CHAPTER NINETEEN
“And don’t accept drinks from anyone you don’t know.”
“Yes, Ben. I promise no drinks. I won’t smoke and I’ll use protection.”
Ben’s terrified gasp surges through the phone. “Aspen! Don’t tell me about those kind of plans with Finn. He came off as a nice upstanding young man. I would hate to have to kill him.”
I laugh. He might be a mere five years older than me, but Ben definitely has the big brother and father protector part all rolled into one. “Yes, Ben.”
“This is serious, Pen. There are a lot of dangerous people out there. I want to make sure you’re safe. Do you and Finn need a ride?”
What a horrific thought — Finn and I arriving at a charity event in a San Francisco Police cruiser. The thought alone makes me shudder. “No. That’s okay, I'm sure Jake is going to drive us.” I tuck an errant piece of hair behind my ear not used to the smoothness of tonight’s straightened style.
“Well make sure to wear a seatbelt.” He must hear my overdramatic sigh-moan combo at his last comment. “I worry about you, okay kiddo?"
The concern in his voice makes my heart ache. Sure he drives me insane at times, but Ben is the best family a girl could ever ask for. I can’t get upset at him for caring. He’s the one person I have out there worried for me. Well, maybe Marissa too, but she's not concerned about date rape or seatbelts. Her fingers are crossed I don’t trip in my heels or spill food on my dress. She has my best interest at heart.
“I love you too, Ben.”
He ends the call with one final directive, “Have fun, be safe, and text me when you get home tonight.”
Ben’s check in complete, I grab the remote and turn my music up. Mike Posner sings about crying to his mother and I hum along without any fear of breaking Rule 2: No music after 9 p.m. I’m going to miss loud music if my rule-obsessed landlord ever comes home. The thought of Finn no longer living right across the hall is a knife straight to my heart. My breath catches and my feet falter. The fact Finn will one day move out is the topic we don’t talk about. The pink elephant neither of us is willing to address. Eventually we’ll have to deal with it, but for now we’ve allowed him to wander the hall between our homes, his massive intrusion ignored as long as he doesn’t interfere.
I moonwalk into my kitchen and do my best not to catch my feet on the hem of my dress. There’s movement in my peripheral version and I stop, my body rocking forward before I gain my footing again.
My apartment door is open and Finn leans against the frame. He does an exaggerated slow clap and my face heats more each time his hands come together. Dressed in all black with his casual stance, Finn could star in a Bond film. His green eyes stand out as the single spot of light against his black tux and black undershirt. The overall effect steals my breath and I stare for far longer than I should.
I remember to be mortified at what he caught me doing once I get over the effect his look has on me tonight. “Don’t you know how to knock?” I'm never leaving my door unlocked again.
Finn walks to me. “Not if it means I get to see you do the moonwalk.” He kisses me. Rather than pull away I squeeze closer. His hands move around me with both palms resting on my lower back. Finn barely touches me, but the hunger between us makes me desperate for more. Lust stirs in my chest and tightens my throat.
When he finally pushes away, his eyes do a lazy run over my outfit. “This dress is remarkable on you. How will I fend off the men all night long?”
The sequins on the emerald green dress sparkle as I swish the bottom a little with his words. Yes, I bought the one Marissa suggested. She was right. I was wrong. I’ve already heard it.
Actually, I was wrong in two areas. Not only does it look wonderful on me, but it weighs at least twenty pounds with all the sequins instead of my original guess of fifteen. The important part is the floor length gown falls in all the right areas. It’s not puffy and is more sexy than princess, but I feel royal in it.
Finn grabs a strand of my hair and wraps it around his middle finger. “Did you straighten your hair?”
My normally curly hair is straight tonight falling an inch or two below my shoulders. “What do you think?” I don’t take the time to straighten my hair often, but the extra effort is worth it on occasion.
“I love your hair curly. It matches your spunky personality, but this is different and sexy too.” Finn brings his nose down to the top of my head and I swear to God he takes a long breath. “Nice shampoo, it’s new.” Busted, Buddy.
“New conditioner,” I answer. I don’t need to sniff Finn. I smell his signature cologne by standing this close. He must have applied it before coming over because some of it lingers where he touched me during our kiss. “And you don’t look so bad yourself, Mister. This whole black on black image you’re trying out is appealing. Is this your Men in Black look? Should I call you Jay or Kay?” He smiles and turns up an eyebrow but completely ignores my question, which in boy speak means yes.
“I have your tie.” I keep talking when he doesn’t answer. The emerald green tie with black stripes I purchased will not simply match my dress, but complement his eyes and tonight's look as well.
The small white box sits on my kitchen counter and I’m quick to grab it. I can’t take credit for the box, it was all Amanda’s idea. Now with it here I'm glad she helped me out. I hand the box to Finn and watch as he opens it.
He stares into the box but doesn’t reach to move any of my gifts. On top of the green tie is a pair of cufflinks shaped like mini game controllers. I had to run all over town to get them last night. To be honest I thought he’d be happier about them —— maybe show any emotion at all.
His face is still blank so I move to take the box from him. “If you don’t want them, I’ll take them back. You don’t have to wear them. They reminded me of you,” I ramble.
“Nonsense. I love them,” Finn responds and moves the box farther from me. “Help me put them on. The pair I have on now were a pain."
I unclasp the simple, flat round disk pair and slip a controller through each sleeve. The silver of the cufflinks catches the light.
