“Yeah me, and Ryan, and better than she’s allowed herself to ever have. She goes for the shit guys that show her an ounce of attention like that’s all she’s worthy of. So I guess the point was to show her that. The point was to make her realize that there are guys out there that would love to have a girl like her in their life. That she needs to stop fucking settling for scraps.”
Kendall holds my stare, and I refuse to look away.
“Are you one of those guys, Finn?” she asks, again I stare back. “Or would you be okay if another guy swooped in, one that loved her and comforted her, a man that she fell hard for. Would you be okay sitting back watching that happen? Would you be able towatch her build a life with another guy knowing that if you had just pulled your head out of your ass that man could have been you?”
“She deserves it,” I say even though her words make my chest grow tight. I know I wouldn’t be okay with it. But somehow saying all those things right now to them felt wrong.
“Stop lying to yourself.” Lexi is the one who steps forward surprising the hell out of me. “You aren’t that good of an actor, Finn. I may not know you as well as Bennett, but you’ve hung out at our house enough that I've picked up on a few things. You pretend that you are so hard and angry, but I’ve seen you with Sophie. Every time you were near her there was a shift and the Finn, precancer diagnosis, resurfaced. You’ve changed, you’re pissed off more than you’re not but in those moments, you were happy. You were gentle and sweet, maybe a little mysterious and I can’t let myself believe that was all an act. So what we are standing here telling you now is that if any part of that wasn’t for show, even a small part of you ever thought for a second that being with her wasn’t all a game, then you need to wake up. You need to tell her, because right now I’m pissed off at you that you ever threw this idea out in the first place. I am pissed at you for taking a friend of mine that was already vulnerable and only destroying her more. So fix it, or don’t do a damn thing and walk away, whatever. But do something besides hide behind the anger and disappointment. Stop being an asshole and be a fucking man!”
She spins around and walks out and all I can do is stare after her. All the rest of the ladies do the same thing too, I’m sure feeling as surprised as I am.
“Are we sure she isn’t the pregnant one?” Sutton laughs. “She just went from zero to one hundred in a matter of seconds.”
“Pissing off Lexi takes a lot,” Adley says in amazement.
“But nothing she said wasn’t true,” I confess, regaining the attention of all of them.
“So what are you going to do about it?” Jillian asks.
“What I should have done yesterday?” What I should have done instead of suggesting this crazy fake dating idea? “Maggie,” I say and she waves me off.
“We got it, boss,” she assures me. “Please go do whatever it is you need to do to fix this mood of yours. Because if you keep this up we can’t be held accountable for our actions.”
Adley laughs. “Oh I like her.” She holds up her fist for a bump from Maggie and I roll my eyes then instantly smile thinking of Sophie.
“She’s at home, in her pajamas, on some binge of dumb ass movies. She’s talking to the television telling the women to run, before they are sucked in by the man that will in the end turn out to be nothing but a prick.” She holds out a key and I take it from her. “I’m sure she will want to kill me for this, but there is no way she is going to get her ass out of bed to answer the door. Just don’t make me regret helping you out on this.”
I take it from Jillian and then reach behind the counter and grab my own keys.
Each one of them pats me on the back as I walk by like some go get ’em initiation.
This may backfire in my face, but I’m willing to take the risk.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sophie
I hearthe sound of the front door closing and curl into my blankets a little tighter. Turning my back to the door I turn up on the volume and hope Jillian chooses to give me my space.
I want to be alone, I want to ignore today and tomorrow before I have to pick myself back up and do real life stuff starting again on Monday. For now I want to wallow and I want to feel sorry for myself. It’s the path I’ve chosen, at least for the next forty-eight hours. I don’t want to be judged for my choices either.
But when the creaking of my bedroom door indicates she made the wrong choice I turn over and stare at her. Only it’s not Jillian filling my doorway, coming in to somehow pull me out of my funk. Instead it’s Finn, leaning against the doorframe, with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Can we talk now?"
“I don’t really have anything to say that I haven’t already said.” He holds my stare, still not approaching or retreating. I wanthim to turn around and walk away. Emotionally I don’t have it in me right now to have this conversation, but he remains where he is.
“I have a lot I need to say,” he finally adds, pushing off the wall and stepping into the room further. “Things I should have said from the start, and regret that I didn’t.”
He sits down on the edge of the bed. The smell of his cologne fills the space and I pull the blanket up to cover my nose a bit, trying to hide the fact that I love the scent so much.
“I owe you an explanation and an apology.”
“No, you don’t,” I say, trying to stop him. “It was all fake, some show we put on for an idiot that I regret ever wasting my time on. This thing with you and I, it was never real.”
I pause, trying to back my way out of this situation. I didn’t want to peddle through it again, I wanted to forget all about it. “It wasn’t real,” I add.
“It felt real,” Finn says with a shrug.
