Page 3 of A Touch Charmed

“The legend is real, and it’s been around a hell of a lot longer than your father’s drive to make money.” Finn crossed his arms over his broad chest. A tattoo of a bird breaking out of a cage peeked out from under the sleeve of his T-shirt.

My heart sank into my stomach. He hadn’t covered or removed it.

Finn lay in my bed with one arm tucked behind his head. I sat next to him, wearing nothing but a sheet, with my bottom lip clamped firmly between my teeth as I sketched.

“What are you drawing?” he asked.

“You.” Finn was my favorite subject. Not only was he physically perfect, but he had all these layers to his personality that he rarely showed anyone. I loved peeling them back, revealing the parts he kept hidden.

He leaned up on his elbow. “Why don’t you ever draw yourself?”

I let out a short laugh. “Because I’m boring.”

“You’re one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met.” He held my gaze, his expression serious. “Draw a self-portrait. For me.”

I rolled my eyes. “You just want a sexy picture.”

His lips curved with that delicious pirate smile I loved so much. “I wouldn’t be opposed, but that’s not what I meant. How do you feel when you’re with me? Draw that.”

I flipped a page and began sketching a bird breaking out of a cage. Her head and body were full of bright, bold colors—sapphire, plum, and turquoise—while the tail, still trapped within the cage, remained black and gray. When I finished, I turned it toward him. “This is how you make me feel. Free.”

All these years later, he still wore my drawing.

He cleared his throat, bringing my attention back to his face. “You must’ve heard the birthstones no longer hold magic, even if you spend all your days hiding out here.”

“I’m not hiding out.” I was absolutely hiding out, but why did he care? How I spent my days wasn’t any of his damn business and hadn’t been in a long time. “What are you doing here anyway? Don’t you have a job?”

“I have several, princess.” His smile held just a hint of mean. “Ones I had to earn myself since not all of us can get handouts from Daddy.”

He couldn’t have landed a more precise blow if he’d knocked my legs out from underneath me. No one knew more than Finn how hard I’d fought for autonomy. It didn’t matter how many years had passed. He must’ve known what it had cost me to come crawling back to my father.

I set my jaw, hardening my expression. “Score one for you.”

“Goddamn it.” He rubbed his hands over his head. “I’m sorry. This isn’t how I wanted to start with you. I don’t know why I said all those things.”

“Just go. It’s been a weird afternoon, and I have no energy left to deal with you.” I barely had the energy to get out of bed most days. The last thing I needed was my ex-boyfriend coming to my house to give me shit for not being Suzy-fucking-Social.

“Great. I’m here for twenty minutes, and I’ve already managed to break my leg and piss you off. I tried to tell Audrey and Wes this was a bad idea,” he muttered under his breath.

I narrowed my eyes. “What do Audrey and Wes have to do with this?”

I’d been doing an excellent job of avoiding drama for weeks now, aside from that minor hiccup at the town hall meeting, and preferred to keep it that way. Finn and I had history, but the most defining thing about history was that it was over. All I wanted to do now was get through today, wake up tomorrow, and try to get through that one too. It’s all I could do.

“I’m supposed to talk you into figuring out our powers and how to use them. But I already screwed that up, and now Audrey is going to murder me.” He shuddered. “You have no idea how scary she can be when she’s mad.”

I let out a long sigh. “That is eight shades of not my problem.”

“Come on.” He gave me that stupid sexy grin that had been the ruin of me in high school. “Aren’t you a little bit curious about your healing magic, bluebird?”

The knots around my heart tightened. I hadn’t heard that nickname in seven years. Not since I knew what it felt like to be truly free. My gaze darted to his arm, but his tattoo was hidden under his shirtsleeve. Maybe he just hadn’t had time to get it covered yet.

“I’m not curious enough to want you to stay.” I still wasn’t sure what had happened back by the guest house, and I needed a minute to think. Preferably alone.

“Okay. Fair enough. I was an asshole.” He approached me, the bottom of his jeans soaking into the ocean water. “But at least let me help you up.”

The problem with Finn was that, if I weren’t careful, he’d worm his way his back into my heart without me even noticing. He could be charming and ridiculous. It made him seem harmless on the surface, but I knew just how much harm falling for someone like that could do. He lived for the moment, and as such, rarely saw beyond it.

I eyed him with a deep amount of suspicion. “Fine.”

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