Page 35 of It's Just You

“Good. See what happens when you follow orders?” I teased.

“Well yes, in this case, but it’s usually just boring. I’m not very good at following orders.” Finn took his place next to the bike, waiting for me to get on. I handed him the backpack and the second helmet.

“You could’ve fooled me.” I swung my leg over the set, righted the bike, and indicated for Finn to hop on.

He did, immediately leaning close to me and wrapping his arms around my waist. Like the first time, it felt strange — but strange in a good way. I liked having him close. I liked the pressure of his arms around me while the engine roared to life beneath me, letting me feel its power. With Finn behind me, it seemed even more intense.

I chased the thoughts out of my head. I needed to focus on driving, not on my passenger, who’d gotten better at following every movement of my body as I took the road to the area I’d chosen. The roads got narrower and narrower, until we were far out in the countryside. Even though some towns were nearby, this stretch of land seemed to be completely devoid of people, which was one of the reasons I loved coming here when I needed some time to myself.

When I pulled onto the small patch of rocks and grass working as a parking lot for hikers on the trail, I looked around, seeing with satisfaction that no one else was around. We would be completely alone, just as I’d hoped we’d be. I didn’t mind the occasional other person, but they still somehow interrupted the feeling of the land.

“This is beautiful,” Finn said, his voice muffled by the helmet. He got off the bike, with me following. When I turned around, he was already removing his helmet and trying to fix his slightly messed up hair.

I rolled my eyes and reached over, ruffling it.

“Hey!” Finn jumped back.

I laughed. “Stop worrying. It looks fine.”

Finn huffed. “As if.” He worked with his fingers to get the strands to lay down as they were supposed to while I opened the backpack to get the coffee.

I really didn’t care what he did with his hair — it looked good either way — but I enjoyed messing with him way too much to let an opportunity slip by. Plus, his hair was kind of soft, and… Nope. I wasn’t going to fantasize about his hair at all. That would just be sort of weird.

I pulled out the thermos and the cups, handing the latter to Finn. “Here, take these. I’ll pour the coffee.”

Finn didn’t even hesitate, abandoning his attempts to fix his hair. Hot steam rose from the flask, and I breathed in deeply. It was the smell of heaven.

“Thank you.” Finn held my cup as I got back up, but before I took it, I retrieved the bakery bag. Expensive, yes, but it was worth spending a little more, and it wasn’t like I did it often.

“Now you can thank me.” I held out the bag to him, but he couldn’t take it with two cups of coffee in his hand.

“Yeah, hold it out for me and don’t let me eat from it. Mean.” His eyes were sparkling as he held the cup out to me, but I raised a brow.

“Mean? I’ll show you mean.” I took one of the cinnamon rolls, looking at it. “This is mean.” I raised the piece to my lips, then changed direction and offered it to him. Finn’s eyes were huge, but then a grin appeared as he realized I was going to let him have it. Instead of trading out my cup of coffee for the piece of cinnamon roll, he leaned forward and wrapped those full lips around the sweet roll.

I’d never seen someone eat like this. Usually, you took a bite with your teeth, right? Finn was making love to it, seriously. He took his bite, but the way his lips worked, his face moved, and his Adam’s apple bobbed when he swallowed… that wasn’t even legal. Seriously.

Then he licked his lips, catching a stray crumb.

I couldn’t look away, even though I could feel my cheeks turning as red as his lipstick. He met my eyes, a small smirk playing on his lips, and finally handed me the cup he was holding for me. “I’ll share. It’s rare, but considering you got the food to begin with…” He trailed off, and it seemed so deliberate, not like he didn’t know what else to say. He rarely seemed at a loss.

I looked at him, then at the roll. “How nice of you, to share the food I bought.” I took a bite from the pastry, ignoring the way he rolled his eyes at me. When I was done swallowing, I handed it back to him, and we traded it back and forth until it was all gone.

I licked my lips. “I have a second one. You wanna wait until later for it?”

Finn nodded. “Yeah. Just coffee is fine for now.” We drank in silence.

It was still hot, so I blew on it, but once I could take little sips, I did. Living on the edge, and all that.

“I hope the coffee’s okay,” I said. “I put some milk and sugar in it, but I tried not to overdo it. I should’ve asked you how you like it.”

“It’s coffee, so it works. And for the record, I like everything sweet.” He smirked at me. “So it’s perfect.”

I rolled my eyes again, but I was smiling inwardly. He’d toned down the flirting like I’d asked him to, but still, not all of his comments were innocent at all. I didn’t mind, since it was just so Finn. I had to admire how easily he managed to sneak the flattery and flirtation in. Some people had to try. He just did it naturally.

When I realized I hadn't commented on his words, I cleared my throat. “Let’s head out. We can take the cups with us and have another cup of coffee when we take a break. I brought water and a few other snacks too.”

Finn nodded. “Sounds good to me.” He emptied his own cup while I drank mine down, then put them both back into the backpack. I added the thermos, and he said, “Ready.”

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