Page 55 of The Moment Promised

He carries both our bags. Despite my offering to help, he insists I only carry my purse.

I step around the car to see my surroundings. Mountains line the horizon, it’s hard to make them out in the dark, but the dark purple hue is captivating. “I’ve never seen a mountain in real life before.” I take in the shape of them, too far in the distance to see any grain of detail.

“Where are we?” This is what I imagine New York city to be like. There are a few cars driving on the streets and it’s only two in the morning. I can only imagine how busy these streets are during the day.

“Atlanta, Georgia,” Finn answers, coming up from behind me. His breath is warm on the back of my neck. His body radiates so much heat. He isn’t touching me, but I can feel every inch of him.

I hope the hour or two he spent alone with his thoughts didn’t make him change his mind about the fling I proposed.

“Let’s check in, love,” he says, putting a hand on the small of my back to lead me forward. We walk into the hotel lobby, the cool air against my damp clothes makes my teeth chatter. It is much different than the motel in Gainesville.

The lobby is the size of my house. My mouth waters at the smell of cookies. Finn gets behind the two people in line checking in, so I follow the smell and find a table with complimentary chocolate chip cookies. There are only a couple left, I grab the last two and make my way back to Finn.

He’s talking to the man at the front desk, and I silently hand Finn a cookie. He gives me a smile that causes my heart to somersault. We get the room key and head to the elevators. I press the up arrow and the doors open immediately. I lean against the wall of the elevator, licking the last remains of my cookie off my thumb.

Finn plants himself between my legs, standing several inches taller than me. “You’re sexy, Miller. You know that?” he whispers.

I let out a relieved sigh.He didn’t change his mind.

He chuckles. “I love…” he begins, moving a strand of hair away from my face, “how effortlessly beautiful you are.”

I bring my hand to the top of my head. The wild strands form a knot from drying without having combed through it after my rain shower. “Finn, I’m absolutely disgusting right now.”

“Oh please. I love your wild hair. It reflects your personality.” He rubs the top of my head, making the strands stick up and out even more.

It’s weird, Finn openly flirting with me. We always tease each other back and forth, but we are hardly forward with compliments or kind sentiments. I think I love this new shift.

I don’t know what’s going to happen in the hotel room. I hope we’re still on the same page with the summer fling idea.

He stares down at me, his eyebrows form a straight line. He closes the gap between our lips. He kisses me passionately, it’s slow and romantic, and we both seem to lose our breaths.

The elevator dings and someone anxiously clears their throat to get our attention.

Finn turns around, and I peek beneath his tricep. An old lady stands in the doorway of the elevator, tapping her foot wearing an expression of disgust and inconvenience.

“Sorry about that. We’re on our honeymoon,” Finn says, grabbing my hand and leading me out of the elevator.

I hide behind him, a blush erupting along my entire body. Why is she even awake this early in the morning anyway? Once the elevator closes, taking the old lady away, Finn breaks out into laughter.

I slap him on the shoulder. “You’re like that annoying dad who chaperones every school field trip and embarrasses the hell out of his kid.”

“That’s oddly specific.” He brushes me off. “Let’s go see our room,” he says, holding up the key card and wiggling his eyebrows.

We push open our hotel room door, it looks like any other hotel room but this one is special. It’sours. The bathroom is immediately to the left, and after walking further in, I see the king-sized bed.

I’ve slept with Finn hundreds of times—when we were kids innocently having sleepovers, and the other night in the motel—but this feels different. The anticipation is slowly eating away mypatience. Because I know what happens next. Or at least I hope I know.

I spin around, face planting into Finn’s chest. I lift my gaze, and he peers down at me in amusement.

What is happening to my body contrasts his demeanor. My palms are slick with a layer of sweat, my heart drums so loudly in my chest I’m almost afraid Finn can hear it, and most of all…the annoyingly stubborn butterflies make their way down south, right between my legs. But Finn is completely at ease.

He leans down, feathering his lips against mine. I breathe him in, feeling the comfort of home.

He is the closest thing to family I have ever known.

I’ve never felt safe or unconditionally loved from my dad. I know my mom loves me, but I’ve been the only person I could rely on for as long as I remember. I don’t blame her for her absence or addictions. Even though I witnessed the abuse she took from my dad, it will never be the same as her having to survive it. I can acknowledge now that she neglected me, but I will never resent her for it. It sucked. I deserved better. But so did she.

So many people probably looked at my mother’s situation and wondered why she didn’t just leave him and take me with her.

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