"Don't leave it here. Take it with ya and do something with it." He winked and went back to wiping down the bar.
"I will." I walked out into the freezing cold and turned, feeling better about everything. It was going to be a bitch to get Chloe to listen to me, but the resolve to not give up felt good. Like I had purpose.
"What are you going to do if she won't see you?" Brian asked, moving to his car and pausing.
"Keep trying, I guess." I shrugged and stopped by the back of my truck.
"Isn't she going home back to California soon?"
"That's what she said." I brushed my fingers by my chin and tried to work through how I could get her to talk to me that night. She most likely went home and no one was supposed to be there. I could just go out there and knock on the door. Seemed logical.
"So I guess you're on a short time span then, dude. You better get after it." He smiled and shook his head. "If anyone can do it, you can."
"Thanks, buddy. I'll call you later." I walked around my truck. I wasn't on a time table at all. If she didn't come around while she was here, I would simply go there. When she made it perfectly clear that she wasn't interested in anything ever happening between us, I'd be done.
I got in the car and hooked my phone up as a call from my Dad rang through.
"Hey pops. What's up?" I closed the door and buckled up.
"You. That's what's up." He was angry.
Great. More shit to deal with.
"What did I do now? It's been a fucked up night, so I'm sure I had this coming."
"You did what I told you not to do, which has been the story of your life. Do you think I give you advice because I enjoy listening to the sound of my own voice? No. I give it to you because otherwise you're going to suffer the consequences for your fucked up actions."
"Dad. Really. I'm not in the mood for this shit. Tell me what I did and I'll fix it. I don't need you berating me. I'm a piece of shit. I get it," I barked into the console of the truck and turned out of the lot, headed out to Chloe's place.
"I didn't say you were a piece of shit. I said you didn't listen."
"I'm hanging up." I let out an exasperated sigh. I would call him tomorrow. I was too broken for whatever he was up to.
"I told you to leave Chloe alone, and you didn't."
How the hell did my father know I'd hurt the pretty girl? Did she run home and tell her Dad? Had he called my Dad? We were adults for shit-sake. Why the hell was our fathers involved in any of this?
"What?" I had no other word to throw out.
"Her father caught me in town tonight and chewed my ass out for sending you over there to do the yard. He said you were after his girl, and I couldn't deny it. Do me a favor, Finn. Please. Just one small, tiny thing. Just this once, keep your dick in your pants and keep away from the Burke girl. Those people are rich, hateful, and headed straight to hell."
"Yep." I dropped the call and turned into her driveway, turning off my lights. I would have to figure out how to deal with my old man once I figured out if there were anything to really deal with. Chloe could turn me down cold and the problem would be solved. I prayed that wouldn't be the case, but the chances of a different outcome seemed slim.
Maybe her Dad wasn't out of town. I texted her, half expecting no response, but I made my message too compelling to ignore.
Me: I'm sitting in your driveway. Come out for two minutes and then I'll leave you alone after that.
Chloe: Finn?
Me: Yes. Get out here.
Chloe: How did you get my number?
Me: During our shopping trip. Two minutes.
Chloe: No. Go away. My Dad's here.
Me: I'm coming up to ring the doorbell. I want two minutes with you.
Chloe: Fine. Come to the second window at the back of the house and I'll let you in. Two minutes and then you're out. I don't have anything to say to you.
I turned the truck off and got out, jogging to the back and finding her window open. I felt all of sixteen again. It was humorous and nerve-wracking all the same.
"Hurry up and get in here." She helped me in and moved back, putting her hands on her hips. She had on a tiny tank top and a pair of boy shorts.
"Fuck," I whispered and let my eyes drag down her. Now wasn't the time, and yet she was the hottest thing I'd ever laid eyes on.
I moved toward her before I realized what I was doing.
"Finn. No." She put her hands out, but I moved past them, wrapping my arms around her and pressing her against the wall behind her roughly. She groaned, but it wasn't a scared sound. She still wanted me. I could sense it all over her.
"I'm sorry." I leaned in and drug my lips up her neck, breathing her in. "I was told you had a man, Chloe. By my best friend and your brother."
"I know," she whispered roughly as her hand ran up the back of my hair.
"I was hurt and so far beyond pissed. You can't have another man." I licked at her ear and pressed my lips to it as I ground against her. "That leaves no room for me."
She cried out again and whimpered. "I need time. I can't do this right now."
I shifted my upper body back and brushed her hair back before pressing my forehead to hers. "Time is all yours. Take as much as you need, but I don't want a friendship. I want you. All of you."
She whimpered again and closed her eyes, rolling her hips and stroking my body with hers.
I clinched my teeth, respecting the fact that her father was down the hall. If we'd have been alone that night, I would have already had her stretched out on her bed, my face between her pretty taunt thighs.
She opened her beautiful green eyes and nodded as she bit her lip.
"Tell me we're okay and I'll go." I brushed my lips by hers and slid my hand down her side, over the curve of her breast and around her hip, my fingers tracing the outside of her panties.
"We're okay. I'm sorry for overreacting, but you hurt me today."
I could smell the liquor on her breath and I wanted to share in her sadness, her pain.
"I'm sorry for that. I hurt you out of my own pain. It won't ever happen again. I promise." I pressed my lips to her and snaked my fingers into her panties, rubbing over the curve of her ass as I kissed her long and passionately. She had my heart. I didn't know how, but she did.
She pushed at me and I moved back, panting just as she was. "I need time to think through this."
"I understand. I'll wait as long as I can for you to come find me. If you don't...I'll come find you. Be ready to accept me or not, but know that I want you. More than I've ever wanted anyone, Chloe."
I moved back and she clung to me, her fingers wrapped around my t-shirt that was bunched at my shoulders.
"Tell me to stay and I will." I licked at my lips and took one more look at her, which left me overwhelmed.
"Soon." She released me and backed up, hugging herself and watching me intently.
I stood there a minute longer, needing her to change her mind, but wanting to give her time to want me the way I wanted her. The sound of her father coming down the hall almost caused my heart to stop and I moved through the window and chuckled at the sound of her laughing softly out of her window.
Things weren't perfect, but maybe they were at least getting back on track.
Chapter 19