Page 12 of Finn
He looks around, and I do the same. Most everyone has gone back to training, so at least we haven’t drawn more of an audience. “What are you doing here?”
I had this whole spiel I was going to say but it just seems too rehearsed now that I’m standing here. Finn already knows the secret I never wanted him to find out, so I might as well just go with it. “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry about my brother yesterday.”
The adorable trainer looks around again, then gently touches my elbow to lead me back toward the door. I think he’s about to throw me out when he stops just to the side of it and lowers his voice. “I’m guessing you’re here without his knowledge.”
“Apparently, it’s the thing I do around him,” I admit, chuckling apprehensively. I step toward him, still feeling the same pull from yesterday even without the darkness and anonymity of the club and the two cups of alcohol in my system. Without any sort of heel on, he soars over me even more so I have to tilt my head back to talk to him. “I just wanted to let you know that I didn’t know Cole was going to be there and that I didn’t deliberately keep the information from you.”
He smirks, and my heart clenches in response. A little of the Finn from yesterday starts to peek through. “You mean you didn’t divulge every last bit of who you are within the short time frame that we spoke? How dare you.”
I smile and place a few strands of hair around my ear. “Yeah, I know that’s not exactly weird but seeing as how Cole is who he is and he’s also my brother, people think I should walk around with that information on my shirt or something. I have no idea.”
Finn frowns. “I get it. Probably not all of it, but I get what you mean.”
“I had absolutely no idea that he’d threaten you like that or—” I drift my gaze toward his swollen eye deliberately.
Finn reaches up to run his fingers lightly around the dark bruising. “You guessed that, huh?”
“Actually, Jaz told me she saw you with it before she left the Ring yesterday.” I step even closer under the guise of looking at his eye up close, but really, it’s because I’m drawn to him and I can’t seem to help myself. “Did he really do that to you?”
He leans closer and whispers, “I told everyone I got it training because it’s part of the job description that I can’t let people get away with hitting me.”
I let out a breath and run my hands through my hair, exasperated.
“I was half-joking,” he offers with his signature smile.
I shake my head. “It’s just typical.” Now I’m pissed that I even apologized to Cole in my text. What I really want to do is give him a piece of my mind about hitting guys who I just barely met. “We only had one dance!”
“Well...” Finn hedges. “That wasn’t all of it.” He looks unashamedly giddy now. “I kind of told him I was going to see you again.”
I recoil. A dozen or so comebacks spring to mind, but instead, I stand there, mouth agape. When I collect myself, the only thing I can think to ask is, “You did what now?”
6
If it’s possible, Finn smiles even wider.
He almost makes me forget about everything else. For as long as I can remember, Cole held a lot of weight. Not just because he was my big brother, it was more than that. In high school, everyone knew he planned to join up with the Heights Crew. Because of that, he was one of the badasses around town that the other kids looked up to. When he left, he lost respect, but now that he’s back—and as a gang leader himself—I’m not sure Finn realizes what he’s just done.
I gulp, tamping down the excitement of having someone stick up for me, and instead, replace it with real worry. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
The smile falls off his face, and I’m immediately sorry I’m the one who caused that. He runs his hands through his hair. “I guess I read the situation wrong then.”
I step up to him, fisting my hand in his shirt. “No, you didn’t read anything wrong.”
My hands brush his chiseled abs through the thin material, and I actually feel his intake of breath. He grasps my hand, holding it firmly against him. We’re locked in not only a stare off but a semi-embrace, neither one of us willing to back away.
I take a deep breath. Maybe coming here was a bad idea. I’d chalked up being drawn to him to a myriad of reasons, but the only one that’s still true right now is the fact that he’s drop-dead gorgeous, and I honestly don’t think that’s all of it. “My brother—”
“Is a bully,” Finn states plainly.
“Yes, he’s that,” I confirm. I’ve often thought of him that way since he returned, and I have no doubt he can be more than that when the situation arises. I lower my voice. “He’s the leader of the Dragons.”
“I know exactly who he is,” Finn answers.
“Then you know how dangerous he can be.”
“I’m of no threat to you, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”
My gaze drops to the adorable indent in his pouty lip.
