Page 42 of The Moment Promised

Finn cocks his head with a raised brow.

“Finn.” I bounce a little, shaking the mattress. “Don’t you realize we’ve been given a gift.”

He just stares at me to continue.

“You’re home from college for the summer, and my mother is in rehab for atleasta month. What are the odds these occurrences happen at once?” I pull my legs in, falling on my bottom, causing the bed to bounce and squeak. “Wow, this bed is loud.”

Finn’s eyes sweep over my bare legs, landing on my eyes with a smirk.

“Anyway,” I say, getting back on track, “we’ve been granted this time to dosomething,anything. We would be doing a disservice to ourselves if we didn’t make something out of it.” I take in a breath after talking way too fast.

Finn sits up, pulling me onto his lap and cupping my jaw in one hand. “Now, love, you’re talkingfun.” A wide smile slowly spreads across his face.

My skin breaks out into goosebumps and a giddy energy begs to escape, banging on the walls of my stomach. I giggle, pushing off Finn and moving into action.

“I’ve never left Florida,” I remind him, pulling open my closet and finding the only suitcase I own.

It’s sparkly and has hearts printed on the zippers, only used once during a short trip to Orlando when I was five. My dad was too stubborn to take my mom and I to one of the theme parks, so instead we spent the weekend at a hotel. It had a big pool though.

“Oh my god, maybe we will see snow!” I throw everything from my dresser into the small suitcase, it overflows onto the floor.

Finn watches me amused, chuckling under his breath. “It’s July, love.”

“It doesn’t snow in July?” I act clueless, trying to zip my bulging suitcase.

I gasp at Finn’s sudden presence next to me. He stills my hands, pushing me aside as he opens the suitcase and sorts through my clothes. I watch as he makes a large pile of useless clothes, while neatly folding the clothes that makes sense, placing them nicely in the suitcase. He fills it with short sleeved shirts, and a few light jackets. Shorts, leggings, he even goes into my closet to pick out some bathing suits. I blush at his choices, picking the ones that flatter my body and skin tone the best. After a few minutes of him packing, he reaches up to open my underwear drawer.

“I’ll do that!” I say quickly.

He rolls his eyes, standing and grabbing the bag he brought to stay at my house. “Finish packing everything else you need. I’m going to pack my stuff at home. I’ll pick you up in an hour,” he says with confidence, leaving me alone in my room.

Everything barrels into me. I smile wide. It feels almost like a sugar rush, how jittery and excited I am. Once I hear the front door shut, I squeal.

We are really doing this.

I have a feeling this moment is going to be monumental.

“I love road trips!” I sing. The thrill of spontaneity courses through my veins. We already passed theThanks for visiting the Florida Keyssign, and a heavy weight I’ve felt lying on my shoulders for as long as I can remember went with it. My smile is so wide, my cheeks hurt.

“It’s been forty-five minutes, love.” Finn lets out a laugh, his hand moves toward me, but twitches back into place.

“Woo-hoo!” I shout out the window. I’ve never done anything remotely close to this in my entire life, and I never knew how much I would enjoy the thrill of leaving my life behind, bringing the only good thing in it: Finn Walker.

I click a button, and the sunroof opens. I give Finn a mischievous grin, and quickly unbuckle my seat belt. Elton John’sGoodbye Yellow Brick Roadis playing on the radio, which electrifies this moment. I stand on the center console and lift my head out the roof.

Finn grips onto my ankles, anchoring me into place. My legs go up into flames, and my stomach flips.

Tangled waves of auburn hair float around me; the wind makes my face reverberate like in the cartoons. I let out a genuine laugh, perhaps the most joyful filled one of my entire life. It gets lost on this empty highway.

I feel something I’ve hardly ever felt before.

Freedom.

I lift my face into the sun, the rays kissing my skin. I breathe in, smelling the last remains of salt water. Florida pine trees surround us, a few palm trees sway with the breeze.

In this moment, I am whole.

“Love,” Finn’s voice wakes me up. I glance around and remember where I am.

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