Page 134 of Chaos

“Hey.” I screech as the world abruptly flips upside down and I’m granted an exclusive view of a sweatpants-covered ass.

Momentarily, my complaints die.

And then, Finn starts up the stairs and my pelvis gets intimately acquainted with his shoulder. “You have five seconds to put me down, cowboy.”

A palm smoothes over my ass, squeezing greedily. “Or what, princess?”

I return the gesture, though I don’tsqueezeas much as Ipinch. Hard. “If you think I’m too mature to give you a wedgie, you aresofucking mistaken.”

“Mature?” Door hinges creak as Finn shoves his way into a room—floorhinges, I should say, because it’s my room we’re entering, my ladder he’s scaling one-fucking-handed. It’s my bed he unceremoniously drops me on, my headboard I scuttle backwards to lean against. “I’d never accuse you of that.”

I scowl as Finn crawls up the mattress towards me. “I will kick you in the throat.”

“No.” He grins. Fingers wrap around my ankle, travelling up my leg and spreading it wide, his shoulder nudging the other out of the way so he can slot that big body between my thighs. “You won’t.”

Well, Ican’t. Not with him flopping on top of me, face pressed to my lower stomach, one hand wrapped around my thigh while the other… fucking hell, he holds my hand. Brings it to his lips, kisses the back, then moves it to the nape of his neck and leaves it there, a clear request.

That I oblige.

Icaressand Finn practically purrs with satisfaction and Ismilelike a smitten dumbass.

Snatching my traitorous hand away, I curl it into a fist and clear my throat. “Alright, caveman. Let’s get this over with.”

Lips graze the ink just below my hip bone. “Hm?”

“Clear things up or whatever.”

“Ah.” Head flopping to one side, Finn tilts his chin up towards me. “I like you.”

I wait.

Nothing else comes.

“That’s it?” I blink, underwhelmed. “I already knew that.”

Finn snorts. Detaching himself from me, he sits up, and thenI’mbetweenhisspread thighs, a bent knee on either side of me, elbows propped against them as Finn leans forward. “I like you enough that I don’t wannajusthook up.”

“You mean… You wanna, like,date?”

“Atta girl.”

“I don't date.”

Finn nods, humming happily. “You’ve been saving yourself for me. Love that.”

Grunting, I try to flick him, but like they have a mind of their own, my fingers stroke his cheek affectionately instead.Fuck me.“I’m being serious. I don’t know if I can… do that.”

“Do you want to?”

The answer comes to me quickly. Too quickly. The affirmative word echoes around my brain like a fucking siren, and I don’t like it.

When I scramble off the bed, Finn tries to join me. I hold up a hand to keep him at bay, shaking my head as I start striding from one side of the room to the other at a frantic pace, as I try to articulate my thoughts.

“I think flowers are stupid,” isn’t particularly eloquent, but hey, at least it’s a start.

Intrigued and amused in equal measures, Finn gestures for me to go on.

With a sharp, shallow breath, I do. “They last, like, two days and then they die and I don’t think that’s very romantic.I’mnot romantic. I’m not affectionate all the time and I don’t like going on dates or constantly being around someone. I like being at home and I like being alone and I like silence.”

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