Page 158 of Learning Curve

“And what about you? How’s your schedule looking?” I ask. “I know you managed to get all of the psych classes you wanted, but what about your other classes?”

“Mostly good,” she says. “Though, I have to deal with Murkowski again.” She rolls her eyes, and I know exactly why. Professor Murkowski was the only professor who made Scottie take a final in order to get credit for the semester. Every other professor allowed her to keep the grade she had prior to her injury and just gave her some busywork that involved reading and writing a few essays.

Murkowski, though, the hard-ass, had Scottie studying for two weeks straight. Thankfully, she passed, even managed an A, and has zero classes to retake her sophomore year.

And all thanks to a Kelly Financial grant, she also has a scholarship that covers her tuition, housing, and other fees for the next three years.

By the time we reach Zip’s Diner, Scottie is too busy talking about her class schedule to notice all the people who sit inside the restaurant. You can see them all clear as day through the windows, but she’s too busy looking over her shoulder and talking to me.

She’s obsessed. What can I say?

The entire room erupts with “Surprise!” as I push her inside, and a smile lights up her entire face.

Ace and Julia and Kayla and Blake all stand at the front, smiling and laughing when Scottie notices them and starts freaking out.

“What?” she exclaims. “I thought you were all out of town!” She looks over her shoulder and meets my eyes. “This is your doing?”

I grin. “Yep.”

“You’re diabolical.”

“I know.” I wink and lean down to press a kiss to her mouth. “I’m also going to let you know now that this isn’t your actual birthday present from me,” I whisper into her ear, and she tilts her head in confusion. “There’s another surprise for you when we get home tonight. And involves you being gloriously naked.”

The past few weeks have been…a revelation for my girl and me. She’s started to get…feeling…in the best kinds of places, and I’ve pretty much spent the last fourteen days figuring out all the ways that I can make her come. It’s fucking fantastic.

“Finn.” Her cheeks turn red, and I just press a kiss to her lips.

“Happy birthday, Scottie.”

I step back to let everyone come up and hug her and tell her happy birthday. And I’m in awe at everyone who showed up. Scottie’s cheerleading teammates. Her sister and her dad. Her mom, whom she’s been in some contact with lately and is still sober. Both of Ace’s parents and Julia’s parents. My entire family—Winslow and Hayes.

Zip’s Diner is literally packed to the brim.

Julia wheels Scottie over to where her team stands, and music starts to play from the speaker. I look up to find Zip smiling over at me with a thumbs-up. His wife starts to bring out a buffet of burgers and hot dogs and other sides, and a few of his employees have trays of sodas and waters that they set on tables for everyone to grab.

And my girl is smiling like the fucking sun. She looks so damn happy that I have to swallow against the emotion forming moisture in my eyes.

She’s been through so much over these past few months, so to see her now, here, happy and having fun, well, it’s everything to me.

“You pulled it off,” Ace says and claps a hand on my back. “She didn’t have a fucking clue.”

“Nope.” I smile, but my smile turns to confusion when Blake comes over to stand beside us, an angry look on his face.

Ace and I both follow his line of sight to where Lexi stands beside Adam, one of the PTs at Scottie’s long-term rehab clinic, at the other end of the room.

“Who’s that guy?” he asks me, and I shake my head.

“What guy?”

“Seriously?” he questions, frustrated, and Ace laughs. “The one talking to Lexi.”

“You’re fucking intense right now, Boden.”

“I don’t care.” He meets my eyes again. “I need to know who he is.”

“He works at the Hodge Clinic, dude. He just came because he’s been working a lot with Scottie.”

Blake nods.

---