Page 51 of Finn

I shrug, and a single tear rolls down my cheek.

I do want Finn. I’ve not admitted it to myself until recently, but I think I’ve fallen in love with him.

No, I know I have.

That makes more tears fall.

Ellie sees me crying and comes over to my side of the bed. Sliding the suitcase out of the way, she sits down next to me.

Slipping her arm around me, she lets me lean in and cry on her shoulder. “Shhh, shh,” she soothes. “It’s okay. Just let it out.”

I do let go, and once I’ve calmed down, still holding me, Ellie says quietly, “I’m sorry I pressed you. It’s just that I want so badly to see you happy. And I know Finn can make you happy. Hell, he already does. In fact, it seems the idea ofnotbeing with him makes you sad.”

“It does,” I admit with a sob.

“Then be with him,” she says. “What’s the problem?”

I sit back and swipe at my eyes, drying my traitorous tears.

Finally, I murmur, “It’s just not that easy.”

“Sure it is!” Ellie exclaims. “You just have to let go of whatever it is that’s holding you back. You need to move forward, Sammie. Be happy. You do deserve it. I know it. Finn knows it. And I think down in here”—she taps my heart—“you know it too.”

Do I?

Do I deserve happiness?

Could she be right?

For a long time, I thought no, I didn’t.

But a tiny part of me is beginning to feel more and more that maybe, just maybe, I do.

Finn

Someone pinch me.

I am home in Alaska with a woman I’m pretty much sure I’ve fallen in love with.

And now she’s with me in the town where I grew up. At my cabin, about to spend tons of time with me. Yeah, just the two of us—no hockey, no work, no distractions.

Wow.

The possibilities for what I hope to get out of this trip seem endless. The most important one, though, is getting Sammie to see that we need to be more than friends. We are fucking meant to be a couple.

I see it, and so do so many others.

She just needs to come around.

I think she may.

Hey, I have hope.

Who would have thought I’d end up being a hopeless romantic?

For now, though, I’m just glad we made it up to the cabin after this long-ass day of travel.

We had a flight across the country, another up here to Juneau, and then a rideshare to my cabin.

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