The suggestion sent a spike of panic through him. “I can’t. Not yet. Brooklyn?—”
“Is fifteen, not five,” Diane reminded him gently. “And from what you’ve told me, she’s a pretty open-minded kid.”
“She is, but some of her classmates aren’t. I’m not going to do anything that could negatively impact her,” Finn insisted, pacing the small office. “Can we talk about this later? I’m in the middle of something.”
“Fine, but we need to discuss it soon. The publicity team is going to start ramping up, and they’ll need decisions.”
After promising to call her back on Monday, Finn ended the call and leaned against the office desk, trying to steady his breathing. The walls of his carefully compartmentalized life were starting to crumble, and he wasn’t sure how to shore them up.
“Finn?” Ollie’s voice from the doorway made him straighten abruptly. “Everything okay?”
“Fine,” Finn said automatically, then caught himself. “Just work stuff. Nothing important.”
That wasn’t the right thing to say. Not only was it the weekend, but almost everyone Finn worked with, including his boss, was here. This was the problem with only being a good liar when it came to guarding his identity and his writing.
Ollie studied him, concern evident in his eyes. “You sure? You look like you saw a ghost.”
The irony of the statement—that the “ghost” was his own alter-ego being discussed—wasn’t lost on Finn. “I’m okay. Really.”
Ollie didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push. Instead, he stepped farther into the office, closing the distance between them slightly.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice soft. “For being here today. For helping with all of this.” He gestured vaguely toward the front of the store. “It means a lot.”
The simple gratitude, so earnest and unguarded, made something in Finn’s chest ache. “You don’t have to thank me every time we see one another.”
“I know. But I want to.” Ollie’s eyes met his, warm and sincere. “I couldn’t do this without you. The project, I mean. If it wasn’t for you, we wouldn’t be able to open the store back up so quickly.”
The slight hesitation, the careful qualification—Finn wondered if Ollie was also dancing around the growing attraction between them, this unnamed current that pulled them together despite all the reasons to keep their distance.
“The store’s important to me too,” Finn said carefully. “And so are you.”
The admission hung between them, not quite a declaration but more than casual friendship. Ollie’s eyes widened slightly, a flush creeping up his neck.
“Oh,” he breathed, the single syllable carrying a weight of recognition. “That’s good. Really good.”
Finn swallowed hard, suddenly aware of how small the office felt with Ollie standing just an arm’s length away. His gaze dropped to Ollie’s lips, slightly parted and curved in a tentative smile. The urge to close that final distance between them crashed over him like a wave, powerful and nearly irresistible.
His hand twitched at his side, wanting to reach out, to touch. To confirm this wasn’t just in his head.
“Finn?” Ollie’s voice had dropped to a whisper, his eyes darkening as they tracked Finn’s expression.
Finn took a half-step forward before catching himself. The renovation plans spread across the desk, the sounds of volunteers chatting in the main room, the mountain of responsibilities waiting for him outside this moment—they all rushed back into his awareness.
“We should probably…” Finn gestured vaguely toward the door, even as everything in him screamed to stay, to find out what would happen if he gave in just this once.
Ollie nodded, though disappointment flickered briefly across his features. “Yeah. They’re probably wondering where we disappeared to.”
They stood there, the air between them charged with possibility, neither quite brave enough to bridge the final gap. Then voices from the main room called Ollie’s name, breaking the spell.
“I’ll be right there,” Ollie called back, his eyes never leaving Finn’s face. He lingered a moment longer, as if memorizing something, before reluctantly turning toward the door.
Finn released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, his heart hammering against his ribs.Not yet,he told himself. Not with so much at stake. But the “yet” echoed in his mind, a promise he wasn’t sure he could keep much longer.
He felt more seen—and more exposed—than he had in years. The careful walls he’d built around his life were developing cracks, letting in light but also vulnerability. It was terrifying. It was exhilarating.
When he finally returned to the main room, people were starting to gather their things to leave. Ollie stood near the door, thanking everyone for coming, his smile bright despite the exhaustion evident in the shadows under his eyes.
Finn watched him from across the room, struck by how easily Ollie had become the center of his thoughts, how naturally they’d fallen into step with each other despite their differences. It felt like standing at the edge of something vast and unknown—terrifying, yes, but also filled with possibility.
