Page 14 of Persuaded

“Hey.” The sharp voice was Sean’s.

Finn curled his fingers, braced himself, and turned to face his brother. Casting a warning look toward Lexa and Ali who preceded Sean along the street, Finn made a play of looking more hungover than he was. He knew how to handle this kind of attention. Sean didn’t, but, to his credit, he let Finn deal with it.

“Hope I didn’t offend your friend back there,” he said as Lexa handed him his coffee. “Wasn’t feeling too good.”

She looked blank. “You mean Newt? Don’t worry about him, he’s cool.”

Newt?

“He didn’t even know who you were until we told him,” Ali assured him with a grin. “Sorry.”

“That’s okay.” Finn took a sip of coffee to keep from having to look at anyone. He wished he had his sunglasses, but it was too overcast to wear them without looking like a total douche. “Most people don’t know who I am.”

Although, of course, Josh (Newt, now?)didand Finn wondered what it meant that he hadn’t told anyone about their...thing. Perhaps it didn’t mean anything to him, either.

Except, who the fuck was he kidding? Josh could barely look him in the eye.

He took another sip and said, “Well, thanks for the door-to-door service, girls. We, ah, we gotta go. Right, Sean?”

“Sure. We gotta go.”

Hopefully Finn was the only one who heard the bitchiness in his brother’s voice.

After a couple more minutes (and a selfie) they extricated themselves from Lexa and Ali, and then they were in the car and driving. Finn started a silent count to ten and Sean chimed in at seven with “So enlighten me—What the hell was that?”

Finn didn’t even know where to start.

“I mean, seriously?” Sean said. “Are you that much of a diva these days that you just cut people dead like that?”

“I told you. My head—”

“Bullshit.”

Finn sighed. “Okay, fine. I kinda vaguely know the guy, okay? And I didn’t want to get into a thing. People can be weird if they think they know you.”

“You know Joshua Newton?”

He glared out the window. “I spent that summer here, remember? Working on his dad’s cars.”

“Right,” Sean said. “Huh. I’d forgotten that. He didn’t mention knowing you, though.”

“Probably doesn’t remember, then. The Newtons always did have their heads up their asses.”

There was a pause before Sean said, “I don’t think Joshua’s like that. Lexa says he’s a music tutor—teaches kids privately and up at the school. He seems like a straight-up nice guy. Better than the rest of his family.”

Finn didn’t answer, ignored the slight tug in his chest at the thought of Josh teaching kids music—But no, he wasn’t interested. Maybe Joshwasa nice guy, maybe he was great with kids and puppies, but Finn had trusted him like he’d never trusted anyone and when things had gotten tough Josh hadhung Finn out to dry. He couldn’t forgive him for that, for giving up on them so easily. For being so damnweak.

No. He wanted nothing more to do with Joshua Newton. He’d learned his lesson eight years ago and he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Chapter Six

In a town as small as New Milton, it was impossible to avoid Finn. Even when you were trying really hard. And Joshua was trying. Really hard.

Luckily, his shifts at Dee’s were already limited as fall set in for real and he was more than happy for Ali or Lexa to take any extra work that might be available. Although they needed the money, he suspected it was the hope of frequent visits by the Callaghan brothers that was the real incentive.

Sean did, in fact, visit quite often. Finn less so, and rarely when Joshua was working. It hurt that Finn was avoiding him so deliberately, that he obviously couldn’t stand to be around him. Unlike Joshua, Finn had no reason to feel ashamed of how things had ended between them, which meant his avoidance had a different root. One that Joshua found difficult to bear.

He’d always known that he’d hurt Finn that terrible day. He’d seen the devastation in his face and it had torn his heart out, but he’d always consoled himself with the idea that the brunt of the consequences had fallen on himself. Finn had gone on to fame and fortune, his star had risen high and bright, while Joshua’s had sunk without a trace. He’d taken comfort in that, in the idea that Finn hadn’t suffered any long-term harm because of Joshua’s mistake. But now he realized it wasn’t true. Despite achieving all his dreams, Finn hadn’t forgiven him and everything between them remained dead. That spoke of lasting damage, of enduring resentment, and it twisted the guilt and regret in the pit of Joshua’s stomach a notch tighter every day.

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