Page 53 of Where We Belong

His nose tickles my neck as he says, “Are you wearing my hoodie?”

I don’t need to look down to realize that yes, the shirt I picked up in my bedroom was indeed Finn’s. “Shut up. It landed in my laundry by mistake.” I’m not even lying, but what I’m not saying is that when I found it in my things, I was happy to put it on, engulfed in the stretched, over-washed fabric.

He snickers, sending soft puffs of air against my skin that make me shiver. “That’s what they all say.”

When he pulls away, I sniffle and look away, knowing my early morning face is probably not something Finn should be seeing.

“Well, this weather’s much better than in Vermont,” Finn says as he looks behind his shoulder. We’re still on the broken-down front porch, and while the sun isn’t fully up yet, the air probably feels like summer to Finn.

“I’m not sure I agree,” I say, finally looking up. Whatever, at this point. He’s already seen me looking all kinds of fucked up. “What—”

“Lexie, shut the fuck up!”

I jump at the sound, immediately recognizing Kyle’s needle-scratch voice. I grind my teeth. That guy will force me to go to jail at some point.

If this were any other time, I’d go to his room and rip him a new one for talking to me that way, but not today. Not in this moment that feels so precious, so fickle. I’m not letting that asshole ruin it.

From the corner of my eye, I spot movement.

“Don’t,” I say as I grab Finn’s forearm, stopping him from going further in. “Let’s just go.”

“That your brother?” he says, his face redder than it was a second ago.

I don’t answer his question. Instead, I pull him back toward the porch and say, “Come on. Let me buy you breakfast.”

“No way.”

“I swear! This guy just came in with an actual pet llama and didn’t understand why I was staring at him. Said something like,‘There a problem?’Um, yes, sir, I’m not sure llamas are appropriate animals to bring to a Christmas tree farm. Jesus.”

My stomach hurts from how much I’ve been laughing. Finn’s on fire this morning, and after the past few days, it feels amazing to be able to relieve the bomb-like pressure I was feeling and just have fun.

“But how could he have known?” I say.

“Yeah, I guess it was a valid assumption.” Finn bites into a tater tot and releases a moan. My lips twitch at the sound, which I feel all over my body.

Get a grip, Lexie.

I pop a grape into my mouth, trying not to look too envious of Finn’s plate of greasy goodness as I eat the only healthy thing I could find on the menu. I wish I could enjoy a breakfast like his, but with the competition season around the corner, I can’t afford to let myself go. It’s bad enough that I don’t have a regular training schedule right now. If Andy could see me, he’d shake his head and pat himself on the back for dropping me. At least, with it being the holidays, my old gym was almost empty, and an old teammate of mine did me a solid and let me in when no one was around so I could use the equipment for a few hours. Maybe she took pity on me, being coach-less and all, but I took whatever I could get. While training in the place that holds so many bad memories wasn’t ideal, it was better than nothing. Still, I missed Sonder Hill’s gym more than I could explain.

I look up from my plate. Even though Finn acts energetic and in a good mood this morning, the dark circles under his eyes tell me a different story.

“When did you decide to come here?” I ask him.

His chewing slows, then he swallows. “I didn’t like those texts, Lex.”

My brows crease. “So, what, you packed up and left overnight?”

He shrugs, then returns to dipping his toast into his egg yolk as if making that decision was the most unremarkable thing in the world.

“You shouldn’t have.” When he freezes, I realize how that sounded and add, “I mean, I’m really, really glad you did, but I feel bad. What about your family?”

“They’re fine. Christmas is probably going to be tense with Francesca anyway, so I’m not missing much.”

“Your sister?”

He nods. “She’s… It’s not always easy with her, and I have a feeling the holidays are not going to be any exception.”

“I’m sorry,” I say.

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