Page 57 of Better Luck Next Time

When he opened it, River immediately peered past him, his gaze finding Adalia.

“There you are,” he said. “You weren’t answering your phone, and Georgie got worried.”

“The battery died hours ago,” Adalia said, collecting her bag. Something wrenched inside of Finn at the realization that she’d be leaving. He’d guessed that, of course, but part of him had hoped she wouldn’t. Now that their couch frenzy had come to a crashing halt, he realized they’d leapt into things way too fast. But he would have liked to finish her movie, even if it drove him utterly crazy to be under that blanket with her.

“Sorry,” River said, making a face, “but you know how she gets. Plus, she thought it was just a coffee thing. I guess the two of you had talked about doing dinner tonight.” His gaze drifted to Finn’s shirt, and a quick glance revealed he’d messed up and missed a button, giving the top half a crooked look. It was the kind of thing Finn would never have overlooked under normal circumstances. Their eyes met, and Finn knew he’d be having a conversation about this sooner rather than later.

“It was just coffee,” Adalia said. “But then it became a meeting thing, and a dinner thing, and a movie thing.” Her gaze darted to the couch, to that mussed blanket, before searching out Finn’s.

He mentally filled in for her:and it became a kissing thing too.

“So,” River said, clearly uncomfortable, “do you want a ride home?”

“Can you give me a lift to Bessie?” Adalia asked. “I left her outside the coffee shop, and I worry that she might get stolen.”

She glanced at Finn as she said it, and he knew she was messing with him, so he messed back.

“You’re right, that car has a big ‘Steal Me’ sign on it. You don’t want to take risks.”

“Um, sure,” River said. “Why don’t I go out to the car and wait for you?” Too Finn, he said, “We’ll talk later.”

Obviously. Finn nodded. “Later.”

As soon as the door closed behind him, Adalia gave Finn a severe look, like she was a teacher and he was an errant pupil, and just like that, he was turned on again.

“Don’t you dare say that was a mistake,” she said.

“I wouldn’t think of it,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “Although I do think we were moving too fast.”

She scowled at him, her lips making a pretty pout. He wanted to kiss them, so he did.

She pulled away, but only slightly. “Why’d you make such a big deal of the ‘just friends’ thing if you felt like this?”

He could tell his answer meant something to her, so he decided to be honest. As if he could help himself.

“After the whole Alan thing…I wasn’t sure you were ready to date. I didn’t want to be just one more guy who was asking something from you. I thought you needed a friend more than you needed…well, this. And if that’s still true, then we can take an even bigger step back. We can forget this happened. We—”

“Finn,” she said, her tone serious but not cutting, like he’d worried it might be, “I’m a big girl. You don’t need to worry about what I’m ready for and not. And I absolutely donotwant to forget this happened.”

“Good,” he said, “because I don’t either.”

River honked the horn, and Adalia rolled her eyes.

“I guess I have some ’splaining to do.”

“Are we telling them?” he blurted out.

“Not yet.” She pulled a face. “If you can bear to keep quiet about it, of course. I’d rather figure this out before we bring anyone else into it.”

“So we’re going to be furtive,” he said, his voice husky to his own ears.

“Very,” she said with a grin. “Do you have a trench coat?”

“I thought we were talking about being spies, not flashers,” he said, running a finger down her cheek and then cupping her chin.

Kissing her one last time.

She said goodbye and walked out, closing the door behind her, but he stayed put, watching from the window by the door as she got into River’s car. Watching as it pulled away.

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