Page 27 of The Perfect Betrayal

“Speaking of time,” he said, looking aggressively at the floor instead of her,” when you have a little more of it, would you like to get some coffee with me?”

And there it was. She'd suspected this might be coming but didn't want to be presumptuous. He was cute, and she was flattered. But it wasn't going to happen. She tried to be a little more diplomatic with this response than the last one.

“That’s very sweet,” she said, “but I’m not really getting coffee with people right now. I’m taking some Hannah time.”

“Got it,” he said, sounding a little disappointed but not hurt. “Well, thanks again for the help. And if you ever decide you’re back in the market for shared caffeine experiences, let me know.”

“I will,” she told him, before adding, “see you in class.”

“For sure,” he replied and headed off. As Hannah watched him go, she silently appreciated how the interaction, which could have gotten awkward, ended without drama. That was a point in his favor. Not that she was keeping score.

He left the café, and her eyes fell on the table near the door. To her surprise, Finn was sitting at it, glaring at her. He got up and walked over, his eyes stormy and his brow furrowed.

“Everything okay, Finn?” she asked, sensing that the very drama she’d just avoided might now be headed her way.

"Everything's fine," he said, though it clearly wasn't. "I was just coming in for our Baby Psych meetup when I saw that you were otherwise engaged. So not wanting to disturb you, I just decided to wait over there until you were done."

“You weren’t disturbing me,” she said, not going to be made to feel guilty. “Our meeting was scheduled for noon and it’s currently 11:56 so you’re actually early.”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t cause a conflict,” he said, either not knowing or not caring that he sounded like a pouty child.

“Finn, I have a class in about a half hour,” she said wearily. “Do you want help with your psychology class or not?”

“I do,” he said, sitting down and pulling out his textbook. But even as he did that, she could tell that he wasn’t letting go of his agitation. After a few seconds, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. “You know that guy is new here and that no one really knows him.”

“Have you been checking up on the random dude from my Brain Dysfunction and Repair class?” she asked, equal parts amused and annoyed.

“I just don’t want you to get blind-sided again,” he told her.

“After having known me for seven months now, what gave you the impression that I can’t take care of myself?”

“Nothing, obviously,” he said carefully at the rebuke, “I just worry.”

She put both her palms flat on the table to emphasize her forthcoming point.

“Look, if I start hanging out with Dallas, I’ll do the research on him to make sure he’s not a problem, but whatever I do or don’t do, it’s not your concern.”

She felt no obligation to tell Finn that she’d already done a ton of research. It wasn’t his business.

“You can’t control how I feel,” he said. “If I’m concerned, then I’m concerned.”

“You can feel however you want,” she replied, “but sharing that feeling with me is a different story. This is the second time in as many days that I’m having to remind you that we agreed to just be friends for now. Are you able to handle that or not?”

“I was just looking out for you,” he grumbled under his breath.

“I don’t need a caretaker, Finn,” she reiterated. “Now are you going to be able to get past this?”

“I could ask you the same question,” he shot back.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you ever going to get past the stuff that came between us?”

Hannah sighed.

“By ‘stuff,’ do you mean how we were looking for a missing pledge from your fraternity and when I wanted to involve the authorities, you suddenly became more concerned for your frat’s reputation than your pledge’s welfare? Is that the ‘stuff’ you’re referring to? Because if it is, then my honest answer is that I’m still working through how I feel about all that.”

“I’ve apologized for it a million times,” he said. “It wasn’t what I was intending to do.”

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