Page 63 of Finn

Leaning back slightly, I place my hands on his chest and say softly, “I love you, too, Finn. I have for a while, but I never thought the time would come when I could tell you.”

“Well…” He laughs. “That time is apparently now.”

He’s smiling, and the amount of happiness in his eyes lifts me even further from the depths of my despair.

Maybe I am worthy of love?

And maybe the love I have to give is worth something?

With my hands still on his chest, I warn, “There is one thing, though. Finn.”

“What’s that?”

I blow out a breath, before I remind him, “I spent ten years beating myself up, so I’m not going to be fixed instantly. Healing doesn’t happen in a straight line. I’m sure I’ll have setbacks.”

“I know that,” he says quietly, nodding once.

I continue, “For the first time, though, I really want to try to heal and move forward. I want to do those things for you, Finn.”

“Not just for me,” he corrects. He moves one of my hands, holds it up to my chest, and taps my heart. “For you, too, Sammie.”

He’s right.

If I’m going to get better, it has to be for me too.

Nodding, I agree, “Okay.”

I place my head back on Finn’s shoulder and let him hold me some more.

And when we get tired, we stretch out on the floor and place our heads on the throw pillows from the sofa.

Finn pulls me in close, and I snuggle up to him, feeling safe in his arms.

With the fire still flickering behind his back and a sense of peace I’ve not known in I don’t know how long enveloping me, I close my eyes and fall asleep.

I awake with a start, fearing it was all a dream.

But it wasn’t.

I’m still in Finn’s arms.

I sigh and look up at him to find he’s awake too.

“Do you want to go upstairs to sleep?” he whispers.

The fire has long since died out, and the floor is kind of hard, even with a plushy rug, so I whisper back, “Yeah.”

“Okay.”

We get up and make our way to the stairs.

When we reach the top, we pass my bedroom without any hesitation and head straight to Finn’s room, where he turns on a lamp that’s on a nightstand.

He’s not given any indication that he expects more than for us to just go back to sleep, as we were.

But I want more.

I want him, and I want him in the way I haven’t had him in so long.

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