Page 86 of Win You Over
“You sound exactly like your father and all the shit he sprouts about newcomers to this town.” It’s why he was elected as mayor in the first place – because the people of Marina Cove would be happy if no more outsiders ever visited our slice of Maine.
“He’s not wrong,” Finn interjects. “If Holden never came here, you’d still be mine.”
“I was never yours, Finn!” I yell, shaking my head and standing up. After everything that’s happened, his attitude is still the same.
“You were my best friend,” he remarks, his one open eye shining with unshed tears.
“And if you hadn’t pulled this shit, I still would have been! This has nothing to do with Holden and everything to do with the ugly person you’ve become.”
He looks up at me. A dejected and beaten puppy with sorrow-filled eyes that make my stomach sink.
“This,” I wave my hand in front of him, “has to stop.”
The muscles in his neck tense as he turns his head away from me.
“I defended you, Finn. I told Holden you are a good guy. Under all this bullshit, there’s the guy who held me as I cried the first, second and every time after my grandmother forgot my birthday. The boy who would fill up cups of grape candy for me and who never made fun of me when it took me longer than everyone else to learn how to ride a bike.”
Finn rubs a hand over his face, flinching as it passes over his swollen eye.
“And then one day you turned into this huge dick, and I missed it. Or I wore blinders or some shit.” I move towards the door, Finn standing when my foot reaches the bottom step.
“I came here today to tell you I forgive you.”
His face brightens, but I wipe it away with my next words.
“But we’re done. You broke my heart, Finnegan, and you cannot undo it.”
“Rem.”
My throat tightens, and my eyes burn.
“Get out of this place and away from that abusive piece of shit. Go see what the world has to offer outside of this fucking town. Just do something besides sit here and suffocate under hisfucked up ideals. Prove me right. That under all of this, you are a good guy.”
I walk up three steps before he’s behind me, calling my name.
“And if I do that? If I change. Will you take me back?”
God, I hurt everywhere, deep into my soul.
I pause, take in a heavy breath, my hands trembling when I turn to face him again. When our eyes meet and I get flashes of the Finn that stood by me all those years, I don’t have an answer. So I say nothing. I turn and walk out of the house.
When I get home, I collapse on my bed, burying my face in a pillow that smells like Holden. And then I cry until I have no more tears left, and I feel ready to move past this. Or at the very least, to try.
Chapter 33
Holden
“What part am I cleaning?” I ask, looking up at my best friend, taking in the frown lines across his forehead and the way he’s chewing his bottom lip.
“You need to clean the switch.” Theo turns back to his phone where an instructional video on how to fix vintage turntables is playing.
“I don’t know what the switch looks like.” I peer at the exposed underside of the unit, a microfiber cloth in one hand and a screwdriver in the other.
Theo turns the phone to me and shows me.
Shaking my head, I slump against the wall with a huff.
“Nothing inside looks like that. This was a terrible idea.”
