Page 10 of A Hard Fit

“I get it. I love my parents but it was a relief to move away from Andchester.”

Finn was painfully aware that he was mostly observing a conversation between Luka and Rory, but by the time he’d thought of something not stupid to say and his mouth wasn’t full of sandwich, they’d moved on. Luka shot him the odd confused look at his unexpected silence. Desperate to say something, Finn rifled through his brain.

“What about outside of work? Are you seeing anyone?” Luka asked.

“No,” Rory answered quickly. “Definitely single.”

“I have a date with Henry,” Finn blurted. “We’re going mini-golfing.”

There was an awkward pause. “Oh, is Henry your boyfriend?” Rory asked, fiddling with an empty soda can.

“No! I don’t have a boyfriend. Or girlfriend. Or partner. I’m just…dating. Casually.” Finn’s voice got higher and higher as he spoke, the very opposite of casual. Rory’s nose piercing had a tiny white bead on it, pearlescent in the sun.

“This guy is a dating monster,” Luka said, balling up his sandwich wrapper. “Just wait, Rory. The stories he has—”

Oh, God.“Yes, well.” Finn stood, chair screeching, before Luka could say more. “Time to get back.”They both stared up at him.I could not be more awkward if I tried.

Luka gave him a look like he had an alien growing out of his head. “But we can save those for another time. You all done, Rory?”

“Yup. All done.” They smoothed their elegant fingers over their lap and folded them neatly around the soda can—the most beautiful fingers Finn had ever seen.

He met Rory’s eyes, lips pressed tight together to hold in the fluttering in this throat that threatened to burst out.Shit,Finn thought as Rory smiled at him.I’m done, too.

Chapter Three

Thrill Island

Finn threw himself into his work. Sketching, coloring, checking in with his team, calling clients…pretending he didn’t see the looks Luka was giving him whenever Rory was in the room. But mostly ignoring the adrenaline crashing through his veins whenever he saw Rory—or thought about Rory.

Tryingto ignore it, anyway.

He was standing in a meeting room with a few other designers, watching a competitor’s new dog food commercial.

“This is shit,” Finn said, hands on hips, tilting his head, trying to get his thoughts around what the fuck they had been thinking. “First of all, that dog isn’t even that cute.”

“Finn!” Tawney protested.

“What? You can’t tell me that’s the cutest dog they could find.”

“It’s cute,” Tawney said firmly.

“Debatable. But—” Finn paused the video. “What’s with this shot? Why are the dogs eating their dog food on a beach? Who takes a bowl of dog food to the beach? Plus the composition.” He shook his head. “It’s half sky. Total shit.”

Then Rory slipped into the room and it was like hitting a brick wall. “And the, uh…” Finn continued. “The…um…”

“Rory!” Tawney said. “Would you say this dog is cute?”

Rory studied the screen. “Of course. What kind of monster would say this dog isn’t cute?”

Tawney snickered. “Finn, actually.”

Fuck.His face did its usual searing burn. “I never said it wasn’t cute.” His tongue tripped over itself. “I just said it…wasn’t the cutest.”

Rory’s eyes twinkled. “Like I said, monster.”

The feeling was terrifying, the way his brain short-circuited, rendering him wordless, the way his heart beat so furiously he was worried it was going to give out. And it was all pointless, because Finn knew Rory would never be interested in someone like him.

Rory was quiet—Finn was loud.

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