MADDISON
When I wake up again,the first thing I notice is that my head is resting on what feels like someone’s lap. I roll my head to the side and peer up at Finn’s pretty blue eyes.
“Hey, beautiful,” he says to me with a weary smile. He still looks beat up, and it also appears as if we’re in the same concrete room as when we blacked out. “How are you feeling?” he adds, tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear.
“Fine… I think. My body is a little achy, but I feel more coherent.” I blink a few times before gradually sitting up.
He helps me, keeping his hand on my back as I do. “Move slowly, okay? You’ve been out of it for a while.”
I peer around the room. “Have you figured out where we are yet?”
He shakes his head. “No one’s been in here since the last time you were awake.”
“How much time has passed?”
“I have no idea.”
I scoot back until my back is resting against the wall. “This is crazy. Why would Will take us and lock us in this room? He said something about a bounty, but not like the northside kind.”
“So Will did take us then?” Finn asks, and I nod. “I was out of it when I was dragged out of the car, so I wasn’t sure.”
“He’s doing it for money. That much I do know.” I swallow thickly.
Finn draws his knees up until they’re bent in front of him. “Yeah, it wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to kidnap me and hold me for ransom. It’s just the first time they’ve succeeded.
I shake my head as I recall what Will said right before I blacked out. “I don’t think it’s just about you. They definitely wanted me, probably because, well, you know.”
He presses his finger to his lips and shakes his head. “Careful what you say. I have a feeling we’re being watched, which makes me wonder if there are hidden cameras in here.”
I shudder at the idea that we’re a peeping tom show for some creep, but it’s not a first for me. “One time, a few years ago, one of my mom’s creepy, perverted friends put a camera in my room. I’m not sure how long it was in there when I found it, but it was so messed up. I think my mom—Well, my fake mom anyway, let him do it. I guess I should probably get used to calling that awful woman Julie, since that’s her name.” When I glance at him, he looks appalled. “What? Do you not think I should?”
He shakes his head, his gaze never straying from me. “No, you should. But that story you just told me about the cameras…” He pauses for a beat. “That’s awful.”
“I know, but it’s kind of been my life.” I shrug while staring down at the floor.
The chain hooked around his wrist drags against the concrete as he scoots toward me, fixes his finger underneath my chin, and angles my head to look at him.
“Sweetheart, even if that’s been your life, that’s not okay,” he says in the gentlest voice.
I press my lips together as breathing becomes complicated. Unable to deal with the emotions surfacing inside me, I deflect. “Sweetheart? Seriously?”
He gives a half-shrug. “I figure since we have no idea what’s going to happen to us, I should get to call you what I’ve wanted to call you since the first time I laid eyes on you.”
Puzzlement webs through me. “You’ve wanted to call me sweetheart since the first time we met?”
“Yes,” he replies without missing a beat. “And before you say it, because I know you will, I don’t go around calling women sweetheart. I’m not really a pet name sort of guy. You, however, I’ve wanted to call you all sorts of nicknames since the first day I saw you, and you opened those pretty full lips of yours to basically tell me to go fuck myself.”
“You liked that?” I question, trying not to squirm at his confession.
But what does that mean?
Does that mean he likes me?
“Of course I did,” he confesses shamelessly. “You’re the first woman who’s never swooned over me because of who I am. I’m the unbetrothed Averson, so if they can get me to marry them, they get social status and wealth. I’ve never known who liked me for me, which has basically led to me sleeping around and being a total manwhore.”
“Finn,” I say with a bit of pity in my tone. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been so mean to you about your manwhore ways, but I didn’t really think about why you’re like that. I was so judgmental.”
He dismisses me with a shake of his head. “I like that you judged me. It’s part of why I like you.”
