“Shit,” he curses.
“Let’s talk about this,” I say before the situation blows up. “Let’s go for a walk or something.”
Finn doesn’t move, and I wait for him to put up a fight or punch me square in the face. Neither happens when I walk out of my bedroom door, and he follows. We silently walk to the beachfront and sit on the stone wall.
I glance at him as he stares out at the ocean, shaking his head over and over. “Have you been sneaking around behind my back, hoping I don’t find out?”
“No. We were giving it time. We knew your recovery was more important and neither of us wanted to disrupt your progress.”
Finn scoffs. “So you lied to me?”
“Oh god, Finn.” I close my eyes. “We just knew how you’d react.”
“Like what?”
“Like this.”
His eyes simmer, and even though he’s calmer than I expected, I can see the betrayal in his gaze. We shouldn’t havekept it from him for this long, but we both agreed that we didn’t want to set him off before he had the chance to settle.
I want Ivy to be my girlfriend. I want her to visit us at university. I want all of it, and I don’t want to lose Finn because of it. I want them both. But I know he won’t accept it—not right away.
“A brother who is worried for his sister?” he grumbles.
My face recoils from his harsh words, and my chest turns to stone. “If you think I’d ever hurt Ivy, then you don’t know me at all. We met before I came here for the summer. Our paths crossed before you got the chance to introduce us. We didn’t meet because of you.”
Finn’s hands tremble in front of him, his forehead creasing.
“Wait—” His head shakes adamantly. “You knew each other before I introduced you?”
“Yes.”
“And you both just pretended in front of me?”
“I didn’t know how to react,” I confess. “Neither of us did, okay? I didn’t know she was your sister at the time.”
Finn scoffs. “Would that have stopped you?”
I pause for a moment. “No,” I say eventually.
I bite the inside of my cheek as I watch him. When he says nothing more, I decide to open up my heart and be honest. “She makes me happy. Isn’t that what you want to hear? She is a fucking amazing girl and the way she has made me feel over the last few months is genuinely indescribable. This hasn’t been easy for her, she didn’t let me in until recently.”
He scowls at me. “What are you talking about?”
“For months, she pushed me away and denied our connection, afraid of what you’d think. She didn’t want to upset you. She ignored her own happiness because she was worried about how it would affect you. She had your best interests atheart. But I told her that she needs to do things for herself, not for anyone else’s validation,” I say, dropping my tone.
He looks at the ground, jaw clenching.
“Do you think I wanted this to happen? Do you think I wanted to keep this from you? I’ve felt guilty these last few months. But when I finally saw Ivy step out of the shell I know she’s been in for the last few years, I couldn’t bring myself to care anymore. Because you know what? She’s happy. She’s finally letting that light inside her shine like it always should have.” My chest rumbles with all the emotions that I’m pouring out. “And I know I can make her happy. Isn’t that what you want for her?”
Finn meets my eyes. His mouth opens once and then twice.
A wave of uncertainty washes over me when he looks like he’s about to give me an ultimatum. My stomach churns at the thought, and I tighten my hands into fists.
“If you make me choose between you, then I automatically pick her,” I state with all seriousness.
He blinks rapidly and then furrows his brows at me. “I would never make you choose. I just can’t—” He abruptly stops. “This isn’t something that I can accept and be fine with straight away.”
“Because of what happened with Ben?”
