“Morning.” His lips raise in a lazy smirk. “You gave quite the entertainment a few hours ago. Based on how you’re acting, I’m gonna go ahead and say you don’t remember a blink of it.”
No. I have no recollection of life before drinking my first few shots. I shake my head.
His eyes drop to my chest. Mine obviously do too and catch on my top. I collect the blanket over my legs and draw it up to cover myself.
And then it all comes back to me.
The Landing Strip.
Bret.
All the shots Olive fed me.
Being on the stage.
Yolga, her big boobs, and her elbow.
Embarrassment blossoms on my cheeks so extensively I feel them warm. “I don’t understand.” I shake my head. “How do you know?” Between the hangover and the confusion, my head hurts. I don’t get why I’d get on top of the stage and start prancing around. How I’d ever be okay with stripping down to my undergarments for a crowd of people.
Those aren’t the kind of things I do.
Sylvia, yes.
Me? No.
Finn rests back in the chair as if he can’t be bothered, but I’ll give him props for looking me in my eye the entire time. His legs stretch out, and he rests his hand lazily on his thigh. His tongue peeks out and wets his bottom lip. Almost as if he’s thinking about what he should say. Howmuchhe should say.
“Finn?” I press.
“I sort of own this place.”
“You own The Landing Strip?”
I mean, it is in Harrison Heights, but I’ve never looked at Finn and thought,Oh, he looks like a businessman.Because he doesn’t. He’s always dressed in dark clothes. Loads of tattoos cover his skin, swirling in this direction and that. He has a sharp tongue and an even darker persona.
His face pulls tight. “Doesn’t matter but you should stay away from this place. Away from Harrison Heights. Keep yourself in lah-dee-da land on the other side of the river.”
I shove my phone back into my little purse, realizing that Finn is absolutely correct. We never should’ve crossed the Sycamore Memorial Bridge last night. Being here, with Finn, is just going to make me think about Colson, and I don’t wantthat when I’m not even sure if Olive is okay.
“What the hell are you doing?” asks Finn as he watches me flip the covers off my body and stand.
“What do you think? I’m leaving. You just told me I shouldn’t be here.”
“Sit down.”
“I’m going to go find Olive.”
“Violet, sit your fucking ass down. You’re already here. Have been all night. If something bad was going to happen to you or your sister, don’t you think it would’ve happened by now?”
I pause and match his stare. “Honestly, how would I know? There seems to be a lot that I don’t know floating around. Colson doesn’t think I should trust you.”
He grimaces, the muscles on the side of his face pulling tight, but recovers from it quickly. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. I know how much you mean to him.”
My heart seizes at the idea of outsiders seeing the love Colson and I share.
“You’re lucky I was here last night. Otherwise, you probably would’ve been waking up in another room with some random guy hovering over you, asking for a lot more than I fucking am.”
The thought makes bile rise up my throat.
