Page 2 of Built to Last

I walk around the plastic tarp and into the heart of the construction zone, which is actually in my office. Finn is one of my bestie, Jilly’s, older brothers.

Obviously, I’ve had an aquarium in my lab for years. Since I just got additional funding for my research, I hired Finn to build a custom aquarium that’s big enough to simulate a kelp forest in miniature.

When I reach the construction zone, I see a handful of the administrative staff lined up at the window that separates my office from the main lab area. They’re all staring inside my office, looking… thirsty. There’s no other description necessary.

I step further into the construction zone and what they’re staring at hits me like a ton of bricks. Okay, really it hits me—literally—like a big muscular man chest.

Finn grabs my elbows to steady me. He pushes his safety goggles up on his head, then gives me a panty-melting grin.

“Hey, Velma. You need to be careful wandering around in this construction zone, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Velma.

He’s called me that forever. He says it’s just because the first time we met, I was wearing something that reminded him of Velma from Scooby Doo. And, of course, my glasses and bushy brown hair.

He’s still touching me when I look up at the window and see the three women and one man still eyeing Finn. I get it. I’m not blind. I know how hot Jillian’s brothers are. But I’ve also known them forever. I step away from him over to the window and tap my fingernail on it.

The admins all jump, their eyes round.

“Get back to work,” I tell them. They scurry like mice going into different tubes in a maze.

I turn back and see Finn leaning against the wall, he’s got his shirt up wiping the sweat off his face. The bared part of his torso makes me forget the alphabet, let alone how to string together words.

I can’t help but wonder what it’s like to wake up and walk around, living in a body that is that attractive. He must have to beat women off with a special stick.

He takes a hearty sip of water, the condensation on the outside of the bottle is probably less moisture than what is currently soaking my lady bits. Good grief.

That’s when it hits me. If Chet sees me with Finn, then that will surely get his attention.

So, I tilt my head and give my best friend’s brother a cheeky smile. “Hey Finn.”

chaptertwo

FINNEGAN

You know that teenage romance movie where everybody forgets the girl's sixteenth birthday? The romantic lead is the handsome older jock. He’s popular and nice and has a super-hot girlfriend. But there’s more than meets the eye with our hero because he’s got his eye on the quirky, awkward sophomore. He’s been biding his time, dating the cheerleader because that’s what’s expected of him.

So why am I thinking about this teenybopper movie you ask? Well, it’s because I have a lot in common with Jake Ryan—not to be confused with Jack Ryan. Or at least I did, once upon a time. Like in high school when I was a senior and I fell head over ass for the shy, awkward girl in glasses that came home with my younger sister.

There was just something about her. Long wavy brown hair with big brown eyes that looked at me with curiosity behind her glasses. Her wide mouth smile, that at the time, was covered in metal from her orthodontia. I was a senior and she was a sophomore, and it was like a lightning bolt to my heart.

My sister was technically a sophomore too, but she ended up graduating early and starting college at sixteen. Still, she and Sadie were thick as thieves. They were frequently joined by Calliope once she moved to Corpus and now they have Ally to even out their friend square.

In any case, that was the main similarity between me and the movie guy. Because he actually manned up at the end and went after the girl he wanted.

Granted, I tried. A handful of times I tried to pursue Sadie, but she always thought I was teasing her. Or just being her friend’s “nice” older brother. She is literally the only human that would accuse me of being “nice.”

So here we are now. I'm an adult. I own a construction company with my brother. Declan and I are pretty successful. We mostly do additions and refurbishing, trying not to always build new. Instead, we prefer to take something old and existing and make it new again. Make it more environmentally friendly, more economically friendly.

One thing remains the same though. I still want that nerdy friend of my sister’s. Which explains why I took this side job working in Sadie’s office to build her a specialty aquarium.

“Hey Finn,” Sadie says from a few feet away. She’s grinning at me.

“Hey, Velma.”

“I thought maybe you could use a break. I have snacks in the break room,” she says, tossing her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the direction.

I eye her carefully, trying to see what’s different about her today. She’s wearing her usual bright, funky leggings. These look like an underwater scene with coral and different kinds of tropical fish. Her solid teal shirt is long, covering her bottom and going to her mid-thighs. Not that any of that would matter since she wears an oversized white lab coat. Her brown, wavy hair is knotted in a messy bun on top of her head. Round glasses perched on her nose. Everything about her seems in place, but still, there’s something that’s different.

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