Page 5 of Brad & Finn
“You were, uh, getting ice cream, I think? With Chloe?”
Brad vowed to drown himself in his whiskey glass if this awkward exchange continued any longer.
The man blinked once and then sat up a little taller in his chair. “Oh, yeah, we were walking around town, and she wanted to get some ice cream to bring back to her mom’s house.”
The man’s voice was still soft, and while it was higher in pitch than Brad’s, there was an almost resonant quality to it. It seemed to buzz between them, even amidst the crowded bar.
“That’s right; her mom lives a few blocks past my mom.” The tension that had gathered between Brad’s shoulder blades at his awkward outburst eased, and he sank sideways against the bar, turning his upper body to face the man. “Is she…I mean…are you both staying with her mom?”
Apparently, Brad was incapable of talking right now. He’d had no problem chatting it up with Miles, but for some reason, his brain no longer wanted to connect to his mouth.
“No, I’m not—I mean, uhm…no.” The man looked away, his hand tightly gripping his glass. Only a few sips remained of his drink, and Brad caught a whiff of the sharp, fruity scent of cider.
Brad wasn’t sure what to make of his answer. Were Chloe and this guy having a lovers’ quarrel, and he’d been sent to the hotel? That didn’t make any sense, given that the room block had been almost full when Brad booked it several months back. Unsure how to respond, Brad drained the last few drops of whiskey from his glass, then knocked it lightly on the counter.
“Mose, can you help him?” Bronwyn called to the bartender from where she was squatting down in front of a mini fridge, fighting with a bottle of pineapple juice.
Brad ducked his head, still a little too embarrassed by his earlier wandering thoughts to meet Mose’s gaze as he poured another shot of whiskey. He noticed that the man at the bar with him also ducked his head, his cheeks tinging slightly pink. Atleast it seemed he wasn’t the only one who could appreciate a well-muscled bartender.
“What about you, Finn? Another cider?” Mose asked.
Finn. As the bartender poured another cider, Brad moved the name around his mouth like a cherry stem, pretty sure he’d never heard of anyone named Finn before. He decided better safe than sorry, though, so as soon as Mose walked away, Brad stuck out his hand.
“Sorry, I probably should have introduced myself before admitting that I’d creepily seen you across the street. I’m Brad. I was part of Gomillion High’s inaugural class, and I’m back in town to visit my mom and go to the reunion.” Realizing he was rambling a bit, he shrugged. “I knew Chloe pretty well in high school, but I haven’t kept up with her, oranyone, since graduating.”
Finn accepted Brad’s hand, his palm warm and slightly damp against Brad’s skin. He squeezed gently at first before giving it one firm shake. “Yes, sorry, I sort of overheard you talking to that other man.” He pulled his hand back, and Brad wondered just how much he’d overheard.
“I guess you already heard, but I’m Finn. I’m back in town to help Chloe and her mom—uhm…with some stuff.” Finn glanced away again, this time with a put-out sounding sigh.
Brad searched his memory box, where he liked to store all the meandering phone calls he had with his mom. “Oh, her dad died recently, right?” Brad asked, the memory coming back to him more fully. “He’d been fighting cancer for a while, but lost the fight a few months back?”
Finn glanced back at him as he wiped the palm of his hand down his thigh. “Yes, that’s right. Did Chloe…?”
“I think her mom told my mom, who must’ve told me at some point,” Brad said, taking a small sip of whiskey. The heat burnedacross his tongue and sharpened his thoughts for a moment. “I’m so sorry for her loss.”
Finn inclined his head in acknowledgement. “It was a long time coming, but…”
Brad waited for him to finish his sentence, but when it became clear he wasn’t going to, he offered, “But it’s always tough.”
Finn chewed on the side of his lip before he let out another sigh. “Right…and since you seem to know most of the backstory already, it feels safe to share that that’s one reason we’re back in town. We’re trying to help her mom pack up the house so she can hopefully move in with Chloe by the end of the summer.”
“Ah,” Brad said, as everything Finn had been trying not to say slotted into place. “I guess it must be quite hectic in her house, packing boxes and whatnot. Are you both staying in the hotel then?”
Maybe he’d be able to catch Chloe and Finn for breakfast over the weekend, or they could even drive over to the high school together.
“Uhm…no, not exactly.”
Brad blinked in surprise at the sudden return to evasion. “Oh, okay, no worries, man, I was just wondering.”
Finn sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, revealing a tiny gap between his two front teeth. Brad’s mom hadn’t been able to afford orthodontics when Brad was a kid, much like most of the town’s residents. When he’d finally gotten his own dental insurance a few years out of college, he’d taken the plunge on Invisalign. It had taken almost twelve months of pain, bouts of nausea, and splitting headaches, but in the end, he’d been happy with the results. He couldn’t help but find this minor imperfection in the man’s otherwise clean-cut facade rather endearing.
Brad sighed to himself and looked down into his glass. The man wasn’t only endearing; Brad would go so far as to say he was gorgeous. Even though he’d been fairly evasive throughout their entire encounter, there was something about him that itched under Brad’s skin. It was almost familiar and yet new and exciting. Perhaps it was part of the general feeling of being home, but he didn’t think that was it.
In fact, being home was actually the problem. If this had been any other bar, in any other circumstance, Brad would have had his sights set on Finn for the night. But it sounded like he had something going on with Chloe, and Brad didn’t want to get in anyone’s way, especially not in a town this small. It would, without a doubt, get back to his mother, right when he was finally making progress in his career, and she’d stopped worrying about at least that part of his life. She still poked and prodded about grandkids, but she seemed genuinely excited about his promotion.
As the silence stretched between them, Brad tried to think of a new topic to bring up, something not related to whatever Finn had going on with Chloe. Unfortunately, he was drawing a complete blank. He took a long drink, practically draining his glass, and decided it was probably best to call it a night. He was about to wave to Bronwyn, ready to cash out his tab, when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
Finn had brought his elbow up to the bar and placed his forehead in his hand. Slowly, he tilted his body so his back was to the rest of the bar and his face was turned towards Brad.
