Page 68 of Best Friends, Tennessee

It wasn’t that I didn’t like his help. I loved that he wanted to help me. But not if he was going to treat me like a charity case instead of discussing things with me. Allowing me to have a say. Even fuckingaskingme if I wanted to own a home in a place I probably wouldn’t be living permanently.

A fresh burst of anger surged through me.

The frustrating thing was that I knew that I was deeply grateful, too. I was so fucking lucky to have someone in my life who would consider doing anything like this for me.

But sometimes, I felt like a pawn.

My parents hadn’t even told me they were considering selling Red Fox. Finn apparently hadn’t told me he’d been considering helping me buy property.

And Dani hadn’t told me she was pregnant with Olivia a couple of years ago. I’d found out from Finn accidentally, when he mentioned offhand that Dani was going to need childcare.

I leaned my head back, pressing it on the cool brick exterior of the building.

The truth was scarier than what I’d been doing.

I’d been running away. For years.

But the truth was that I gave a fuck.

I cared about my family, the diner, and even goddamn Bestens itself, which I never could have admitted before.

I really fucking cared about Finn, too.

But I wasn’t going to let him treat me as anything but an equal. Iwasan equal, now. I wasn’t a scrawny teenager getting bullied every day, and I didn’t need to be saved. I didn’t need to be spared the details of my friend and family’s lives.

I needed to show up.

And I wasn’t running anymore.

The moment I got back to Finn’s house, I threw my car in park, got out, and headed around to the backyard. I could smell the scent of the grill going in the backyard and I knew Finn was out there making the chicken he’d had prepared for the night.

I found him out there, still shirtless, pulling off the last of the chicken and closing the lid of the grill. The string lights above the patio were on, casting him in a glow, making him look frustratingly good, as usual.

His backyard felt more like an oasis now than ever, with fresh rose bushes along one edge, the smell of the grill, and the tiny fireflies in the corners of the yard.

Stay strong, Ori.

“Just in time,” he said. “Come eat this chicken and let me suck your cock afterward?”

Nope.

Quit it.

Stop being fucking perfect, for once.

I didn’t bother with small talk, because Finn and I never had before.

“Want to involve me in your decisions in the future?” I said, crossing over toward him on the lawn.

“You knew I was making chicken.”

“How about the decisions that involve me owning a home in a town I don’t even fucking plan on living in?”

Recognition spread over Finn’s face. He set down the plate of chicken on the outside table, looking down for a moment.

“Dani told you?”

“She did what any sane person would do,” I said. “Informing someone when huge life decisions are being made for them.”

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