Page 20 of The Moment Promised

My sense of reasoning has turned to mush, and I haven’t even had a sip. I shouldn’t be lusting after Finn, and I plan to put a stop to it immediately.

Finn’s presence is so loud.

When I’m in the same room as him everything surrounding us just disappears.

This feeling, it’s so strong and unnerving… It’s intoxicating. I don’t like it one bit.

I pace back and forth along his back patio. The pool glows blue under the moonlight. Large palm trees sway with the breeze. The atmosphere smells like salt from the ocean that’s only a block away. A carved wooden sign screwed into the base of the closet tree readsDANGER FALLING COCONUTS.

My eyes pull away from the words at the sound of sliding glass doors slamming shut.

Stepping into view with a smile plastered to his face, Finn says, “I’m going to remind you how to have fun, love.” He walks past me, onto the sidewalk that leads to the neighborhood’s private beach.

I follow close behind, looking up to the stars, but they’re invisible because of light pollution.

I unscrew the cap, taking a large swig of vodka.

Finn turns around. “Hey! We haven’t even toasted yet and you’re taking a shot?” he asks, personally offended.

“A toast? It’s just us,” I say, stating the obvious.

He grabs the bottle from my hands. “Exactly. To us having the funnest summer yet.” He holds the bottle to his lips.

“For the record, funnest isn’t even a word.” I take the bottle as he hands it to me.

I giggle to myself after what feels like an hour of walking silently. It’s probably been ten minutes at most. The world around me starts to spin. Well, I guess it’s always been spinning, just too slow for me to notice. I wobble a little.

“Woah,” I say when Finn’s hands grip my shoulders to balance me.

His eyes roam my body from head to toe, his expression barely changes, but I notice.

“Your hands are so big.”

He raises a brow.

“It’s just that one day you were this kind boy and now you’re this…man. With big hands.” I widen my eyes for emphasis.

He tightens his hold on me, and amusement flickers across his smile. He has such pretty eyes.How did we get so close?

I can feel the warmth of his breath against my face. “I think that was enough ‘hand’ discussion for one day. At this rate we won’t make it to the beach before tomorrow.” He links our arms, so I walk besides him. The innocent touch feels like electricity is shooting through my entire body.

We are quiet the rest of the way, and I’m only thinking about the kiss we shared earlier. It seems to have shifted things. It feels like a line has been crossed. I can only hope things don’t change between us in a bad way. I can’t lose him.

I take off my shoes, leaving them in the sand since no one is here to take them. “Don’t you love how soft sand is?” I grin.

Finn looks at me amused, walking lazily toward me. “Yup. So soft.” He sets the alcohol down by my shoes.

“Ilovethe moment promised.” I give my attention to the ocean.

The waves crash into the shore, creating a beautiful sound.

I feel Finn right behind me. He takes up so much room, he’s not just behind me. He’s everywhere.

In the ocean we’ve swam in together a thousand times.

The sand we’ve built into castles as kids.

My heart.

---