Page 106 of The Warrior
“I’m tough.”
“Sure you are, but when was the last time you cooked a meal for yourself?”
“I can cook.”
Finn patted my shoulder. “Magni, my friend. I love you, man, but sometimes you think with your ass.”
“You love me?”
He held up both palms. “As a brother, so don’t get any funny ideas.”
“You never told me that.”
He shrugged. “I thought it was implied.”
“It was. So why the hell do you have to go and say it? You’ve only lived in the Motherlands for a few days, and now you are expressing yourlovefor me. If you don’t stop that shit, I’m going to call the guys together and we’ll do an intervention on you. You’d better not turn into a softie.”
“Don’t worry, it won’t happen again. From now on it will just be implied thatI love you.” He spoke the words clearly and with a smile on his face, provoking me on purpose.
“Stop saying it.” I tore my hands through my hair. “I’m almost thirty years old, and I’ve never heard those words said to my face. And then in one day, I hear them from both you and Mila.” I didn’t count Laura’s talk about loving me because of my breakfast choices. That didn’t ring true to me and had to have been a story to please Mila.
“I swear, those damn Momsies are infiltrating us. This love shit is all around now.”
“You’re right. It’s a fucking slippery slope. The L word is like a gateway drug into hugging. We should be outraged.”
I spun to look at Finn. His eyes were sparkling with humor and once he started laughing, he couldn’t stop.
“It’s not funny, Finn.”
“Yes, it is.”
“I made a mess of things with Mila and Laura.”
“That’s bad.” He stopped laughing. “You might have to bring out the big guns.”
“What big guns?”
“The A word.”
I lowered my brow. “Asshole?”
“Nope, I mean A as in apology.”
Jerking back, I crossed my arms. “You’re not serious. Laura would lose all respect for me.”
He tilted his head from side to side as if weighing options. “You would think so, but in my experience, apologies have the opposite effect on women. At least with Athena.”
“Tsk, you can’t compare the two. Athena likes soft men.” When Finn frowned, I added. “Not that I’m saying you’re a full-on softie yet, but you know what I mean, right?”
“No.” Finn placed his hands on his hips and shifted his balance onto one foot. “Care to elaborate on how Athena likessoftmen?”
I groaned and leaned my head back, looking up at the sky. “Fuck, I’m so bad with words.”
“No shit.”
“Which is why Alaska makes perfect sense. The wildlife won’t care if I say the wrong thing. No one’s going to be offended or cry up there.”
Finn lowered his brow. “I’ve known you since you were twelve, Magni. You’ve always been a loner, but isolating yourself is an extreme, even for you.” He paused. “And what about your hero complex? Who are you going to save up there?”
