Page 44 of Faking Ever After

“I promise,” I said.

“I want you,” Finn said.

I kissed him. “I want you too. So much, Finn.”

Finn ran his fingers through my short, blond hair, curling them lightly until the thrill-filled laughter outside announced the boat tipping over. He let go of me with a scoff of frustration. “It’s the opposite of an aphrodisiac.”

I murmured my agreement before we got dressed and went downstairs for a leisurely and decadent breakfast.

My sister had been idly observing the events of the past few days with the apparent interest of a lazy cat. Even so, as only the three of us remained around the breakfast table, she let her gaze dart between Finn and me. “I’m glad you’re a couple,” she said, looking at her toast as she spread butter on it. She said it the same way someone might say they were glad it was sunny today.

I continued to pick through the baklavas for a particularly nutty piece. “That’s sweet.”

“I mean it,” Emily said. “You seem like a good fit.”

“That’s why we’ve been together for so long,” I said, holding back a smirk. “What was it, babe? A year?”

“I can’t keep up with all that we’ve said,” Finn muttered, making Emily laugh.

“Sure,” Emily agreed. “Make it a year.”

We continued to snack on sweet delicacies and drink strong Greek coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice. My parents joined us for coffee a little while later. Mother walked like she was on a cloud. “There is an air of relaxation on this terrace,” she said. “As if some sort of terrible tension has been lifted.”

Emily snort-chuckled and hid her face in her glass of juice.

“You are right, Alicia,” Dad said, bringing her hand to his lips. “It’s not at all as tense as it was, say, three days ago.”

“Must be Benny Tupper’s standup routine,” I grumbled. “That’s all that changed, as far as I can tell.”

“I’m sure it is,” Mom said with a touch of a smile, looking at Finn and me for a moment too long. Finally, she turned to Dad. “Don’t you agree, Lawrence? Everything would be so much better if we listened to me.”

Dad kissed the back of Mom’s hand and traced her arm nearly to the elbow with his lips. “So much better, darling.”

“There you go,” Mom said, directing those words at me.

So the feeble attempt to appear more genuine by actually being together only blew our initial ruse apart. “That’s enough, thank you,” I said, stretching my right arm around Finn’s shoulders and sliding lower in my seat. He was warm, his shirt soft and scented with a lavender softener, and his hair fell around his brow in the most charming arch. My gaze lingered on him a moment longer than I’d thought it would, simply taking in his beauty. Something warm and overwhelming passed through my chest.

“This is a good thing, dear,” Mother said, lifting the small cup of coffee with two fingers and letting its rising steam tickle her nostrils. “There is no surer way to live a long and happy life than to regularly engage in intimacy with your partner.”

“Mother, please,” I whispered, the oncoming horror of embarrassment darkening the edges of my vision.

“Darling, don’t be such a prude,” Mom said. “I’m not suggesting anyone should be promiscuous for the sake of it if they don’t wish to, but if you are a sexually active human being in a relationship with another sexually active human being, what would be more natural than to enjoy the pleasures of bonding and…”

I moaned painfully and covered my face. “For the love of all that’s holy, can we not talk about it?”

As the day dragged on at the pace of a relaxing vacation, Finn and I settled in for some time of tranquility. Benny and Aunt Judith visited the town, which earned me some eager and heated looks from Finn, but Nektaria picked that moment to vacuum and dust the room. Frustration filled us both over the terrible timing. We hadn’t had each other in well over twenty-four hours. And at the risk of sounding exactly like my mother, this early in a relationship, that simply wasn’t healthy.

In a misguided attempt to cool off, I suggested a swim in the infinity pool.

When Finn appeared in his small, red swimming shorts, my chest grew tight, and my thighs loosened. Now I truly needed to jump into the pool before I could spontaneously combust.

We swam in relative solitude once my parents retreated to their bedroom for an afternoon nap—nap! And that was as far as I was willing to be aware of what they did every afternoon between three and six—and Emily joined Dimitrios in party planning that was mere days away.

I neared Finn close to the edge of the pool, moving my limbs slowly to stay afloat until I was so close to him that I easily wrapped my arms around him and pulled him against my body.

Finn cracked a smile, but there were worries hiding behind his beautiful eyes.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked.

---