Maybe it’s messed up, but my heart skips a beat at the thought of her being jealous. Nevertheless, I’m quick to put her at ease. “The blonde is my cousin Asher’s wife. She works on the strip, so we’d grab lunch sometimes.”
“Is Asher the soccer player?”
“Was. He coaches the professional team in Vegas now.”
She goes back to my phone. “I’m not judging, but why sex workers? Is it just easier since you know there’s no expectations with them?”
“Pretty much. To them, I’m just a job assignment,” I say.
“And the models?”
“They aren’t looking for anything serious.” I shrug.
“What about the woman who snuck into your apartment?”
“We met at a party. I got paranoid after that experience.”
She glances up from my phone. “Is that why you’ve never had sex without a condom?”
“That, and I don’t trust anyone. The thought of getting some random woman pregnant and being stuck with them forever is not appealing.”
She frowns. “But you and I?—”
“I know,” I interrupt, cupping her face. “I don’t mind being stuck with you for an eternity.”
The surprise on her face as she searches my eyes kills me. Ilean in and kiss her again just because I can, and fuck, what a privilege. She goes back to my phone. After searching and searching for something she’ll never find, she tosses it on the bed and lays her head back down. I do the same and turn when she faces me.
“Do you think you still would have pursued me if we’d gone all the way at Onyx that night?”
That’s something I think about often, and always come up with the same answer. “I think so. You’ve always been an outlier. No one else exists when you’re around.”
“Finn,” she whispers, blinking fast.
I smooth her hair away from her face. “Are you going to tell me not to say things like that?”
“No.” She scoots closer. “I was going to tell you that I love you.”
For a moment, time stops. My heart feels like it’s going to burst in my chest. The emotion is so overwhelming—so powerful—that I’m not sure I’ll survive it. How can anyone? I pull her against me and search her face for a sign that she’s joking, that she’s going to take it back. Because even though I knew I felt that way, and I had a feeling she might, hearing her say it is unreal.She’sunreal.
“No one’s ever said that to me,” I manage to say despite the emotion that clogs my throat.
Her smile is slow and beautiful. “Then I’ll make sure to tell you every single day.”
Fuck.I shut my eyes trying to regain a semblance of composure. When I open them, I find her watching me with that warmth I want to cocoon myself in.
“I love you, Josslyn,” I say, smiling when her eyes widen as if she wasn’t expecting to hear the words from me. “I love you so fucking much.”
I kiss her again, wishing we could stay in this bubble forever.
53
JOSSLYN
I’m trying to follow the direction of the man’s screams as I run through the corn maze, but I hear him everywhere and it’s impossible to know what direction to go in. He yells again, as if he’s in agony, and I pick up the pace.
“Josslyn! Josslyn! Get away! Leave!” the man says in guttural moans.
My ankle rolls when I step on an uneven surface, and my foot gets caught on the next. My hands and knees break my fall and I look around in the dark, trying to figure out what’s beneath me. I push myself into a crouch and realize it’s rope. Manila rope, like the kind my father had in his garage. Like the kind he used…
