Page 62 of Finn Rhodes Forever

He was messing with my head. Camping was a terrible fucking idea.

“I’m going to go to bed,” I said quickly. “I’m tired and I won’t be able to sleep once the sun’s up.”

He nodded with a small smile, like he thought I was cute. My stomach flipped over as he stepped forward.

“Alright. Goodnight, Liv.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in tight to his chest. “Thank you for bringing me beer.”

I let myself close my eyes for five seconds, counting in my head, inhaling him and leaning my face against his chest.

“Goodnight,” I whispered.

He let me go and I felt the absence of his warmth but unzipped my tent and got inside. I lay in my sleeping bag, listening to the sizzle of the fire as he put it out, the soft thumps of his boots on the ground as he headed to his tent. The zip of his tent’s fly, the rustle of him getting into his sleeping bag, and finally silence, punctuated with noises from the forest—a coyote yipping, an owl hooting.

I was starting to like Finn, not just lust after him. We were becoming friends again, pulled together like magnets. I burrowed further into my sleeping bag, trying to warm up. With my nose against the neck of his hoodie, I inhaled a lungful of Finn.

He wouldn’t do any sexy stuff with me because he didn’t want it to be a fling. It prickled in my head, the shame of rejection coupled with the spike of pleasure at knowing he was willing to wait for something good. Me. I was that something good.

I pictured what my mom’s expression would be if she ever ran into Finn and me together. She’d see right through me. She knew me better than anyone. She wouldknowI was—

I was what? Falling for him?

No. I wasn’t.

I squeezed my eyes tight, breathing in his scent again. I was totally stealing this hoodie. All of this shit? I’d deal with it another day. So Finn and I were becoming friends again. So what. So I wanted to sleep with him.So what.

In a few months, I’d be searching for a new job, with or without a PhD, and that might mean leaving town if there was nothing in the immediate area.

But right now? I wanted my friend back. No one understood me like Finn, no one made me simultaneously flustered and at ease.

I was happy to know him again, even if it was temporary.

* * *

I woketo my tent’s fly being zipped open. My chest shook from the cold, hands and feet almost numb. A phone flashlight lit up the tent.

I lifted my head, squinting. “Finn?”

The tent rustled as he crawled in, crouching while he did the fly back up. He was shirtless.

“What’s going on?” My voice was gravelly with sleep.

“Your teeth are chattering so loud they can hear you back in town.” He unzipped my sleeping bag and cold air rushed in.

I squeaked and burrowed further into the sleeping bag. “Why do you hate me?” I demanded through my sleep-fogged haze.

Finn slipped in beside me, sitting to zip the bag back up before looping his big arm under my neck and pulling me backwards into his chest.

I moaned. Oh my god.Warm. He wrapped his other arm over me, tucking me under his chin. His hand found mine, hidden within the long sleeve of his hoodie, but I could still feel his heat.

“Better?” he murmured. He caught my feet with his.

“Mhmm.” The tension in my muscles eased and my shivers slowed. “Thank you.”

His hand squeezed mine. The sleeping bag was meant to fit one person, not two, but instead of feeling claustrophobic, it was cozy and snuggly. Finn’s body melded against mine and I felt the beat of his heart against my back.

“Go to sleep, baby,” he whispered into my hair.

I closed my eyes and was out within a minute.

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