Page 38 of Finn Rhodes Forever

If I let Finn break my heart again, I was going to spend the rest of my life haunted by memories of us.

15

Olivia

Finn Rhodes helpslocal car thief escape.

In my pajamas, I stood in the kitchen of my apartment, brushing my teeth and reading the article Sadie had sent me.

My mind wandered to a few days ago when Finn showed up looking like he’d come from a bar fight, and then got slaughtered by those kids. On my way home, I’d seen him on the side of the highway, changing someone’s tire.

There was a knock at the door.

“It’s open,” I called.

Finn opened the door and leaned on the frame, roguish grin rising on his mouth. His black eye was starting to heal, going green at the edges as it faded, and a temporary crown filled the gap in his front teeth seamlessly.

His eyes snagged on my hair.

“You changed your hair again.” His grin hitched higher. “It looked so nice before.”

I rolled my eyes. Liar.

His hair was damp like he just got out of the shower, tousled and messy, and I pictured him rubbing a towel over it to dry it. Water dripping down his hard chest.

Low in my stomach, there was a funny tug, and I blinked.Stop that, I told myself.

I held my phone up. “Heard you helped a criminal out the other day.”

His face fell. “That was an accident.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, looking sheepish. “I didn’t know the car was stolen. Honest, Liv. I didn’t. I was trying to help someone out.”

I believed him, but on top of the the kids rooting up his past the other day, the black eye, and the chipped tooth? Warning rose in my stomach.

Did Finn think he was proving anything to me?

He glanced around my apartment, hands braced on the doorframe and hanging forward a little. His gaze came up to mine expectantly.

I gestured for him to enter. “Don’t touch anything.”

“You’re cute when you’re grumpy.” He took a seat at the kitchen table and leaned back, arms behind his head, muscles rippling.

I headed back to the bathroom to rinse my mouth out. When I emerged from my room, dressed and ready to go, Finn stood in my living room, studying my bookshelf with his head tilted to the side.

“Thanks for waiting,” I said, tone brisk and all business while I pulled on my hiking boots.

Finn did a double take at my pants. I busied myself with adjusting the straps of my bag, turning to hide my grin.

“Those are…” he trailed off, gaze snagging on the zippers on the pant hems.

I bit my lip. These pants werehideous.

Normally, I wore yoga leggings in the forest because even though summer was approaching and the weather was warming up, it got cold in the mountains. Someone in town gifted me these pants a few years ago. They were hand-me-downs from someone’s brother’s daughter and I couldn’t donate them because then they’d find out, so I had stashed them in my closet.

They made my ass look flat and super long, like it stretched from my lower back to the bottom of my knees. They made an annoying swishing noise when I walked and had a hundred pockets. Also, they zipped off at both the thighs and the calves.

When I had my face under control, I straightened up to look at him. “Do you like them?”

His eyebrows lifted before his gaze rose to mine. A smile curled up on his mouth. “I do. You have the ankles of a porn star.”

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