Page 33 of The Moment Promised

I hesitate for a moment. His face is so close to mine that I can feel his breath against my skin. He smells like mint. I slowly wrap my arms around him like he ordered. His face remains the same but the corner of his lip twitches for a short moment. If I had blinked any sooner, I would’ve missed it.

He walks staring straight ahead for several steps and then asks, “And you?”

I look at him with confusion.

“Areyoubreaking any hearts down here, Adeline?”

I gawk at him. “I lost Pete’s favorite pen… Does that count?”

He smiles easily, shaking his head. “I mean it, are you…seeing anyone?”

I wait for him to laugh, since this conversation is surely a joke, but he doesn’t, he just waits for my answer.

“Um, no. I’m not.” Why is he even asking? He’s the one who assumed I’d never even kissed a guy until him.

“But there’s someone you’re getting to know…” He trails off his sentence like it’s a question.

I let out a laugh. “Definitely not getting to know anyone.”

“So, there’s no guy in your life then.”

“Just you.”

His features show no reaction to this, but he lets out a quiet breath. “Good.”

“Good?”

“I just wasn’t sure if I was going to have to knock someone’s teeth out while I was in town.”

I laugh. “If I was seeing someone,” I mock his choice of wording, “I’d like to think he wouldn’t be the type of person whowould require your protectiveness,” I say quietly since I’m so close to his ear.

He watches me now. “I’d like to think so too.”

I search his face, it’s honest. He wants me to be with someone respectful, someone he would feel I’m safe with. Someone unlike my dad.

I’ve never thought of how Finn must’ve worried for me when we were kids, how that worry must’ve transferred to who I’d date now that we’re older. Now I know he fears I’ll end up in a relationship close to my parent’s. I never will, and I realize he needs to know this.

“If I were to ever be with someone, it would be a man like you, Finn.” He doesn’t seem any less tense, so I elaborate. “Someone who treats me as their equal and respects me as a person.”

His eyes sparkle as he gives me a curt nod. “That’s the bare minimum you deserve, Adeline. Don’t ever thank someone for treating you like aperson. You can thank them when they treat you like their world will end if you’re unhappy. Even the slightest frown from you should have them on their feet, doing everything to bring back your smile.” His eyes rest on my lips that hold the slightest grin. “Please let that be the standard you set for yourself.”

His words electrify me. That’s what we all deserve, and I think a lot of us forget this. “I’ll never settle for less,” I promise.

He smiles. “Good. Any less and they are losing some teeth.”

I realize as my laughter fills the air that I’m always smiling when I’m with Finn. More than I ever am when we’re not together.

10

SIX YEARS AGO

Let’s go on the roof.” Finn’s cracking voice interrupts the silence of his bedroom. I fold the page at the corner of my book and set it down. Goosebumps line my arms, and I attempt not to shiver beneath Finn’s comforter plus the extra blanket he gave me. His parents set the temperature so low compared to what my parents leave it at.

“Yeah, okay,” I say sarcastically, followed by a yawn. His parents would kill us if they found us on the roof, and Finn’s not the kind of fourteen-year-old to disobey. Although, I don’t think they’d be too fond of finding us lying in bed together either. But it’s not like that.

At all.

I jump when Finn’s hands suddenly grasp mine, pulling me up from his bed. He leads the way to his closet, grabbing one of his sweatshirts. He tosses it at my face.Key Largo, FLis printed on the front.

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