Page 84 of Better Luck Next Time

“Finn’s coming over for dinner tomorrow night.”

Adalia felt like her world had turned slightly lopsided. “What?”

“You didn’t know? I thought you might be coming, but Finn told River it didn’t have anything to do with you. He said it was a business thing.”

Which meant Finn wanted to discuss the beer festival with them. She understood why he’d want to do that alone, but a part of her wished she’d found out from him instead of Georgie.

“No…but he knows I have plans tomorrow night,” Adalia said, a little discomfited although she couldn’t put her finger on why. When had he set this up, anyway?

Georgie studied her again. “This is what worries me. I get why you like him. Finn’s a fun guy, but I’m just not convinced he’s dependable.”

Adalia wanted to laugh off her sister’s paranoia, but she’d trusted Alan too, in the beginning, and look what had happened there. Of course, Finn was nothing like Alan.

If Finn let her down, it would crush her so much more.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Finn had spent most of his day in virtual meetings with Sean and Mo—guiding them through his idea and how it would work on a practical level—so there hadn’t been much time to process what this dinner with River and Georgie could mean.

Why had he agreed to talk over dinner, anyway? He regretted it the moment River opened the door to his loft apartment. Not because of the smell—it smelled amazing, like an Italian restaurant—but what had he been thinking? If Georgie and River balked at the idea of the beer festival, would he have to sit through dinner and dessert, awkwardly staring at them across the table? Or would they maybe kick him out? He hadn’t eaten lunch, and he was starving.

Of course, going hungry was hardly his biggest worry. His friendship with River was already strained, and if he wanted things to work out with Adalia, he needed to improve her sister’s impression of him, not worsen it.

River clapped him on the back. “Come on in. Georgie and I made lasagna.” Hops had joined them at the door, wagging his tail wildly. He had an old black sandal clenched in his teeth.

“Whoa, is thatthesandal?” Finn asked, surprised by how big Hops had gotten, although he was still very much a puppy.

“He used to hump it, and now he carries it around like a chew toy. Admittedly, we did get him neutered, so not much humping goes on around here anymore.”

Finn had to bite his lip. If Adalia had been here, she would have made an off-color joke. God, he wished she were here. He’d texted her earlier to let her know about the dinner. He’d ask if she’d be up for joining them after her girls’ night, in the event that River and Georgie didn’t throw him out the moment he mentioned Bev Corp, but she’d been noncommittal. He suspected she didn’t want anything to interfere with her bonding time with Maisie and Blue, and truthfully he was okay with that. He wanted her to stay in Asheville, and that meant she needed reasons to stick around. Maybe he was arrogant, but he wasn’t arrogant enough to think he was enough.

Rather than make that joke for Adalia, he lifted up the six-pack he’d brought, realizing he probably should have asked what to bring. “I didn’t know we were having lasagna. I guess I should have gotten wine instead.”

River tilted his head. “Not Big Catch?”

“The new guy’s stuff isn’t in bottles yet, and I figured it might be a little weird to bring you your own beer. I got the new brown ale from Perplexity.”

A neutral place they both liked well enough. It had taken him a solid five minutes in front of the cooler case to choose it. Which probably should have told him how nervous he was about this dinner.

Georgie emerged from the bedroom, giving him a speculative look that did nothing to ease his mind about the evening ahead.

“Why are you guys standing by the door?” she asked. Which was when Finn realized he still stood just beyond the door. He took a deep breath, steeling himself like he was a vampire entering an Italian restaurant, and finally stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

On his way to the kitchen, he took a look around the place. He hadn’t been there since Georgie had officially moved in, and it looked different in a dozen subtle ways, plus one big way: she’d updated the living room furniture with a nice transitional set in light tan, with several dark brown and light beige throw pillows. A fluffy throw was draped over one edge of the sofa.

“It looks great in here,” he said, setting the beer down on the counter. “You did wonders with the place, Georgie.”

River, following him in, huffed, “How do you know it wasn’t all me?”

“Oh, I know. Your old coffee table was something you literally grabbed off a street corner.”

“Waste not, want not.”

“Thank you,” Georgie said simply, her tone letting him know that flattery would get him nowhere. “Would you like something to drink?”

“I’ll just have one of these,” Finn said, grabbing one of the bottles. Except then he realized it might be construed as rude to choose the Perplexity beer over all of the Buchanan brews they inevitably had on hand. He glanced at River. “Unless there’s something you’d like me to try?”

“I made you try all of our new stuff at the launch,” River said.

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