Page 22 of Finn Rhodes Forever

She blinked. “You do.”

I nodded, leaning forward, holding her gaze. Her eyes widened a fraction as my hand came out and I toyed with a jagged lock, running it through my fingers. Her nostrils flared and her throat worked, and the smile on my face was all natural.

“You look really hot,” I told her in a low murmur, running my finger up her jawline.

She looked like when a kid cuts their own hair, or like one of those shelter dogs whose haircut is so sad, you pity them.

“To me, baby,” I murmured, “you’re the most gorgeous woman in the world.”

And that was the truth.

Irritation flashed in her eyes and she jerked away. “Great.” She tried to smile but it looked like she was baring her teeth. Emmett flinched.

After she had taken our drink orders and disappeared, Emmett shifted to face me.

“So…” he started, watching Liv move around the bar as people stared at her hair. “That was weird.”

I leaned back, folding my arms over my chest. “She’s trying to drive me away.”

Holden snorted. “Smart.”

“Thanks a lot.”

He stared at me. “You obviously did something to hurt her.”

A flicker of guilt pinched in my gut, and I knew that was the truth.

“What’s your plan?” Emmett asked.

“Plan?”

He nodded. “How are you going to fix things?”

“I’m hiking with her in the back country until we find the flower.”

Emmett nodded. “What else?”

“I moved in upstairs.”

Wyatt shot me an incredulous look. “No.”

“I moved in across the hall from her so we can have like, snuggle parties and stuff.” Naked stuff, hopefully. Just the memory of Liv’s smooth skin and the way she gasped when she—

Holden shook his head. “You can’t be serious.”

I glanced between the guys. “What?”

Emmett laughed. “You are so fucked. This isn’t going to work. You’re going to drive her away faster.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows bobbed in agreement as he took a drink of his beer.

“That’s because you guys are married and boring.”

I thought about Olivia’s biological father in Whistler, alone in the bar every night, and rubbed a hand down my face. I couldn’t turn into him. I had to make things right with Liv.

I also had no clue how to bring up with her that I knew what her dad was up to. Last I heard, he stopped phoning and showing up when she was fourteen, not that he was very present before that.

“I need uninterrupted alone time with her,” I said, nodding to myself. “I can blindfold her and take her to an Airbnb in the woods for a few days. Somewhere without cell service where we can disconnect—”

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