Page 45 of Even Beneath the Stars

Fine. I havenevertold him to be nice to the nannies. But shit, Maggie's words from the other night in the Observatory burrowed into a corner of my brain and apparently settled in for the long haul.

Finn's eyes narrow. "She can't tell me what to do!" He hefts up onto his knees, fists clenched at his sides.

"Relax, pal…" I squeeze his shoulder. "Just—you can't talk like that to people, okay?"

"Yes, I can!" He pushes his whole body right up into my space, then when that doesn't get the reaction he’s hoping for, he shoves into my chest with both hands. "Yes! I! Can!"

"You can't, Finny." I search for the right words to explain. "Just because you don't agree with something someone says, doesn't mean—"

"I can say whatever I want!" He pushes even harder. "Yousaid,Xave! You said, with the nannies—"

"Finn. Enough." I run a hand through my hair. "It's late… You need to get to bed." I glance over at Rita but quickly realize she's not going to be any help.

She's gone from looking shocked to outright concerned. Like she's worried I'm up to something.

I turn back to Finn. "Look, I'm heading out now. Me, Seb, and Dylan. So come do our handshake." I get to my feet. Dylan and Seb take my cue and get up too.

"I'm not doing our handshake, 'cos you're being mean!" Finn yells, standing up on the couch to bridge the height gap between us and failing.

"C'mon… don't be like that." I put my hand out, in the first position of the long handshake he made up for us last year. But he steps back into the cushions, balancing himself against the back of the couch.

"I'm not doing our handshake, and I'm not saying goodbye."

"Finny…" I glance pointedly at my hand.

He crosses his arms against his chest.

"Can I get a hug, then?"

"No! I hate you!"

I swallow. Kid is killing me. Ripping my heart right the fuck out of my chest and squeezing it in his tiny little hands. And screw Maggie and her judgment and her shitty opinions. Finn has never told me he hates me before. Ever.

Not until Maggie came along and stuck her head in our business.

I stare at him for a couple of seconds, not sure what to do, but hoping to God he changes his mind.

Seb walks over, scoops Finn up and sets him on the ground in front of me. "Give your bro a hug, Finny."

Finn shakes his head. "You can't make me. No one can make me doanything!"

"Let's go upstairs and choose a story, Finn." Rita reaches out her hand.

And Finn fucking takes it.Takesthe nanny'shand and walks off towards the hallway and leaves me hanging.

Because he knows—it's the best way to twist the knife even harder. I hurt him by picking the nanny over him. Now he's retaliating by doing the same.

And I deserve it.

Seb claps my shoulder. "Let's go, bro." He leans his body into mine to nudge me forward. "You were right telling him off, and he's just pissed. But he'll be over it in ten minutes. Kid will be jumping on your bed at the ass-crack of dawn tomorrow and all geared up to do your handshake ten times in a row."

I nod and follow the guys to the entrance, and trust that—scrambled brain or not—Seb knows what he’s talking about. I don’t know what I’ll do if Finn is still mad at me in the morning.

Okay, I do know.

I’ll be having a few choice words with his nanny. Not Rita. The other one—the hot one.Maggie fucking LeClair.

Chapter Eighteen

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