Page 44 of Whirlwind

Finley tilts her chin up, our eyes locked. For a second, I don’t think she’s going to do it, but then her lips part. “I don’t think so little of myself.”

Her words soothe some of the dull ache in my chest, but I know I have a lot more to make up for, a lot more than this moment I need to atone for. How did I fuck up so much in such a short amount of time?

When I take a breath, our chests bump together as my lungs fill with air. We’re standing too close, but I can’t find it in myself to move away. I want another moment to revel in her nearness, in the heat of her pliant body and the softness of her gaze. It’s a softness I’ve missed since the moment I told her I regretted laying my hands on her, especially because that was a lie.

“Ryker,” she whispers, my gaze drawn to her pink lips. Lips that look untouched and wholly kissable, a fact that alleviates a bit of the stupid jealousy that’s been clawing at me. I could easily lean down and press my lips to hers, but I know I can’t, not after the conversation we just had. Finley deserves to be on this team and feel like a fundamental part of this chase, and I need to get my shit together.

It takes everything in me to finally lean away from the sunshine of her skin and clear my throat. “You’ve been an asset to this team, both yesterday and today. Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll do better. I promise.”

“And you’ll be nicer to Joey?”

I nod. “Yes, but maybe you can convince him not to wear that T-shirt?”

Finley chokes out a sharp laugh. “Not a chance.”

I groan, though my lips are turned up at the corners. “I suppose I deserve that as well.” We’re quiet for another moment, the smell of the musty old bathroom tickling my nose. “We should get back out there before the others come looking for us.”

She tips her chin, and I turn to leave. As my hand touches the door, she stops me. “I’m sorry I was snappy this morning and didn’t let you talk.”

“It’s okay—”

“No, I should have been more mature. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

She sighs and holds out her hand. “Friends?”

I want to balk at the word, because there would never be a world in which Finley and I could only be friends. I think she knows that, too. But what other choice do we have? This weekend needs to remain platonic, not only for both of us mentally but for the safety of ourselves and our crew as well, not to mention the integrity of our research.

I turn back to her fully and place my palm in her soft hand, giving it a firm shake. “Friends, Ms. Buckley.”

She smiles softly. “Call me Finley.”

I echo her smile on my own lips, her hand still in mine. “Then be sure to call me Ryker, no more Professor stuff. Not in front of the team.”

She nods. “What about Tornado Daddy?”

My dick twitches in my pants at the way “daddy” sounded coming from her. Fucking Joseph and his goddamn nicknames. I need to come up with a good one for him, though he’d probably like anything I came up with and delight in it.

“Let’s stick with Ryker.” My mouth opens to say more when our phones both go off at the same time with an emergency alert.

Finley removes her hand from mine to take out her phone as I do the same. Once we’ve both looked at the severe storm warning, our eyes meet, and the smiles on our faces are matching wide grins.

“Ready to try to make history again?”

She nods. “Lead the way.”

Chapter sixteen

Finley

It’s evening, and theheavy late spring air is damp against my skin as the group of us stand around our parked vehicles outside a motel in southern Oklahoma.

Ezra and Ryker are looking at something on the computer perched on the red truck’s hood, and Hawk is inside grabbing us some rooms for the night while Joey and I type out texts on our phones. We’ve finished up our last chase and are all ready to rest, especially after another failed rocket launch attempt and a missed tornado that was too far from us to reach in time.

I pull up Jake’s contact and shoot him a text while we wait.

ME

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