“I’m not asking for a commitment, Finn. Well, no more than what we just talked about. But I don’t want you holding back, either. If we’re giving this a go, then we should give it a proper go.”
“I’m all in,” I said, meaning it, but hoping and praying I was capable of following through.
She bit down on a smile, but it still peeked out. “Me, too.”
Then she reached up and kissed me, and all my doubts evaporated. If I could just keep her near, things would stay clear and everything would work out fine.
Chapter Sixteen
Finn
The next night I was in a surprisingly good mood considering I was cooking dinner. Our new relationship status had started with good omens—we’d told my sisters over nachos and Amelia had squealed so loudly my ears rang for minutes afterward, and Billie had been—thankfully more quietly—thrilled we were taking the relationship public.
We’d gone to our own beds that night, as agreed, and neither one of us had sneaked into the other’s room. It didn’t seem right with my sisters in the house and now potentially listening for us changing rooms after lights out—a situation that would most definitely need addressing.
So all in all, things were pretty damn good in my life. The only thing that could dampen my mood was slicing onions—I always managed to get the juice into my eyes no matter what I did.
There was a knock on the door, and I dropped my knife onto the cutting board. Billie had taken Amelia shopping for more school supplies after work, and Scarlett was due any minute, so I was the only one to answer it. I swiped a hand at my stinging eyes, but that only made them worse.
I swore as I opened the door and Rakesh stood there, surprised and amused.
“If this is a bad time, I can come back later.” He grinned.
“Onions,” I said over my shoulder as I turned away and headed for the kitchen.
“Ah. You know you can avoid that if you order takeout.”
“Amelia is a kid. Kids need vegetables.”
His grin faded. “Good point. Have you tried cutting them under water?”
I sliced into another onion. “I’m sure you didn’t drop over to critique my kitchen skills.” I paused to slide the chopped onion into the pot with the others. “And remember I have a knife in my hand, so you might want to get to the point.”
He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “I need you to do me a favor.”
“Depends.” I crossed to the sink and washed my hands, then grabbed two beers from the fridge. “Am I going to like this favor?”
Rakesh nodded as he took the beer. “I was supposed to represent the department at the opening night of the Etruscan Treasures display at the museum, but something’s come up.”
He handed me two tickets and I took them, still watching his face. “Is that something that you just found out the fact that Laura’s going to be there?”
Rakesh’s ex was only recently back in the country and working at another university’s ancient history department. They’d broken up a while ago, but it had been pretty brutal, so I wouldn’t have been surprised if he wanted to avoid her.
“Possibly.” He took a long pull from the bottle. “Yeah, okay, she’ll be there. Do you want the tickets?”
“Sure,” I said, feeling generous because my love life was doing so much better than his right now.
The front door opened and Scarlett’s voice called out that she was home. My heart gave a double thump. A few seconds later she appeared at the kitchen entrance, looking slightly disheveled from her day, and all I wanted to do was wrap my arms tightly around her and never let go.
“Oh, hey Rakesh,” she said when she saw him.
Rakesh looked at her with stars in his eyes. This was the first time I’d seen them together since the night of the university fundraiser, when he told me he’d had something of a crush on her. The night Scarlett and I had gone on to have sex up against a wall in my office.
And now that I was watching for the signs of his infatuation, I could see it.
“Hey, Scarlett,” he said.
She smiled back and headed for me, and I realized I had about two seconds before she kissed me hello and announced to Rakesh that we were together.
He’d be hurt—I needed to break this to him another time, when I could do it gently. Though I was aware of a lump of guilt lodged in my gut for lying to him that night of the fundraiser, telling him she was seeing someone when she wasn’t. If he knew we were together now, it would be obvious I’d pulled an asshole move.
So I opened the fridge, grabbed a beer for Scarlett, and held it out before she reached me.
She hesitated mid-step, assessing the situation, then smoothly took the bottle and moved to the far counter.
“Hey, Finn. How was your day?”
Smiling my thanks for going with the flow, I told her about the excuses students had given me today for needing an extension on their assignments, and Rakesh threw in a few others, until we were all laughing, and the beers were empty.
“I should get going,” Rakesh said. “Let you get back to your onions.”
We saw him off at the front door, then Scarlett trapped me against the closed door by pushing herself against me, chest to hips. Any thoughts that this was a seductive maneuver were quickly scattered by her narrowed eyes.
“Explain to me why you cut me off when I went to greet you.”
She wasn’t using any force, but she held me pinned just the same—I wasn’t leaving while her lush curves were making so much contact with so much of me.
“You looked like you could use a beer.” I adjusted my stance, just to feel the friction of her body as it moved against me.
“Rakesh doesn’t know we’re together, does he?”
“Not so much,” I said, and gave in to the need to smooth my hands down her back, pulling her closer as I went. Her breath hitched and she stood on tiptoes, aligning our bodies even more.
“Why didn’t you tell him?” But the demand had gone from her eyes, replaced by a growing lust-haze.
For a full second I considered telling her about Rakesh’s crush, before I remembered thinking that he was perfect for her. I knew she wanted me now—the way she was stroking closer and closer to my hard-on left little doubt—but would she always?
Fully aware it was petty and beneath me, I decided not to tell her. Which left me with no explanation for not having told Rakesh yet.
So I leaned down to bite the spot that drove her crazy, where her neck sloped into her shoulders, and when she moaned, I lifted my mouth to her ear.
“It’s a long story,” I murmured. “I could tell you, or we could use the hour or so until my sisters get home in a more constructive way.”
Without hesitation, she grabbed a fistful of my shirt and tugged me in the direction of my bedroom.
“You make a good point,” she said over her shoulder. “Now, show me what else you can do well.”
I grinned, more than happy to use every last minute we had alone doing exactly that.
Scarlett
Thirty minutes into our first official date and I was starting to reconsider the whole thing. I was attending an event at the museum as Finn’s plus one, as I’d done countless times before, except this time I wasn’t merely a plus one. I was his date.
He’d even worn a green shirt he must have specially bought. I’d almost fainted when I saw him in something other than pale blue.
When we’d arrived, he’d come around to open my door. I hadn’t been expecting it so I’d opened it myself—straight into his face. Hopefully his nose wouldn’t bruise.
“What the hell?” he’d said.