Page 40 of Ravenous

“Me?” Finn pointed at himself with his fork.

“Yes, you.” Ollie wanted to change the subjectandknow more about Finn. “Same questions. I mean, I need to ask you directly since you have no social media to stalk.”

“You stalked me?” Finn seemed delighted.

“Triedto stalk you. Tried. But all I could find was a Facebook. Ew.”

“There’s nothing wrong with having a Facebook.”

“Are you seventy?”

“I’m thirty-four. Plenty of people my age have one.”

“I’m sure they do.” Ollie widened his eyes and nodded, agreeing facetiously. Finn gave him a wicked smirk, extended his index finger, and booped Ollie’s nose.

“You’re a brat.”

“Have you internet stalkedme?” Ollie rubbed the spot Finn had touched. It tingled.

“No? I prefer to get to know you the old-fashioned way. In person.”

“That’s kind of nice.”

“I do have to ask though,” Finn’s tone became a bit more serious. “Are you okay with our age difference? Twelve years is a lot.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Ollie shrugged, spearing some vegetables. “A wise old man told me that age is just a number.”

“Is that wise old man Liam?”

“He might be.”

“Will your parents be okay with us?”

“I think so. Biz, the nosy sister I told you about? She only likes older men so she’s worn my parents down. They won’t even blink at you.”

“Okay, that’s good. I think.”

“It is. Having older siblings test drives the parental unit. By the time they got to me, the third child, my mom and dad were almost too tired to care. And Tommy has free reign since he’s the youngest.” Ollie nibbled on a piece of broccoli. “It’s your turn. I remember you saying that you grew up with your uncle?”

“Yes, Uncle Joe.” Finn smiled softly. “He’s my uncledad. Since my mom died when I was two-”

“Oh my god. I’m sorry.” Ollie put a hand over his mouth.

“It’s okay. I was too young to know what was happening. She had an aneurysm, died in bed at thirty-one. And she and my dad weren’ttogethertogether.”

“They never got married?” Dropping his hand, Ollie reached for his spring roll, taking a small bite.

“Nope. My biological father played drums in a lot of bands and was always on the road. That’s how he met Uncle Joe, they toured together for a year. From what I’ve heard, my father was a real Casanova and when he met my uncle’s little sister, she became another conquest for him. But then I was on the way. They tried to stick it out for a few years but he was always playing shows and she was doing this alone and then she died.” Finn shrugged. “Now that I’m older than she ever got to be, I feel sorry for her. And everything was too much for my father so he dropped me off with Uncle Joe and left.”

“Wait.” Ollie shook his head, trying to parse the information. “Your mother died and your fatherabandonedyou?”

“In a way, yes. But it was the one thing he got right, because Uncle Joe changed his life to take care of me, left working in bands and got a job as a studio engineer, taught me how to play bass, and made sure I didn’t forget about my mom. He even gave me this.” Finn reached under his shirt, pulling out a small silver ring on a chain and Ollie leaned in, studying the swooping S engraved on the band. “It was a high school graduation gift from her parents - my grandparents. According to Uncle Joe, she wore it all the time. I’d wear it too but it’s even too small for my pinky so, it’s relegated to chain duty.” He quickly tucked it away.

Ollie wanted to laugh but he was too stunned. It was a lot to take in. He couldn’t imagine one of his parents leaving him with a relative and taking off. Finn’s life had started as a tragedy and yet he’d turned out upbeat and optimistic; could Ollie learn to be that way when disaster came for him? “Do you talk to your biological father at all?”

Finn shook his head, lips pressed tight. “Not really, no. He came back into my life when I was six but it had been so long that I didn’t know who he was. So, he left again. I’ve seen him a handful of times after that but not in the last ten years. He tries to contact me here and there. Like, over these past few months, he’s been emailing Uncle Joe - who’s a big softie - saying that he has something important to tell me. But you know what? I don’t care.”

“I can see why.” Ollie forgot about his food. “Your uncle sounds amazing.”

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