I hear his swallow. “I’m going to find someone that I know you’ll approve of.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“It will be. You’re under the impression that you need someone to teach you how to date, but you already know how. The issue has never been you, Bree. It’s just the shitty men you’re choosing to waste your nights with. I guarantee once you’re out with someone you’ll enjoy spending time with, you’ll actually have a good time.”
The idea of that sours my stomach more than it excites me. It sounds easy enough, yet still wrong.
“What kind of guy is it that I’ve been looking for?” I ask too quickly.
The hand on my lower back eases off slightly. I take that as a polite request to back off but gasp when Finn grumbles low in his throat and shakes his head against my temple. His arm coils around my back, keeping me anchored in place as I flush all the way down to my toes. A darker, dirtier burn sparks in my core, making my vision swim.
He smells so fucking good. Like smoke and spices with a subtle hint of something deeper, warmer. I curl my fingers into the back of his T-shirt, pulling ever so slightly.
Rasping his words against the back of my ear, his warm breath glides over the backs of my piercings. “One who isn’t going to get offended by your blunt humour and who doesn’t see your success as a mark against his, but as a reason to be proud.Someone who sees you as a prize and will stop at nothing to feel worthy of you.”
“Worthy,” I echo in disbelief. “Expecting those things of any man is going to lead to nothing but disappointment.”
“Isn’t that how you see yourself, Aubrey? Because it should be.”
I roll my lips and grow almost loopy when they ghost across his skin. “I know what I’m worth. But it’s not wise to expect that same appreciation from others. It will only lead to disappointment.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I guarantee every guy who’s ever passed you on the street has felt the force that is Aubrey Merrick. You’ve just never gone out with one who can recognize who you are and what you deserve with the confidence of knowing that they could give it to you. That’s what I’m going to help with, because you deserve that, Bree. It kills me to hear you doubt yourself when I’ve spent the last twenty years watching you become who you are now and being so damn proud.”
Emotion builds behind my eyes again. I force a soft laugh before sniffing and extracting myself from his hold. I don’t get more than a few inches away before he’s pinning me in place with an open, warm stare. Layer by layer, I let him slip inside my mind and search through the emotions I don’t know how to put into words.
It’s never been as scary letting Finn in as it is with everyone else. Maybe it’s how long we’ve been friends or the way he’s seldom judged me for anything in all our years of friendship. Either way, he’s always been the exception, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
“You’re trying to make up for your not-so-easy, easy first throw,” I tell him, slowly closing off my gaze.
His wink makes my toes curl in my sneakers. “You know me so well.”
“If you really think that you can find me someone good to go out with, then I’ll trust you. But I’m only doing this one more time, Finn. Then I guess I’ll have to hire someone or something. It’s only a matter of time before Spencer slithers back into my office and pokes me about my supposed boyfriend. I need something to be able to tell him.”
Fucking Spencer.
It’s a miracle he hasn’t already been knocking down my office door and bugging me about my “boyfriend.” He’s got to smell the blood in the water by now.
“One last shot. If I can’t make it work, then you can bill me your fake boyfriend’s hourly fees.”
“How generous,” I deadpan, slipping free of him completely.
What’s really only a foot of space between us feels like a chasm. I itch to jump right back over it but refuse myself, knowing better than to give in to whatever is going on with me right now.
“I know. Now, get your perky ass back on home plate so we can play some ball.”
“We both know we couldn’t play an actual game to save our lives. When’s the last time you had to hit a ball?”
He scowls at me, but the glimmer of humour in his eyes ruins his façade. “Probably the same time you had to throw one.”
“Touché.”
Finn moves around me toward the mound, and I take the opportunity to shake my shoulders out, hoping it’ll cleanse my mind at the same time. My hopes crash and go up in roaring orange flames when I twist and look at him again, like there aren’t a million other things to stare at around us. I bend and snag the bat from the dirt before taking uneven steps to home plate. Blinking repeatedly, I finally peel my eyes away and glare at the red dirt.
“Let’s get this over with. How many balls do I have to miss before we can leave?” I ask, lifting the bat over my shoulder.
“Ten sound good enough?”
I inhale and then force the air out of my lungs as I nod. “Fine.”
