formed in her throat.
“Without you?” Maya’s forehead had wrinkled, making Sam sigh.
“I don’t want to go alone.” Sam had twisted her hands together.
“You won’t be alone! You’ll be with me and Ryan, and the rest of the gang too.”
“Everyone else has someone, you know. I’m always the third wheel. For once I thought that I’d have someonetoo—and I thought that it might be the start of something with Will.”
Maya had nodded. “I’m sorry, Sam.”
Sam had shaken her head. “It’s okay, it’s not your fault. Now go—have a great night and tell me everything tomorrow. Everything!”
“I promise.” Maya hugged Sam carefully again before leaving.
From the living room window, Sam had watched through a film of tears as the limo had pulled out of the driveway. She’d been moving away from the window, intending to go upstairs to get out of her dress, when her mom and dad had come into the room.
“Bradley, get your ass to my house … yes now! Immediately. Hurry up.” Coach Harrington was gripping his phone to his ear. “What size are you in a suit?” Her dad had hung up the phone with a firm nod. “Clara—get Leo’s old suit ready.” Sam’s eyebrows had shot into her hairline as her mom had dashed upstairs.What on earth was he doing? Calling Finn in to take her to prom?
“Dad? What did you do?”
Her dad had frowned at her quizzical expression. “I said I’d let you go to prom, and I don’t want you missing out on this. Bradley will take you.”
Sam had gasped. Her mouth went dry. Finn? He’d roped Finn into being her prom date!Oh God. With a sinking heart Sam had stared at her dad.This day truly couldn’t get any worse. Not only had her prom date bailed, but now her dad was arranging an alternative for her! No way.
But it was Finn Bradley… maybe this would be okay.He’d piqued her interest from the moment she’d first seen him. It had been so hard to get him out of her mind, especially after training daily with him for the last few weeks. He was dedicated, strong and every day he looked even better than the day before. Sam remembered how her cheeks had grown red that night as her father had barked down the phone. Finn had always been fine—even back then. To this day he still looked outrageously hot in gray sweatpants, although now he knew it. Honestly, there wasn’t one inch of Finn that hadn’t made her blush at some stage or another during all these years they’d been friends. With a sigh she remembered how she’d wished with all her might that he felt the same about her, but he’d kept his distance from her.
Sam grimaced, remembering how she’d feared he’d think she was a loser, that her dad was in charge of her whole life. But instead, he’d been the perfect gentleman and that had been the beginning of the best friendship of her life. Maybe this fake-dating relationship idea they’d had would change that though. As Maya said, it was kinda dangerous. But what if it wasn’t dangerous—what if it was the start of something? And even if it wasn’t—how far was she prepared to go to convince everyone they were a couple? She tucked her arm into Maya’s and set off toward Finn’s place again, as the question of how far washeprepared to go formed in her mind. And what if it all went wrong?
Finn, in a bathrobe and slippers, shivered as he opened his suite door wide and let them in.
“I was in the hot tub,” he said before she could even ask. Sam’s eyes rested on the light stubble on his jaw and neck, before sliding down the V of the robe. He looked every bit as good as he had when she’d walked in on him naked last week in Milan. Her cheeks grew hot, and any thoughts of what she wouldn’t do if she got the chance melted away like frostbitten hands held out in front of a roaring fire. She really should check her period tracker and see what the hell was going on with her hormones because the past couple of weeks she’d been practically drooling over Finn and catching him in a bathrobe just now had her ovaries dancing a foxtrot,anddoing a handstandanda cartwheel. Shuffling in she averted her eyes.
His suite was huge. The hallway was a large square space; the flooring was tiled with beautiful Italian marble, and it was bright and airy. Leaving her boots and jacket in an empty space on the hanging rail, Sam sighed. It would have been nice to have this luxurious space to train from, but she had to stand her ground. If she allowed lodgings to sway her then her dad would think that he’d won her back, and that wasn’t going to happen. Not ever. He owed her mom an apology, at the very least, before Sam would even consider allowing him to be a major part of her life again.
“Oh my God! Sam, get in here!” Maya’s voice carried in from the living room. Sam glanced up at Finn. Standing on a step that led to the living room, he shrugged, his gown gaping slightly revealing his toned chest. Sam looked away.
