Tilting her head so she had to look at him, he traced his thumb over her lip.
“Hey,” he murmured, frowning as she stayed quiet. “Talk to me.”
A tear slid down her cheek as she exhaled slowly, a tremble in her breath.
“It’s just different—me and you.” She hesitated. “Everything is different now.”
“Is it?” He wiped the tear away, a knot forming in his stomach.
She shook her head. “You know it is.”
“Sam?” Finn cupped her face. His heart clenched. “Please don’t say that.”
She looked away. “It’s like … it’s like I can just … just be. Does that make sense?”
Finn let out a small, relieved laugh. “Yeah, perfect sense.” He brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “You can always just be with me.”
“I know.” Her fingers spread across his chest, pressing against his heartbeat. “That’s what makes things different.”
“Nah.” He nudged her softly. “It doesn’t, Sam. We always were with each other, only we were, well I was, afraid of being with you like this.”
“This?”
“Yeah, this—in love.”
Sam squealed quietly then laughed. “In love! Oh!”
“I do love you,” Finn said gently. “I meant it when I said it that night. It wasn’t just an in the heat of the moment thing.”
“I love you, too.”
Finn’s chest swelled. She could say those words a million times and he’d never be tired of hearing them. He gathered her up into his arms and sighed deeply. This was perfection. Nothing would ever top this moment. Sam stirred, tension in her body.
“Stay.” He held her more tightly as she moved to get up.
“I don’t want to go,” she said. “But I have to – and so do you. It’s the halfpipe final – for you. Remember?”
Finn’s eyes widened. “Crap! The final. Yes. I was ready to stay here all day. Right, let’s go! Shower!” He sat up and gently pushed her to stand up, unable to not run his eyes over her body at the same time.Damn, she was fine.
Sam laughed, but something in her eyes shifted.Had he done something wrong? How could he fix it?His eyes traveled over her face. He couldn’t bear to think that he might have hurt her. Grasping her hand, he pulled her back down to sit beside him.
“Sam? What’s going on in your head right now?”
“Nothing.” She wrapped her arms around her body but smiled at him. He smiled gently back.
“Sam, tell me what it is. I know you. I can see you’re not okay right now. Don’t leave me worrying about you.”
Sam’s breath stilled. Her eyes hardened as she chewed on her bottom lip. Finn sat up straighter. “Sam—what is it?”
Sam’s body stiffened. She started to say something but stopped. Then she raised her chin and spoke.
“Look, don’t get angry about this, okay.”
He nodded.Of course he was going to get angry. If something had upset her, he’d get damn well fucking angry.
“Before the big air qualie I … I overheard a conversation that I shouldn’t have heard, and it upset me.”
Finn’s fists clenched on the duvet. He worked to unfurl them before she noticed.
