Page 25 of Finlay

Iwaited until the wee hours of the morning before setting off to the loch. None of the clan would’ve questioned my comings or goings, but I didn’t want anyone deciding to accompany me.

This was something I had to do on my own.

I walked the distance to the loch in my human form; the first time I’d done so in…well, I didn’t know how long. But it wasn’t like I could carry the display Chester had made me while shifted. Besides, it felt right to do it like this.

A walk to remember them. To honour their memories.

Before finally laying them to rest. For me, at least.

Each step was spent replaying our time together.The memories I’d hoarded away over the years, not letting myself revisit them. I revisited them now. I ran through each and every one, saying a silent goodbye to them at the end.

By the time I reached the loch, tears were streaming steadily down my face. Careful not to damage any of the flowers, I dropped to my knees at the water’s edge. “Goodbye, Maria. I hope wherever ye are now, you have your blankie and a never-ending supply of tablet.”

Her laughter rang in my ears as I placed the wreath on the water. “Goodbye, Sarah. I’m sorry I loved ye when I shouldn’t have, but I’m so fucking grateful to have known ye.”

I knelt on the hard ground, silently watching as the beautiful memorial floated away from me. There was no current here, but the wind pushed it along and into the distance.

I didn’t stop the tears from falling. I didn’t try to bury my feelings. No, I let myself feel it all. Each wave of love, loss, and grief. I let them wash through me and away into the night.

When the arrangement neared the middle of the loch, I got to my feet, but before I could leave, a sudden wind picked up, so strong that it caught me off guard for a second. It roared past me, skittering over the surface of the water. The flowers on the wreath rustled before one came loose. A dried thistle.

My supe eyes easily tracked the thistle across the loch. The wind carried it far further than it should’ve been able to. My jaw hung slack as I waited for it to drop. For it to fall into the inky depths and disappear.

But when it did land, it wasn’t in the water.

It was on the porch of Chester’s house.

Just then, his bedroom light flicked on.

The wind returned to me, shoving me once in the back before dying away completely.

I found myself chuckling and wiping away my tears. “Okay, Sarah. Message received.”

Chapter 7

Chester

I’d watched Finn walk out of my shop and assumed I’d never see him again.

How wrong I’d been.

Somehow, I’d forgotten that Finn liked to swim in the loch. You know, the one right outside my house. Thank fuck he didn’t know I lived here. He was probably just going about his workout, completely oblivious to my creeping ways.

And they were creepy, I knew that. But I couldn’t fucking help myself. Something drew me to Finn. It had been far harder than I’d anticipated, seeing him leave my shop and believing I’d never see him again. Which was daft given I barely knew the bloke.

I couldn’t deny the relief I felt whenever I opened my bedroom curtains to spy his muscled arms cutting through the water. The glimpses of his rear that told me he swam naked. The dawning sun turning his auburn hair to copper. His broad shoulders covered in faint freckles, making me wonder if they grew more prominent in the summer.

Maybe I’ll find out.

It wasn’t like I was intentionally drooling over him. It just so happened that he’d be swimming in the area right outside my window when my alarm went off.

And if I just so happened to start drinking my tea while staring out of my kitchen window? Well, that was between me and the sink.

For the fourth day in a row, my eyes were glued to Finn’s silhouette as he executed perfectstrokes. The loch was too wide for him to do a full length, but he went much further than I’d be able to. He’d stop at some unknown marker,flip turn, and swim back to shore, then repeat it all over again.

The man was a machine. I had no idea how many lengths he was capable of, but I was treated to this show for at least an hour each time. His fitness levels were unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

As were his muscles. Jesus, I’d been floored by them in the woods, but now I knew how they looked in the daylight. The taut lines of his calves. The mouthwatering thickness of his thighs.The delicious fullness of his arse.

---