Page 1 of When He Saved Me
CHAPTER1
FINN
“Please come with us tonight!”
“No.”
“Come on, I really want you there.”
“Carmen, I said no, and I meant it.”
“Ugh. You never come out with us.”
“That’s not true.” Though it wasn’t because I hadn’t tried. My best friend could be really, really stubborn when she wanted something. Tonight, she wanted me to come to a Halloween party with her and her bitchy girlfriend. “I went out with you guys on Tuesday.”And spent half the night watching your girlfriend flirt with some dude while you acted like you didn’t notice.
I turned and walked away from her, heading into the back room to grab straws and napkins to finish my closing duties and get out of there. Despite the fact she didn’t actually work in the coffee shop, Carmen hopped off the counter where she’d been sitting and followed me to the back, just as I’d known she would.
“It’s Halloween. On a Saturday. Halloween hardly ever falls on a Saturday, and this party is going to be epic. It’s my favorite holiday, and I want you there with me.”
“What about Amy? Doesshewant me there?” I was pretty sure Amy hated me. Which was fine since the feeling was mutual. I carried the straws and napkins back to the front and began restocking the containers.
“Of course Amy wants you there. I don’t know why you’d think she wouldn’t.” Carmen didn’t take bullshit off anyone except those she chose to date. She had a blind spot when it came to her love life, and it didn’t matter when I pointed out that she allowed her girlfriends to treat her like shit. She always found a way to justify their behavior. It made me crazy because she deserved better, but that was something she needed to figure out for herself.
I sighed and turned to look at her where she stood with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. “You know I hate people,” I said. “I’ve peopled here at the shop for the last six hours. I’ve peopled here five of the last seven days and played gigs at Ivory three of those. I just want to go home and chill in peace.”
There was a knock on the window at the front of the shop, and we both turned to see an annoyed Amy staring us down. Carmen rushed to open the door and let her in before locking it again behind her. “You ready?” Amy asked Carmen without so much as a glance in my direction. They had a whispered exchange that sounded more like an argument than a conversation before Carmen finally called out, “Are you sure you won’t come?”
“I’m sure. Go. Have fun!”
“Come on, Carmen.” Her tone petulant, Amy tugged at Carmen’s sleeve. “Let’s go.”
Carmen shrugged out of her grasp and darted over to where I stood, surprisingly light on her feet, despite her Doc Martins. She leaned up and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Call me if you change your mind.”
“I will.” We both knew I wouldn’t.
She locked eyes with me, but at Amy’s not-so-subtle sigh, she turned, and they both left.
I finished stocking straws and napkins, then began putting chairs on the tables so the night crew could clean. With that task done and the drawers counted and locked in the safe, I shut off the lights, locked up, and headed home.
* * *
An incessant buzzing woke me.I reached over to my nightstand, blindly feeling around for my phone in the dark. I unplugged the charging cord, seeing Carmen’s name lighting up the screen. Noting the time as two thirty-two a.m., I swiped to answer. “Carmen, what the fuck? It’s two-thirty in the morning.”
“Finn. I need you to come get me.” Her voice was low and muffled, and I sat up in bed, instantly alert.
“Where are you? Are you okay?”
She choked back a sob. “Just come get me, okay. I’ll send you my location.” Before I could ask for more, the call disconnected.
I hopped out of bed, grabbing the same jeans and T-shirt I’d worn to work earlier that night. My phone pinged with an address in what I knew to be an affluent neighborhood, and I blew out a breath as I swiped my keys and wallet off the dresser and headed out.
Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up in front of a perfectly manicured lawn with a long, winding driveway leading to a mansion set back from the road. I’d like to say the size of the house was a shock, but Carmen and I had been brought up in this world.
Since graduating from our elite, private prep school, Carmen tended to bounce between my tiny one-bedroom apartment and the home of whichever girl she was dating at the moment, but that wasn’t because of a lack of funds. Her wealthy parents still gave her a hefty allowance to cover living expenses and groceries. She just hated living in solitude.
I, on the other hand, had been unceremoniously kicked out of my house at eighteen. Therefore, I hadn’t had the luxury of choosing my accommodations. I worked for every penny to provide for myself, which meant I resided in a small apartment on the third floor of a walk-up in a shabby part of Kansas City.
The life I’d been raised in seemed like a lifetime ago as I stared at the mansion before me. My memories of that world, of those people, weren’t rosy. The Jeep my parents had given me for my sixteenth birthday was the only thing I still held on to from that life. Mostly because I couldn’t afford a car on my own.
