Page 3 of Finn Rhodes Forever

A knot formed in my throat and I frowned down at my hands clasped on the countertop. It was May, and based on data from the flower in other parts of the world, it should be in bloom from now until the end of August.

“I have one last summer to find it before I get kicked out of my program.” I shrugged and looked at her. “So I’m going to get out there as much as I can and find it.” I straightened up, trying to brush the bad vibes away. “I’m going on a hike tomorrow. I’ll send you my route before I leave.”

She didn’t like that I hiked alone in the back country, especially because the terrain wasn’t for beginners and cell service was spotty, so to keep her from worrying, I always sent her my itinerary and route—even though between school and growing up here, I’d spent countless hours in the mountains. I knew what I was doing.

Sadie tapped her nails on the bar counter and chewed her lip, glancing at me.

I frowned. “What?”

Her mouth twisted to the side and I stared at her. I knew that look. That was the same look she had when she explained that the person I hated more than anyone on the planet would be at her and Holden’s wedding a few months ago.

My gut flipped.

“What?” I asked again, leaning in. “Spit it out, please.”

She blew out a long breath. “He’s moving back.”

I froze before shaking my head. “Nope.” I wiped the spotless counter.

“Olivia.”

“He’s not.” I was practically rubbing the varnish off.

She sighed. “He left Whistler a couple days ago.”

Fuck. This was bad. My stomach dropped.

Finn Rhodes and I had an unspoken agreement. In the summers, Holden’s youngest brother left Queen’s Cove to fight wildfires around the province, and I worked in my dad’s bar. In the fall, I returned to school and he came home until he inevitably got bored and left for the summer.

And then last year, my dad needed help running the bar while he and my mom went on their dream trip around Europe, Finn moved permanently to Whistler, a ski town in BC, and I figured my problem was solved.

As kids, we were best friends. We grew up next door to each other, and we did everything together. We even had the same birthday. When most kids hit puberty, they thought the opposite sex was gross, but not us. We were inseparable all the way up to the night of our high school graduation.

He was everything to me, and he ditched me. My stomach dropped with the memories of that night before I pushed them away.

Finn Rhodes was a cruel joke from the universe. He had smashed my heart into a thousand pieces without a second thought, and I would never,everlet it happen again.

That day I saw the pink sand verbena in the forest? Finn had been standing right beside me, watching the flower disappear down the creek.

I adopted an apathetic expression, shrugging at Sadie. “Here’s the thing about Finn,” I said in a low voice so Holden wouldn’t overhear. “He’s an adrenaline junkie. Compared to fighting raging wildfires, our town isn’t interesting enough for him, so even if he does come home, I don’t expect him to stay.”

Sadie lifted one eyebrow, looking uncertain.

“Trust me,” I told her. “I know him.”

Hesaidhe was coming back to town, but if I knew one thing about Finn after growing up with him? It was that I couldn’t trust a fuckingwordhe said.

“It’s been a long time,” Sadie offered.

I remembered the way he had looked at me at Sadie and Holden’s wedding, and the zap of electricity down my spine when our eyes had met. I hadn’t seen the guy since we were teenagers, and seeing him standing there in his suit, with his unruly dark hair looking perfectly rumpled, his sharp gray eyes assessing me in my dress—my heart had nearly stopped.

God, he had looked so good. His frame had filled out, probably from the physical demands of his firefighting job. His tattoos had poked out beneath his collar and the hems of his sleeves, and the way his gaze had raked over me with a mix of longing and heat?

A shiver rolled down my back at the memory.

He hadn’t changed. Not one bit. Same cocky, reckless, thrill-seeking Finn.

Rage flooded my blood and I scowled.

---