Page 24 of Falling for Finn

Levi

Sure, 8?

Finn

I’ll be there.

Maplewood Falls has only one bar, and unless it’s a game night, it’s quiet.

I greet my mom and aunt when I walk into the bakery while my grandma chats and rings up customers. Though she’s normally at the inn, she stops in to help when it gets busy.

“How are things going with Oakley?” Grandma asks.

“Great.”

I haven’t told her about our fake relationship agreement, but I’m sure the news will spread, and I’ll have some explaining to do.

“Are you being a gentleman while showing her around?”

“Of course. Took her on an apple-picking tour earlier.”

“Wonderful! I bet she enjoyed that.”

Before I can respond, Aspen walks out from the back and comes toward me.

Fucking hell. Is she everywhere at once?

“Hey, Finn.” She looks around. “Where’s your girlfriend?”

“Painting,” I quickly reply, moving away from my grandma before she asks questions. “I’m here to look at one of the ovens, then I’ll be out of everyone’s way.”

“You have a girlfriend? Who?” my grandma blurts out.

Aspen crosses her arms. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Like I said, it’s recent,” I grind out between my teeth, then turn to face my grandmother. “Yes, it’s Oakley.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh. When did?—”

“Mom, I need you over here for a quick minute,” Aunt Paisley blurts out, giving me an escape.

I mouth a quick, “Thank you,” and head to the back. Luckily, Aspen doesn’t follow and returns to restocking the shelves.

After a couple of hours of tinkering with the oven, it’s eventually fixed, and I leave. I stop by the harvesting facility to check on something, then help Roy repair the other tractor. Double tours will be running during the celebration, so they have to be dependable.

At seven thirty, I head into town to meet with Levi. I arrive at the pub before him and start with a beer. When he shows up, he orders a whiskey and a basket of fries.

“You wanna talk about why we’re drinking on a Monday night?” he taunts, knowing I save going out for the weekends. “Anything to do with your ex-girlfriend being here?”

“I needed some space and time away from home,” I admit.

“From the new girl, huh? She driving ya crazy?”

Yes, but not in the way he’s thinking.

“She snuck into my bed last night,” I tell him, knowing what he’ll say.

“Wow. So I guess it’s safe to say you’re over Aspen.”

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