Kelly looked down to the water pooling at her feet. She’d coerced Finn away from the pier and straight into her car, not bothering to make any attempt to dry off. It had been a moment of frenzy and she was still riding the adrenalin high that came from her desperate attempt to save Finn from himself. For his part, Finn stood beside her, slightly dazed and utterly drenched. His eyes scanned the scene but there was a vacancy in them that only came at the worst of times. The times he went into his death-like mode.
The tattooist approached warily. ‘Listen, guys, I’m happy to take walk-ins, especially on a day like this when nobody’s leaving their homes, but you’re just too soaked. You’ll get water all over the place.’
Kelly wasn’t going to back down that easily. ‘You got towels?’
He cocked his head. ‘Yeah, I got towels. But they won’t dry off your clothes.’
Kelly kicked off her shoes and started to unbutton her jeans.
‘Whoa, hang on,’ crew cut said. He took a step towards Kelly, so close that she could smell his aftershave. It was leathery and safe. He twisted the wand that closed the Venetian blinds in the storefront window.
Kelly smiled. ‘A true gentleman.’
He dipped his head. ‘I’m Xavier.’
‘Kelly. And this is Finn.’
‘You been drinking?’
‘No.’
‘All right. Formalities over. Dry yourselves off and I’ll grab you a couple of T-shirts.’
Kelly stripped down to her underwear, then pulled back her hair and tied it in a ponytail. ‘Come on, Finn, get your gear off.’
The sight of her in just a bra and undies brought a bit of life back to his eyes. ‘Are you serious?’
‘Please tell me you’re wearing underpants.’
‘This is ridiculous,’ he said, but he unbuttoned his pants, slid them down his legs and kicked them off with his shoes. He pulled his hoodie and shirt over his head in one fluid movement and pushed his hair back off his forehead. His skin was damp and taut across his muscled chest and stomach, and his wet Calvin Klein trunks left nothing to the imagination.
Finn caught Kelly staring and frowned, covering his groin with both hands.
‘Shit, man, you guys are basically Ken and Barbie,’ Xavier said. He threw them each a towel and T-shirt.
Kelly wrapped the towel around her waist and slipped the T-shirt over her shoulders. She reached back, unfastened her bra and dropped it onto the wet pile of clothes at her feet. Then she reached up under the towel and pulled down her underpants. They were as wet as everything else and she wasn’t sitting in sodden cotton for the next hour.
Xavier shook his head and chuckled. ‘Man, this day just got wild.’
Kelly looked at Finn, who was motionless. ‘Come on, Finn, don’t make me take yours off as well.’
Finn reluctantly dragged his trunks down underneath his towel as Kelly had done.
‘Feel better?’ Kelly said.
‘No. Just drier.’
Kelly smiled but she felt like her heart was about to break. She’d been trying to stay light, trying to take the weight off him, but it wasn’t working. It was time to go on the offensive.
She took his face between her hands and stared straight into his eyes. ‘You listen to me, Finley Walsh, and you listen good. We’re going to mark each other forever now. We’re going to tell the rest of the world that from this day on, you don’t fuck with Kelly and Finn.’
A spark lit in his eyes.
‘Say it,’ Kelly said.
‘You don’t fuck with Kelly and Finn,’ he said softly.
‘Now say it like you mean it, Finley.’
