“That’s deep, for you.”
“For me?!” Finn gasped. “Ouch, Sam—that hurt.”
“No, it didn’t.” She laughed. “You know what does hurt? Coming down that slope, thinking you’ve just outperformed your competitors, then catching an edge and getting slammed—that hurts.”
“Well, yeah,” Finn said. Frowning, he carried on. “But life can slam you pretty hard too if you’re not ready for it—or even if you are.”
“Finn, is there something you want to talk about?” Sam kept the pace. “You’re future-tripping!”
“You started it!”
“Huh! I … yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Sam stopped in her tracks as they came upon the food market. “I guess seeing Leo and Becky make such a big move got to me.”
“In what way?” Finn took her arm and led her toward the first food stand where the menu seemed reasonable but was almost all pizza.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Sam said quietly. “What’s next for Becky? She’s twenty-seven and Leo is twenty-nine. A big wedding? Babies?” She pulled a face. “As if Leo wasn’t baby enough. She won’t keep that sponsorship if she gets pregnant.”
“Sam, that’s low.” Finn moved them on away from the pizza stand. “Let’s try over here.” His stomach rumbled.
“You are never not hungry.” Sam smiled up at him as he sniffed the air.
“Do you smell that? Hot dogs!” Finn pointed his nose in the air.
“Talk about being a baby.” Sam rolled her eyes.
Finn lowered his nose. “What?”
“All men, they’re all babies. All they want is someone who can level them up.”
“Level them up?” Finn frowned. “What does that even mean?”
Sam sighed. “God, Finn, you’re gonna hate me for this—I don’t want to get into it.”
“No, get into it,” Finn said. He stared down at her. “We can talk about anything, can’t we?”
“Oh, Finn, I don’t know—I don’t want to fight.” Sam grimaced. “And I know it’snot all menbut … No. I’m not having this conversation. Not with you—I like you too much.”
She made to walk away but he caught her arm.
“Not fair, Sam, you can’t say something like that and leave it hanging. Just tell me. I’m a big boy now—I can take it.”
“That’s just it. You’re all just big boys.” Sam looked up at him, a crease forming between her eyebrows. Whatever was going on in her head was clearly upsetting her. Finn took a breath and relaxed his shoulders.
“I’m sorry. I really want to understand what you mean. I won’t take it personally.”
Sam’s eyebrows relaxed and she gave a little smile. “You promise?”
“Pinkie promise.” Finn held up his little finger. Sam wrapped her finger around his.
“It’s like this,” she started. “Leo is a pain in the ass; we all know that. But for some reason Becky has fallen for him. He seems great, I get that, but I see him at home and he’s not all that. The man doesn’t even do his own laundry for crying out loud.”
Finn nodded. “Go on.”Mental note, make sure Sam knows I can use the laundry machine.
“Becky is ambitious. We’ve had conversations about the future.” Sam squeezed her pinkie finger tighter around Finn’s. “She doesn’t want to give this all up. I’m not surprised about the deal, I suppose. I’d have taken it, if it’d been offered to me, without a second thought for her.”
“She won’t have to give this up,” Finn said.
“She will, because Leo is going to wear her down. He’s going to get his own way, and she’ll give in to him and when he’s used her all up, he’ll move on, and her life will be left in pieces.”
