Page 26 of Hands off his Dudette

Chapter 12

Oh, hell, that had been close. So very close. He'd stood in front of Anna, looking down at her, his eyes fixed on her amber gaze and it had taken everything he had in him not to bend down and kiss her. He'd always wanted to comfort her when she was sad—that was as natural to him as breathing. Hugging her, telling her what she needed to hear. Right then, his mind and body were both screaming that what she needed was for him to tilt her chin up and lower his lips to her mouth. But he was man enough to admit that it had been his needs, his wants talking. Anna was just feeling some blues, that was all. A kiss from him would have been unwelcome, and threatened the foundation of their friendship.

Finn lay in bed, looking at the ceiling, and wishing he'd taken a bottle of brandy with him. He needed to nip that infatuation in the bud, drown his sorrows, or both.

He slept like crap for a couple of hours and headed to work irritated. Meeting his brother later, he was even more irritated.

Trick had named him his best man, by default, because the true best man was Carter—but as they were getting married at the same time, he hadn't been an option. Fortunately, that didn't mean much; Trick didn't want a stag party. Finn just had to show up with the wedding rings. Tonight, he was fulfilling one of his few duties by accompanying him and Carter, along with with a few of their friends, to check out a band.

Lucy wanted a live band if they could manage it. The wedding planner they'd booked had found five that were available on Christmas Day for an exorbitant amount of money. The women would check two out this week—the guys were booked for three.

"These guys are shit," Carter stated, three minutes in.

Everyone raised their beer in consent. At least, the APL was worth the trip.

"So, what news, Finn? Long time no see," said Bennet McFinnley, one of Trick's closest buddies.

The guy had always been a bit of an ass, but at least he was nice to Trick. "Same old," he replied with a shrug. Realizing that wasn't exactly true, he added, "Although I put an offer through on a property Saturday."

Trick practically choked on his lager. "What the hell? You're buying? When were you going to tell me!"

Finn smiled. "I just did. Anna and I saw the place Saturday; it's awesome, so we just put an offer through. A hundred thousand under the asking price—they might say no, but it opens negotiations."

"Congrats, man," Carter said, holding his beer up.

Finn tapped the bottom of his glass against his.

"Wait did you say you went to see it with Anna?" Trick said.

Finn had to prevent himself from grimacing. He knew that conversation wasn't going to fly. "Yeah. We're buying together."

At first there was silence around the table. That, he'd expected. What he hadn't seen coming was the laughter. Wayne, Devon, Trick, Wren, Carter—all of them acted like it was the best joke they'd heard all fucking year.

"So what?"

Wayne was the first to reply."So, I'm gonna win the bet, easy!"

Finn groaned. He knew what bet they were on about, although he would have thought they'd forgotten about it by now. How long had it been, five years? They'd had a wager going on: half of them said he'd end up marrying Anna, the other half believed they'd just drift away. He hadn't so much as acknowledged their stupid challenge at the time.

"We already live together. What's the difference?"

His brother rolled his eyes."Oh, there's a difference. You guys are going to happen, and we all know it. It's just a matter of time."

"Men and women can be friends."

He sounded like a broken record.

Carter rolled his eyes. "Of course they can. Lucy is one of my closest friends. The difference is, you and Anna aren't friends. You're not even lovers; you're basically soul mates. It's kind of creepy to watch."

Finn took a long swig of his beer. "Look, we're more than friends, you're right. We're family. That's all we've ever been. What kind of an idiot would I be if I risked messing that up?"

Trick and Carter exchanged a glance. Wayne, Devon, Bennet, and Wren were smirking like the assholes they were.

"That's kind of a major change of tune, mate," Devon pointed out. "Like, you went from "oh, I don't even notice she has a pussy" to "so, I want a piece of that but I can't have it.""

That about summed it up.

WrenRichards, the weirdest among Trick's friends, lifted his hand up in the air to announce his intention to speak. Finn winced before he even opened his mouth.

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