Page 60 of Unrequited (Woodlands 4)

"Tell me what I can do. Give me a task. Anything."

He wanted to help out. It wasn't just words. It was important to him, which was why he’d raced over to help put a crib together for a kid that wasn't even his.

"She wants to go out. She needs to have some fun. She hasn't been out having a good time with friends or meeting people because of her sobriety. I should've brought her to the concert with us."

"Then let's have a party. My roommates have a friend in town, and we've been having parties nonstop. Bring her over, and we'll all help watch her for you."

"I don't know, Finn."

"Come on. Besides, we need a little time. You and me. These lunch hour meet ups aren't doing it for me."

"Me, either," I admitted.

"You could stay over. You both could. Adam's staying in the carriage house, and there's a sofa she could sleep on in there."

Unstated was that I could sleep in his bed, which I not only wanted, but needed.

"Okay."

"Great." Satisfaction infused his voice. "Tomorrow night. Bring a toothbrush. It's all you're going to need."

•••

"You been here before?" Ivy asked me when I parked the Honda several cars down from the driveway.

"No."

"It's enormous. He must have inherited a shit ton from his dad. How much money does Finn have these days?"

I thought it was a rhetorical question, and even if it wasn't, I wouldn't know. O'Malley Construction was one of the biggest commercial builders in the city, but Finn himself flipped houses, and I had no idea what kind of money you could make from that. And I didn't care.

"He bought the house before his dad died," I told her.

She raised her eyebrows and looked down at the big modern house with interest. The driveway was sloped, and as we walked toward the house, there were rubber tarps lining the side. At the base of the driveway a few guys were shooting hoops, and the front door was open.

Music blared, and people seemed to be everywhere. It was only nine. Ivy declared no one went to a party before the sun set, but apparently she hadn't been to one of Finn's.

The entrance of the house looked to be two stories tall. On the left were a set of closed doors, and on the right was an open area with two large sofas facing each other. Beyond that was a long walnut table with a matching bench running the length of it on one side and chairs on the other. A guy was lying on the table, and girls were spraying whipped cream on his body and licking it off.

This time it was me raising my eyebrows.

Past the whipped cream buffet to the right was a large white and steel kitchen and to the left was a great room with a big sectional and a huge television. I didn't know they made televisions that big. Out through the French doors, we saw a patio and beyond that the pool.

There had to be a couple hundred people inside and out of the house.

"Winter and Ivy Donovan, what took you so long?" Adam walked out of the kitchen with a red cup in either hand and an e-cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

He wrapped an arm around both of our shoulders. "Come and meet the crew. Finn's in the john."

He drew us into the kitchen and made introductions, more for Ivy's sake than mine. "This is Ivy, Winter's sister. The tall, dark, brooding guy is my roommate, Noah. Behind him is his girlfriend, Grace. The blond guy doing the tonsillectomy is Bo, and the poor victim is his girlfriend, AnnMarie. The tough dude with the tats and short hair is their friend, Gray. His name is the actual color," he fake-whispered and then looked around. "We're missing Mal and Lana." He swung us around toward the patio. "Mal's our other roommate, but I don't see him."

"What's your poison, ladies? We got virgin daiquiris and margaritas, and some Kaliber, Clausthaler Golden Amber, and Clausthaler Premium if you want the beer without the alcohol."

"I'm a fan of the Kaliber," Noah said raising his

bottle. It was half gone.

"Nah, go for the Clausthaler Golden Amber. Has a more malty flavor," his friend Bo said, taking a break from tonguing his girlfriend. She picked up a fruity drink.

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