Page 58 of Chaos

“Yeah?”

I shrug. “I’m not good at it or anything. That’s pretty much all I can do.”

Not that I didn’t try to do other things. Half the crap I attempted are the very reason I’m so accustomed to falling off horses—if Grace hadn’t started refusing to be my spotter and following me on rides to make sure I didn’t attempt anything alone, I probably would’ve broken a bone or two.

“It was hot.”

The loud, bewildered noise that bursts out of me draws more than one eye. Slightly quieter, but no less baffled, I splutter, “What did you just say?”

Finn can’t quite look me in the eye, but other than that, he doesn’t seem at all bothered about repeating himself.

I, on the other hand, am bothered. I’m… well, mouth hanging open and eyes saucer-wide, I think I’m a little fucking flustered. Wetting my bottom lip, I face forward again, leaning forward too. Forearms resting against my thighs, my head drops with a shake as a tiny, baby smile curls my mouth. “You just liked seeing me fall on my ass.”

The crappy piece of furniture struggling to accommodate that honed, strong body whines as Finn shifts. “No, princess. I really didn’t.”

Feeling even more restless than I did a minute ago, I sit up again, jolting when I slump and find a thick arm across the back of my chair. When he doesn't move away, neither do I, and as we sit there in still silence, waiting and waiting and waiting, he starts to absentmindedly mess with my hair.

I stare at his hand. His huge hand, all dark, smooth skin and blunt fingernails and faded ink I can’t quite make out when he moves a certain way and flashes his palm. “How hot?”

Those fingers flex. “I don’t wanna answer that.”

“Swooning hot or, like, porn hot?”

That hand moves to yank my cap down over my eyes. “Shut up.”

“Oh, c’mon. You brought it up.”

“And now I regret it deeply.”

“You can regret it all you want, but you can’t take it back. You think I’m hot.”

“I thought you were hot before. Now I think you’re a little insane too.”

Naturally, the nurse working the emergency room chooses that exact moment to call my name.

15

It’s when not a single person follows her into that barn that he starts to think he might have gotten something very, very wrong.

It’s on the drive to the emergency room that he silently vows to make it right.

“This isn’tthe way back to the ranch.”

One hand on the steering wheel and the other propped lazily on the center console between us, Finn nods. “I know.”

“Where’re we going?”

“I’m hungry,” he says like that answers anything.

I blink. “Okay?”

“There’s a really good Korean barbecue place nearby.” He glances at me as we roll up to a red light, ducking in what I assume is an attempt to gauge the expression half-hidden by the brim of my cap. “Let’s go.”

“Why would we do that?”

“To eat,” Finn mouths slowly,sarcastically. “Because I’m hungry.”

I don’t get it. He just spent hours in an emergency room waiting for a doctor to do a bunch of tests only to essentially slap a couple of BandAids on my owies and send me on my way, and he wants to… spend more time with me? Share a meal with me? A day ago, he was ignoring me. This morning—God, I can’t believe that was only this morning—I was mad at him. I was resolute that I wasn’t interested in anything he had to say, in anything about him.

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