Penny’s eyes flew to Finn. “How would you know?” Then her eyes widened. “How long had you been watching us?”
Finn coughed, showing the closest thing to discomfort Penny had seen him display. “Just long enough to see it happen. But I know Seamus.”
“Oh,” Penny’s voice softened as she realized she shouldn’t be complaining. He was the one who saved them after all. “I should say thank you for getting us in the cab. I’m not sure I actually said that last night. I don’t think Bonnie would have listened to me about going home.”
Finn did a little flourish with his hand, bowing his head, “Happy to help.”
“So, you think he might have deserved it?” Bonnie asked her cousin hopefully, as Penny’s brain ticked things over, clicking them into place.
“Well, I’m not sure exactly what happened. I did come into it a bit late. I didn’t notice it was you until he started manhandling you out the door. That was not okay,” his jaw clenched as he spoke. “I would have taken you home myself, but I had a gig, and I couldn’t just leave.”
“Oh, Finn, you’re gigging now!” Bonnie’s face lit up as she reached over to grab his arm. “That’s great!”
“Yeah, going pretty well, too. Not quite ready to quit my day job, but maybe one day,” he added a bit sheepishly.
“I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m sorry,” Penny cut in, regretting breaking up this lovely cousin moment but curious, nonetheless. “What do you mean by gigging?”
“He’s playing music gigs, you know, performing in bars,” Bonnie explained.
“Oh, right,” Penny said, slapping her head lightly. “Sorry. Obviously. I saw you setting up.”
“I know. I saw you, too.”
His eyes met hers, and Penny felt a shiver travel down her body, heat blossoming in her chest as she remembered the brief, shared smile that had preceded everything that had gone wrong.
“Oh, we’ll have to go see you then,” Bonnie exclaimed, oblivious to the exchange.
Finn broke the eye contact hesitantly. “I’d love that. Of course, I’d also have loved it if you’d called me yesterday like you were supposed to. I might not have made it to the airport, but I could have met ye for dinner. Then you might have been sober enough to see me play.”
“It may have already been too late by the time you were free,” Bonnie explained, chewing on her lip.
“Oh?” Finn asked.
“She was on a mission,” Penny elaborated. “I should have known better when she started ordering shots.”
“Oh,” he repeated more knowingly this time.
Bonnie grimaced, pulling the blanket tighter around herself. “Well, I’m the one paying the price for it.”
“Well, you and Seamus,” Finn teased.
“Seamus?” Bonnie asked, confused.
“The bartender who felt so threatened he had to throw you out.”
“Uh, well,” more memories were coming back to Penny, “You did try to throw a pint of cider at him.”
“Oh, shit,” Bonnie’s hand flew to her mouth, “I did?”
“Uh-huh.”
Finn’s slow smile turned into a chuckle and then a full-on laugh. “Feck it, I wish I’d seen that part.”
Bonnie’s cheeks turned as red as her hair. “I might have to apologize.”
“I expect so if you ever want to see me play there,” he said, but he reached over to tousle her messy hair as he said it.
