Page 103 of Wild Flower

“My meddling cousin?” Finn asks, inching his fingers higher. “I’d bet a hundred bucks she’s already watching.” He kisses me hotly, stroking the skin at the edge of my panties. I whimper and kiss him back, my hips rolling. “What she doesn’t know,” Finn whispers in my hair, “is how hot you get when you have a spectator.”

His finger dives under my panties, sliding across my soaked flesh.

“Finn!” I bite his shoulder. He isn’t wrong. The idea of Miranda watching has me running my hand over the front of Finn’s pants. To my pleasure, he’s just as aroused as I am. “Should we give her a show?”

He pushes a finger inside me and I gasp. Then he takes my mouth and our tongues dance. I’m writhing in heat, both of us wearing too much clothing.

“I think your phone is ringing,” Finn says.

“What?” I’m milking his finger, eager to ask him for a second one.

“Your phone in your back pocket,” he repeats. “I don’t want us to accidentally answer it if it’s a client or—”

“Oh damn, good point,” I hiss, dropping my hand from his crotch to get my phone. I swear when I see who it is, and to my horror the callhasconnected. I lift the phone to my mouth, looking at Finn in apology. “Um, hi Dad. It’s, uh, nice to hear from you.”

Finn stifles a groan.

Talk about a buzz kill.

60

ARCHER

Finn and Becca agree to meet me and Val at Flambé.

I already apologized to Arie about being MIA, and even though the Dragon breathes fire, she was surprisingly accommodating. It may have been that slip at the photo opening where she revealed to my girlfriend that I’m a lying sack of shit with cancer.

Whomaybehas cancer.

There’s still a week before we get the scan results.

Val and I are sitting outside on the Flambé patio under the string lights. This way, I can see Becca and Finn when they get off the elevator. No surprises. I must be acting odd, because Valeria slides my chili cocktail closer to me and nods for me to take a drink. The two Thai bird chilies look like jalapeño devil horns on the rim, and I’m so nervous I’m tempted to eat the chilies whole.

“Relax,” Val says calmly. “This can’t be worse than talking to her parents.”

“Maybe,” I grumble, sipping the cocktail and almost gagging at the kick of spice that hits the back of my throat.

Val laughs. “Now you know what it feels like for a lady to go down on a man.”

I stare at her wide-eyed. “You’re my sister!”

She laughs louder. “I’m not celibate. Plus, you’re the one in a throuple.”

Fair point.

“Seriously though, just tell Becca what you told her parents. If she isn’t swooning for you after that, she isn’t worth it.”

I cough. “This is different,” I mumble. “I lied about having cancer. That’s unforgivable.”

“What’s unforgivable is if she doesn’t care that youhadcancer,” Val points out, emphasizing the fact that we don’t know the verdict on my scan yet. Everything might be normal. “If she loves you, there’s only one thing—”

I don’t hear the rest of what my sister is saying, because Becca and Finn are stepping out of the elevator. Becca looks stunning in a corset dress with a sparkly, black skirt. It’s the same dress she wore the first night at Flambé when Finn and I met her. Did she wear that on purpose? Is this some full-circle closure thing? Beginning and end?

“That’s them,” I say, grabbing the cocktail and taking another searing gulp, letting the spice burn my throat.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding,” Val whispers, as I push out my chair and stand up. “She’s gorgeous. Him, too. Do you have any more single friends at this restaurant?”

I feel my face flush as they approach, or maybe that’s the chilies. The two of them are smiling and holding hands, but I can’t tell if that’s a good sign or not. If all else fails, at least Finn wins the girl.

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