Page 82 of Wild Flower

Miranda softens at that comment. “Dammit Finn, I’m pissed at you. Why’d you have to say something so sensitive? Now I feel like a jerk.”

“You aren’t,” I reassure her. “Becca adores you. And she definitely needs you on her side. If she decides to move, she’s going to need all the support she can get.”

“Stop trying to be boyfriend of the year! Jeez,” Miranda teases. “I’m going to get jealous if you and Archer keep this amazing boyfriend act up. Next thing you know, I’ll be having a serious conversation with Kyle about additional bedfellows.”

“It’s not for everyone,” I admit, tempted to say it’s complicated. But honestly, it hasn’t been. We just work. And the ease of that has me nervous that the other shoe will drop at any second.

Pushing my fears away, I pull out a stack of glossy promo cards from the bag on my shoulder. “I came by to drop these off.” I place the stack in front of Miranda. “I have some photos in the university show. A featured spot in the show, actually.”

“Wow, fancy.” Miranda picks up one of the cards.

“Becca and Archer have helped me find a new voice in my work,” I point to the photo of them running on the beach in a streak of sunset. It’s one of several photos printed on the flyer. “You should come.”

“If I’ve forgiven you, I’ll think about it,” she teases.

“I’m very forgivable,” I tease back. “Can you give these to Becca, so she can invite who she wants to the show. And feel free to share them with patrons in the shop.” I motion to the jungle around me.

“First a photoshoot with Flambé,” Miranda muses, “and now a featured spot in the university show?Someone’smoving up in the world.”

“I’ve been inspired,” I admit. “But yeah, it’s been pretty wonderful.”

Miranda gives me a genuine smile. “I’m happy for you, Finn.” Then she taps on the card. “Any chance the university needs flower arrangements for this show? If Becca’s serious about moving her farm, we’re going to need more accounts.”

“I’ll ask.”

“No, don’t ask,” Miranda chides, whapping me with one of the cards. “Make it happen. You owe me.”

I shake my head. “I’ll see what I can do.”

48

BECCA

Toffee orange clouds reflect in the infinity pool I’m floating in. I don’t know how Archer can afford this place, but drifting in the center of a shimmering mirror of teal and sherbet makes me not want to ask questions. I just want to forget the frown on my mother’s face, the contract she tucked angrily in her purse, the unreadable look from the loan officer, and the logistical nightmare it will be to move my farm. Not to mention, I need to find a new place to live. I can’t stay in my parents’ guest house if I’m breaking free of them.

If I’m doing this, I’m going all in.

Warm hands slide over my bare stomach, and I don’t have to look to know it’s Archer in the pool next to me. His touch is rougher and more immediate than Finn’s, who is lounging in a beach chair at the pool’s edge. Archer’s hands knead hungrily like there’s a limit on how much of me he gets and he’s taking all of it at once.

“You’re thinking too much,” Archer warns. “You’re tense.”

“You can tell that from my stomach?” I joke, flicking water at him, which he takes as an invitation to nibble on the blackberry briar that’s tattooed by my hip.

“All of you is tense,” he says, nibbling closer to my navel.

“How many bedrooms are in your house?” I ask, distracted by his mouth.

“Too many,” he mumbles. “Why?”

I run my fingers through the wet ribbons of Archer’s hair, relishing the feel of his short beard on my stomach. I shouldn’t ask. It’s a bad idea. There’s a delicate balance we’re playing with the three of us, I can’t exactly ask to live in one of their houses and not the other.

Archer slides his hand between my legs, over my bikini bottoms, and I shudder at how he touches my body without apology. It makes me feel brave.

“This is probably crazy,” I say, “but I’m already avoiding going home and staying in my parents’ guest house as it is. But if I move my farm, I’m going to have to move everything, including me.”

Archer hums against my skin, one of his hands under my back to keep me afloat and the other teasing my bikini bottoms. “Are you asking what I think you’re asking?”

I spread my arms in the water to keep myself afloat and look over to Finn who’s sat up and is listening. “It’s only because you have such a big house,” I say. “And it would be temporary, until I found something of my own.”

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