Her slim shoulders rose and fell in an exaggerated shrug. “I’ll give you a kidney in a heartbeat, but a hug? You’re better off trying to take an organ that I don’t have a duplicate of.” Twisting around, she glanced over her shoulder to where Langston and West stood a ways away, allowing us some space to talk without their protective hovering. “And I think you’ll be too busy with those two to miss me. I’m happy for you, you know that, right?”
I nodded with a tight smile.
“Good. And I’m happy for me, because I chose the over on the bet we had going on which means I won some decent cash.” Shewobbled on her feet at my playful shove. “But seriously, you’re not mad, are you, at my leaving? You understand why I have to do this, right, for me?”
When I’d cornered her last week after the meeting, she was vague about her reasons for leaving, but today she opened up during the trip from Anchor Bay to Anchorage. Her flight left in a couple of hours to Portland, where she would catch another flight to California. It worked perfectly since we had planned to stop over in Anchorage for some wedding shopping, so she hitched a ride with us.
“I get needing space—believe me, that’s how I ended up in Anchor Bay. But I still don’t understand why you need it from Dax, your best friend?”
Adjusting her grip around the thick canvas handle of her duffel, she shifted to toss it over her shoulder, staring at the busy dock at my back. “The mess between Dax and me is complicated. He doesn’t know what he wants from me, and until he figures that out, I can’t stick around, allowing him to confuse me in the process. We’ve been friends for so long that I’m just one of the guys to him, but I’m not. Until I’m gone, he won’t see me for what I am.”
“And what’s that?” I asked, chafing my hands up and down my arms to chase away the chill from the wind whipping off the water.
“I might be tough, can hold my own in a fight, outfly him, and burp the alphabet?—”
“Ew,” I laughed.
“—but I’m still a woman who wants to be soft every now and then. To be smothered with comfort and protected so I can, at least for a short amount of time, let my defenses down. I want flowers, damnit. And chocolate and a bubble bath with candles lit along the edge, not another invite to come over for beers and watching the game. I love that stuff, don’t get me wrong, but Ialso want a chance at the other side of me too.” She blew out a slow breath. “I need a break from all this, from him, to figure out what I want next. And to get laid without the whole damn town knowing about it.”
We shared a conspiring smile and laugh, knowing that was the truth. Small towns were both a blessing and a curse.
“Just call me and let me know how you’re doing, please. I need to know my friend is okay.”
Finley’s chuckle was deep and mischievous. “Oh, Juno, I’m headed to Coronado Island where I can watch the SEALs play from my brother’s back porch. If I’m lucky, a riptide will sweep me out to sea one morning when a group is running by, and they can all jump in and save me, then give me mouth-to-mouth one by one.”
“So you’ve thought a lot about this, clearly.”
Without giving her a second to react, I wrapped my arms around her waist in a tight hug. Her standing utterly stiff, barely breathing in my hold, only made my smile grow wider. A fake, almost pained grin was plastered on her face when I pulled back.
After several more goodbyes and promises to keep each other updated, Finley started toward the bus stop, where she would wait for her ride to the airport. As I wiped at my wet cheeks, unable to look away, a heavy arm draped over my shoulders, drawing my attention from the corner where she’d disappeared. I gazed up at Langston.
“She’ll be good. Finley needs time away from that idiot. Maybe it will help him pull his head out of his ass.”
“Maybe,” I murmured. “She said something that made me see her differently, and I think maybe it would do Dax good to know. Maybe help him see what she’s afraid to admit.”
“What’s that?” West questioned, coming to stand at my other side, interlacing our fingers and raising them to his lips to kisseach knuckle. I smiled at our joined hands, loving his open display of affection and claiming.
“That a strong woman like Finley, tough and brave and one of the guys, still longs to be treated and protected the way a woman deserves. Finley can handle herself, yes, but she wants to be with someone where she knows she doesn’t have to. That when she’s with her person, she can be soft and carefree.”
Langston rubbed his jaw. “You got all that from her saying she needed distance from Dax?”
I bit my lip to stifle my smile. “She said more than that, but yeah, that’s a summary.” I stared back down the sidewalk. “I just hope she comes back.”
“She will,” West said with a confirming nod. “Now, she might bring someone with her, which will be a whole different shit show, but I think she’ll be back sooner than we expect.”
A gust of chilled air rolled off the sea behind us, making me shiver. Langston grumbled something about me not bringing warm enough clothes as he shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.
Pushing up to my tiptoes, I pressed a soft kiss to the underside of his jaw.
“My hero. Thank you. Now, to the hotel, then shopping?”
“Hotel, bar, then shopping,” West corrected as we started down the sidewalk. “I’ll need some liquid courage to shop for myself. Langston is damn lucky he has Mattie.”
“When do I get to meet this Mattie?” I asked, glancing up at Langston.
“We can FaceTime whenever you want. You can meet my nephew then too, but she’s not planning a trip up here soon. She’s never been to Anchor Bay; we normally meet in Anchorage if she comes for a visit, but mostly I go to Vegas for a couple of days. It’s easier for me since I don’t have a kid.”
“She stopped by to see me in the hospital,” West added. “I think she’d just gotten off a cruise or something like that.”
