That hadn’t stopped me from making sure a gaggle of girls were there at his meet tonight. I was shocked by how many messages from his fan club came in wishing him good luck. So of course, I sent each one of them a private message back telling them how much it would mean to me/Fin if they would come cheer me/Fin and Jameson on.
Obviously I included Jameson. He did want a cheer section after all.
I was nothing if I wasn’t a good friend and a granter of wishes.
The pizza came right on time and I devoured three fourths of it by the time the games got underway. Monitoring the games was mindless for me. I didn’t understand anything that was happening with the cards, and so like Fin said, I just made sure nobody was winning tons of money in huge random chunks, or leaving the game abruptly. Basically I had to make sure things happened slowly and progressively. Easy.
By the end of the game, when the big money would be won, Fin would be here and I wouldn’t have to understand what was happening.
I worked on homework in the meantime and took advantage of Fin’s cable. I watched four hours of a Real Housewives of New Jersey marathon before Fin walked through the door. He looked exhausted, but he was freshly showered and dressed in his black sweats and a light blue t-shirt.
I realized after four hours of reality TV that I probably looked worse than he did after an all day track meet in the rain.
Bastard.
I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth checking for drool, food particles or anything else abnormal. I stood up and took a step toward him before taking a step back. I didn’t really know what to do now but suddenly I was extremely nervous.
“Hey,” he greeted. His eyes ran over me, from head to toes. I crossed my arms self-consciously. My v-neck t-shirt was wrinkled and stretched out and my skinny jeans were grease stained from a piece of pepperoni I dropped. Plus after the bowl of ice cream, I snagged one of his hoodies and slipped it on. I thought I would put it back before he got home, but it was so warm and it smelledsogood. All in all, this was not my best effort. But Fin stared at me with heated eyes and a relaxed smile on his face, like he was happy to see me. Like he was happy to come home to me.
Ok, crazy person. That was a brain-jump that should never have happened.
I cleared my throat and said, “Hey.” I fidgeted with the extremely long sleeves of the hoodie. Ugh, this was so awkward.
“How are the games going?” he asked from where he still watching me near the door.
I pulled my hair over my shoulder and ran my fingers through the tangled bottoms. I had to yank my fingers through a couple times, but it was easier than looking Fin in the eye. “Good, I think. I mean, for as much as I understand poker, no one seems to be working together or throwing the game or anything.”
“Good,” he said simply. I felt more than saw his gaze leave me and glance around his apartment. “Did you get enough to eat?”
“Yes,” I blushed deeply. He was going to think I was a pig if I kept this up. “Thank you for all the snacks and pop and stuff. That was really sweet of you.”
He ignored me and walked straight to the kitchen. “And the ketchup? Did you find it?”
“It was kind of hard to miss,” I said in a low voice.
Fin opened the refrigerator and then glanced back at me with raised eyebrows. I blushed deeper. He pulled out the left over pizza and put it on a plate to heat it up. There were only three pieces left and I felt really bad since it started out as a large.
“Is that enough food for you? I could make you a sandwich or something,” I offered out of guilt.
Fin seemed to take a few moments to think that over while he covered his pizza with a paper towel and put it in the microwave. “Ok, I could eat a sandwich.”
I rolled my eyes, but obediently walked into the kitchen and started pulling out bread, lunch meat and cheese. “I only offered out of guilt, I didn’t really think you’d say yes.”
“You offered to make me a sandwich, I wasn’t going to say no,” he laughed from behind me. “Besides, you should feel bad. How can someone so small, eat so much?”
I shrugged a shoulder but didn’t turn around. I had wondered that my whole life. In fact, I was more worried about dropping dead from a heart attack than gaining weight. Not that that stopped me from changing my diet. But, my arteries had reason to be concerned.
“What do you want on it?” I asked from where I was slicing cheese.
“Ketchup,” he answered.
I spun around on my heel, a huge smile plastered from ear to ear. “You like ketchup on your sandwiches too?”
Fin’s lips were twitching, his eyes were crinkled slightly in concern but his face was lit up with happiness. “No, I was just kidding. That can’t be a real thing. I thought you would know I was teasing you.”
My shoulders slumped. “Oh, I should have known.
“It’s just ketchup,” he argued like I shouldn’t be disappointed. And I wasn’t really, I was just hopeful to have met another true-ketchup-lover.
