Page 13 of Anxious Hearts
‘Did the guy follow you or anything?’
‘Nah, he was completely paralysed.’
‘Aggravated assault will do that to a man.’
Kelly screwed up one side of her face. ‘It was hardly assault. He got a bit of yolk on his shirt, that’s all. And he deserved it.’
‘As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.’
‘Of course, I’m safe, Finley. I’m here with you.’ Her confident smile was completely unfounded – he could no more keep her safe than he could regulate his own wild emotions.
Kelly went into his kitchen. ‘But I don’t have any groceries,’ she called. ‘So you’re going to have to spot me some cereal for the weekend. I can probably never go shopping again.’
She’s never needed an excuse to raid my pantry before, Finn thought with a smile. He admired the way she could just move on from her problem without, seemingly, giving it another thought. If Finn had done that to a man in a supermarket, he’d be absolutely catatonic right now.
‘Whatever you need, Kel.’
He found her rifling through the kitchen cupboards. She stood on tiptoes to reach the top shelf and he watched the muscles in her calves. His eyes moved further up her legs to her plump buttocks, magnificently filling out her running shorts.
She spun around sharply, her face full of mock outrage. ‘Are you staring at my arse?’
‘Don’t be disgusting. You’re my best friend.’
‘Exactly. And best friends don’t stare at their best friend’s arse, you sicko.’
They both laughed.
‘You do have a nice arse, though,’ Finn said. ‘You know, objectively speaking.’
‘Objectively speaking? What are you, a fucking lawyer?’
‘Why are you swearing at me?’
‘You a saint now as well?’
Finn rolled his eyes. ‘You can be really bloody difficult, you know that?’
‘Yeah, but wouldn’t life be boring without me, Finley?’ She placed a bowl on the countertop. ‘By the way, I’m staying here tonight. I can’t get any more study done now. Is the spare room made up?’
The spare room. It was hardly spare, the amount of times Kelly stayed overnight.
‘I haven’t changed the sheets since you were here last week.’
‘Well, why don’t you do that while I get dinner ready?’
‘You just ordered pizza.’
Kelly gaped at him and held up a packet of chips. ‘Ah, ever heard of entree? These chips aren’t going to pour themselves into the bowl, are they?’
Finn shook his head and grinned. ‘No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend.’
‘Well, Mr Know-it-All, I actually got asked out on a date.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
‘It’s true. Eli from study group invited me for dinner.’
‘The skinny, dorky one?’
