There it is,thesmile. Bright. Easy. Dialed up to eleven like he’s walking onto a stage.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite roommate upgrade,” he says, eyes flicking to me with exaggerated appreciation. “You disappear for an hour and come back looking like you survived a true crime podcast.”
Zane’s jaw tightens beside me.
Finn doesn’t notice.
“Seriously,” Finn continues, stepping closer, hands loose. “You good, Heartbreaker? Because you’ve got this whole mysterious ‘woman with a tragic backstory’ thing going on, and I’m torn between offering coffee or dramatically volunteering my shoulder.”
He winks.
I stare at him.
He grins wider. “Too much?”
“Yes,” I say flatly.
He laughs loudly. “Okay, okay. Dialing it back. Just…” He glances between Zane and me. “Wow. You two look intense. Did I miss something fun, or just the part where Zane scares off a squirrel for looking at you wrong?”
“Finn,” Zane snaps.
Finn finally clocks the tone. Slows. “What?”
“I don’t want jokes,” I say, shaking despite my best effort. “I want answers.”
The words come out sharp enough that they cut through the room.
Finn freezes.
“Oh,” he says. “Okay. That kind of day.”
“We saw the truck again,” Zane says simply. “And things have gone missing from Aurora’s cabin.”
That does it.
Finn’s expression drains fast. The grin slides right off his face, replaced by an alertness.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
Zane doesn’t embellish.
“No forced entry. No mess. But something was taken.”
Finn’s gaze snaps to me. “Aurora?”
“My grandmother’s locket,” I say. Saying it again makes my chest ache. “The one I always keep in my jewelry box.”
Finn swears under his breath.
“That’s not random,” he says immediately.
“No,” Zane agrees. “It’s not.”
Finn paces like a caged thing, hands raking through his hair. He opens his mouth, probably about to make a joke out of habit… then stops himself.
The charm hesitates.
“I was just trying to keep it light,” he says finally, glancing at me. “You came back looking wrecked, and I figured, hell, if I could make you laugh, maybe it wouldn’t feel so bad.”
