Page 54 of Finn Rhodes Forever

The crowd of people around us fell away from my consciousness, leaving only her. My skin was tingling.

“One,” she whispered before she tipped her mouth up to mine.

The world stilled, narrowing down to the connection between us, and it was like no time had passed. My body remembered Liv, her soft lips, the flutter of her dark lashes against her cheekbones, the brush of her skin against mine. In my chest, my heart thumped hard, and with my hands on her face, I stroked the side of her jaw.

She shuddered under my touch. I was vaguely aware of applause around us.

A sharp pinch on my lower lip made me jerk back. A cat-like smile spread over her mouth as I rubbed the sting on my lower lip, blinking in surprise.

I snorted. “You bit me.”

“Mhm.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

My gaze lingered on her mouth. Was it wrong that I still found that insanely hot? Our eyes met again and heat and amusement rose in her eyes. I grinned at her.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, but her smile lingered. “You’re unbelievable.”

I held her gaze. “You like me.”

“Whatever.”

“Say it.” I poked her side and she batted me away. “Say you like me, or I’ll tickle you.” My fingers dug into her ribs and she let out a sharp laugh, wiggling to get away. I tucked one arm around her so she couldn’t escape, and I caught a whiff of her scent—sweet and spicy. My laugh died out as she met my gaze.

Her eyes were warm as she studied my face.

“Fine,” she said, and I watched the way her lips moved. “I like you.”

My heart tripped like a clumsy teenager.

21

Finn

“What’syour favorite hiking spot around here?” I asked her later, when the sun had almost set.

Her eyes narrowed as she thought about it. “Sitka Mountain, I think. The hike is tough but not too tough, just a short overnighter, and when you wake up in the morning and stick your head out your tent with a view of those turquoise lakes, it’s—” Her expression melted into something relaxed and nostalgic, and I couldn’t look away. “—gorgeous. Serene. It feels like I’m the only person on the planet.”

“Sounds nice.”

Her eyebrows bobbed. “It is. You should go.”

“You should take me.” My brows lifted and she smiled. “Where will you work once you finish your PhD?”

“There’s a forestry research center in Port Alberni.” That was a town near Queen’s Cove, about a two-hour drive. “They don’t have much funding, so I’m not sure if I could get a job there even with a PhD.” She chewed her lip and her eyes met mine. “I might have to move to Victoria.” That was the biggest city on Vancouver Island, a four-and-a-half-hour drive from Queen’s Cove. “Or the mainland, Vancouver or something in the interior of BC.”

I nodded, taking this in. People had to move for work, that wasn’t a big deal or out of the ordinary. Still, my stomach tipped over as I pictured Liv moving away.

I’d go with her, if she let me.

“Are you ready to leave?”

She pressed her mouth into a line, frowning. “No. I love this place. I hated leaving to go to school. Vancouver’s nice but it’s so busy and chaotic, there’s a lot of traffic, and—” She cut herself off, shrugging and shaking her head. “It’s not here.”

“Yeah. I know what you mean.”

“Do you miss firefighting?” She played with a tassel on the blanket. Her eyes flicked up to me, curious. “Forest fires, that is.”

“Sometimes,” I admitted. “It’s an organized chaos out there when the fires are raging.” I shot her a lopsided grin. “I feel in my element there.”

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