“You’d stand up for her? Protect her? Never betray her?”
Each question shot like an arrow, swift and unrelenting.
“David!” I snapped. “I’m not a teenager anymore—thought we moved on from interrogating my dates until they pissed themselves.” I stabbed him with a look, hoping it’d call him off.
No such luck.
“Of course. Definitely. I would never want to hurt her,” Finley answered each question—words flying back as quick as David’s had come. He straightened, at attempt to look unbothered.
Then . . . silence.
David observed him like a well-seasoned detective waiting for the tell. That one eye twitch, that one flinch. The one that’d give it all away.
I knew that look. David was sensing something—somethingunusual. But he remained quiet, stiffening his spine and squaring his shoulders. He was readying to land the final blow.
David’s mouth opened, then paused. Slowly, the words slipped out, staggered, like a polygraph needle jerking in staccato movements.
“Would. You.Die. For. Her?”
“Don’t answer that,” I retorted quickly, raising a hand up to Finley. “Enough. The vetting process is officially?—”
“Yes.” Finley’s voice sliced clean through mine, impenetrable.
Someone must have snipped the invisible string that pulled David’s brows so tightly together because they eased, suddenly rising.
“Well, then,” David murmured, dipping his head to Finley in a rare gesture of acknowledgement.
My heart palpitated as my eyes landed on David’s. A wary expression ghosted across his face.
Die—as in,literallydie?
David had to go there, didn’t he. Couldn’t reign the overprotectiveness in for one night!
And yet, my mind dissociated for a moment, not being able to process the heaviness of Finley’s answer. He couldn’t have meant it. Heshouldn’thave meant it.
My stomach sunk even further to the floor.
I’d lost my goddamn mind. What the hell was I doing letting Finley into my life like this? Sure, I’d always liked him and there was no denying the pull of attraction. But now feelings were crossing into dangerous territory—territory I had no business being in right now. And worse, it wasn’t just him I’d felt the lines blurring with . . .
Fool. Stupid, fool for believing in romance again.
A warm, teasing smile spread across Finley’s kissable lips. He extended a hand to me.
“Make me the luckiest man in the room, and have the first dance with me?”
Damn it.
Without hesitation, my fingers intertwined with his.
“Got a big morning—don’t stay out too late!”Wyatt’s voicewas lost to the crowd as we worked our way toward the center of the room.
We stopped just in front of the dais. Finley’s palm burned against my back as he pulled me closer. One of my hands rested on his shoulder, the other remaining firmly in his grasp. We swayed in fluid motions to the symphony. A playful wink was the only warning I had before he spun me.
Soft giggles escaped me.
I hadn’t spoken a word and neither did he, but we didn’t have to. We felt the unspoken. Something pivotal changed between us, heavy and lacking the right words to describe. So we danced, clinging to each other as though this moment was some precious, fragile thing. Like it would slip away if we held on too tightly or shatter it if we let go too soon.
His head slowly bent, a breath warmly brushing my cheek. I closed my eyes. My heart fluttered to the rhythm of the music, flapping like a caged bird in my ribcage.
