Grease dripped from my chin and I reached blindly behind me for a napkin. I might have been a little aggressive with my bite, but what was done was done and mortification swept over me while I patted the counter searching desperately for the pile of napkins I knew were back there.
“Need some help?” Fin asked smugly.
I grunted around the bite still being chewed in my mouth. Deciding I didn’t need to keep letting Fin decide how things happened between us, I turned my palm around so that the back of my hand rested on the counter and tapped my fingers against the slate impatiently.
Fin laughed softly at me, but placed the napkin in my hand. I had tilted my head back at this point to keep the grease from running down my chin and with napkin in hand swiped at it frantically.
“That is maybe the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Fin intoned dryly.
I waved my middle finger at him and then made my way back to his desk. I sat down in front of the open Facebook account,hisopen Facebook account, and went back to work.
“You’re not going to get my keyboard all greasy are you?” he asked on a wince, still watching me from the kitchen counter.
“Trust me, if there is any sticky substance on your keyboard, it’s not from my pizza,” I bit out. The truth was, I aspired to be a lady, calm, collected and well-mannered, but I had grown up with three brothers. If Fin was going to push my buttons, he would get results. That was just the nature of the beast.
“What does that mean?” He demanded on a huff.
“Your messages? I’ve heard you were a man-whore, packaged with all kinds of fun diseases but,” I squinted at the screen, “Laney Brennan seems willing to take a chance. Which good for you, I mean as long as you’re safe and all.”
“What?” Fin asked in a panicked kind of way that made me certain he understood.
“Or, um Sophia Kesslar? She is also interested in all those acquired man-whore skills. Careful though, she might come with her own set of diseases based on this picture she just sent you.”
Fin sprinted across the room and dove in front of me. With a couple quick clicks of the mouse he shut off the messenger completely and finally removed his body from lying on top of my lap. He stared down at me, face red with either embarrassment or anger, I couldn’t tell.
“Listen, before you give me the you’re-that-kind-of-guy speech, let’s come to the agreement that I can’t stop them from messaging me. I didn’t ask for either of their…. propositions,” he winced on the word and gave a nervous glance back at the computer. “That was all them.”
“Fin, honestly,” I sighed. “I don’t care whether you propositioned them, or they propositioned you or whatever. It’s none of my business. Plus, I had class last semester with Sophia Kesslar and Iknewshe wore spanx under everything, I knew it. She should really cut back on the party-girl-lifestyle. That beer gut is not doing anything for her.”
Fin stared down at me, his eyes narrowed, arms crossed. “That doesn’t bother you? Really?” He jutted his chin at his Facebook account and I had to stifle the urge to roll my eyes.
“Like I said, you’re after school activities are your business, not mine. I’m just here to pay off someone else’s debt so you can go back to running your drug cartel.”
“Are you always this feisty?”
“Actually no,” I said around a bite of pizza. “Never.”
“So you didn’t give Colton any attitude?” he walked back over to the counter, retrieved his pizza and then settled in next to me as if we were really about to discuss my ex-boyfriend.
“No,” I grunted. “For Colton, I was the perfect girlfriend. Well, I thought I was the perfect girlfriend, he thought I was the boring girlfriend.”
“What an asshole,” Fin growled.
“Mmm-hmmm,” I agreed.
“So, I’m assuming you were pretty heartbroken then?” Fin set his plate down and leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. His dark brown eyes were open and gentle. He really wanted to hear this.
Except this was way too reminiscent of how I got myself into the mess with Colton to begin with.
“I guess,” I replied casually. I set my pizza down next to Fin’s but sat up straight. I could feel a wall clicking into place over my heart and careful tension return to my shoulders. I was so not falling for the white knight thing again.
“You were in love with him?” Fin pressed, obviously prying.
I let out an unexpected laugh. “No, oh god, no.” I shook my head, and laughed some more. Fin’s expression had gone from gentle to challenging, and his jaw ticked with tension. Suddenly I felt the need to explain myself completely. Gone was the careful protection of my emotions. If he wanted the truth, I was going to give it to him. “There was an attachment. I cared for Colton. I still do to some degree. But I didn’tlovehim.”
“Then why did you stay with him for three years?” Fin demanded, leaning closer to me.
“I didn’t say I could never love him, just that I didn’t yet. Maybe you fall in love every night Fin
