Page 73 of On Thin Ice

“Oh come on,” Finn objected teasingly. He nudged Jacob’s side as they walked out the front door. “You know what I’m talking about. I came back from the bathroom and Sophie handled it well, like a pro, but she totally clammed up. She was warning you off, wasn’t she?”

Jacob shot him a look as they approached the valet stand.

He knew he should give Finn a ride home, but if he’d been afraid picking him up would feel date-like, taking him home while he was wearing that suit was even worse.

“Oh, Mr. Braun,” the young valet said with a worshipful look on his face as soon as he spotted him. “I’ll go grab your car right now.”

“Thanks,” Jacob said dryly.

“She was warning you off, wasn’t she?” Finn persisted.

“She was speaking plain common sense,” Jacob practically growled. Why couldn’t Finn just let this go?

Probably for the exact same goddamn reason you can’t either.

“Do you always do that?” Finn asked.

“What?”

“Listen to common sense.”

Jacob nearly laughed. “The exact fucking opposite, at least when it comes to you. I sat here three weeks ago and told both of them under no circumstances would either youorMorgan be part of the foundation rollout, and then that exact same goddamn night, what do I do? Agree to coach you. Agree to do just about anything you goddamn want.”

Finn smiled, the corner of his mouth tilting into an impossibly charming smirk. “That was the same night?”

There was no point in pretending. “Yes,” Jacob ground out.

The valet arrived then with Jacob’s car, pulling up to the curb, his face melting into a smile when he saw Jacob.

“Someone’s got a crush,” Finn murmured under his breath. That was all the warning Jacob got before Finn slid right up next to him and put a hand around his waist, fingers curling into the leather of his belt. Finn gazed up at him, and Jacob froze, very aware of how this looked.

“Hey baby, you gonna finally take me home?” Finn cooed.

Jacob opened his mouth and then snapped it shut again.

He wanted to throttle Finn and also pull him in even closer, the warmth of his body unbearably enticing.

And maybe it was time to finally choose. Finn had pushed him, yes, but he’dwantedto be pushed.

“Yes,” Jacob said. He handed the admittedly disappointed-looking valet a folded bill and deposited Finn into the passenger seat before walking around towards the driver’s door.

After the door shut behind him, he pinned Finn with a look. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Two birds, one stone,” Finn said. “First, I wanted to temper that poor guy’s expectations of you, and second, I wanted you to take me home.”

“I’d have done that anyway,” Jacob grumbled, starting the car.

“No, I mean, I want you to take me back toyourhouse.”

“Not happening.” Not that Jacob couldn’t be unbearably tempted if he was only dropping Finn off at the college. Saturday night had happened, hadn’t it?

“I mean, it seems only right and fair,” Finn said. “I never got my hot tub moment.”

“For good reason.” Jacob’s hands tightened on the wheel. But he didn’t pull out yet. He should. He should just put the car into drive and head in the direction of the college.

But he didn’t.

Kind of like he hadn’t pulled away Saturday, when Finn’s intent became clear.

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