Finn raised a brow. “What made you ask that?”
“I don’t know. I just thought about our argument back at the bar and realized now that we’re in a relationship, there might be some more of those in the future.”
“Probably.” He shrugged, unbothered by the possibility.
“That doesn’t make you nervous? It doesn’t worry you that our relationship could complicate things during streams?” I probed. It sure made me anxious. I didn’t argue with people. That was most likely because I tried to keep a smile on my face. But now that was changing—for the better. I was going to stand up for myself. I was expressing emotions, other than happiness, thanks to him.
“No.” He squeezed my hand. “No matter how mad at me you get, I’m not going to leave you hanging. We’re a team, Naomi. A good one. No matter what happens between us, I’m going to be there for you. I know you’ll do the same for me. No matter how big the argument is, we’ll find a way to work it out. We’ll find our way back to each other.”
My chest warmed with so much joy I thought I’d burst. He was right. We’d find our way back to one another. We’d proved it this semester. Despite everything standing between us—including our own personalities—here we were, walking through our college campus, hand in hand, with melted ice cream, a group of silly friends, and the entire morning ahead of us.
I bumped my shoulder against his and nudged my chin to the sky. “We officially stayed out all night. Sun’s coming up.”
“Very irresponsible of us,” Finn pretended to disapprove as he looked at the sky.
“But fun.”
He nodded and looked over at me. “Very fun.”
I kissed him. Our lips were sweet and cold from the ice cream. Finn’s arm around my waist kept me warm. I moaned under his touch and that made him smile against my lips.
Never in a million years did I think I could make a grump like Finn kiss me with a grin. But I had. I returned the smile and my heart swelled at the thought of this only being our beginning. This kiss reminded me that our brightest days were ahead.
THE END
Epilogue
Finn
“Ican’tbelieveyoutwo hid this from us.” Lincoln stretched out on my bedroom floor as he complained. “From me. I thought we were closer than this.”
“Why are you making it sound like a personal attack?” I asked as I finished tying together the cords to all of Naomi’s electronics. We’d moved her streaming set-up into my room earlier this week because now that it was the dead of winter, downstairs felt like a freezer.
“Nothing about our online life is a personal attack,” I added.
“Yeah, well, not being included in some chapters of your love story makes me feel like I’ve missed out,” he said.
Naomi laughed as she plopped down on my office chair. “Aw, Lincoln.”
“Don’t ‘aw’ him,” I warned, only half-joking. “He’ll develop a complex.”
“Too late.” Lincoln let out an exaggerated sigh. “Complex developed. I officially feel left out of this relationship.”
“As you should,” I grumbled, and handed Naomi her headset. She murmured a ‘thank you’ and I bent down to give her a quick kiss. My chest warmed at the feel of her warm lips against mine. I was tempted to beg her to cancel tonight’s stream and kick Lincoln out immediately. But I kept my mouth shut. I could hold myself together for another hour or so.
“What are we doing in here?” Henrik peeked his head into the room.
Wonderful, more company.
“Watching Naomi stream to her thousands of followers she never told us about,” Lincoln said.
"It's only a couple hundred," Naomi told them, looking a little shy about the number.
“You guys aren't doing anything but leaving,” I said.
“Finn’s her personal guard dog,” Lincoln explained when Henrik frowned in confusion. I shot Lincoln a look. He backtracked and said, “Sorry, I mispronounced stream moderator.”
“Oh, right.” Henrik’s lackluster response triggered Lincoln’s sixth sense.
