Page 87 of Stirring Up Love
“Well, thanks for humoring her.” Simone pulled open the front door. “If we’re doing this, let’s go before we get snowed in.”
Grabbing his jacket quickly lest he get left alone with the bouncer look-alike, Finn shoved his feet into his shoes and made his way through a few inches of fresh snow to a giant pickup idling in the driveway.
He opened the back door and climbed in next to Simone, who was buckling her seat belt. Seizing the moment they had to themselves, he said, “I’m sorry. I swear I didn’t plan to stay.”
To his surprise, she grabbed his hand. Squeezed. “I know. But this—”
The door opened in a flurry of snow, and she let go. Pulled away.
Chantal climbed in next to him, bumping him over with her hips until he was squashed into the middle seat. Alisha climbed in up front, and Simone tipped forward to ask, “No Meg?”
“She’ll meet up with us tomorrow. You know how early she gets up.”
The driver’s side door opened and Shawn slid in, bringing a gust of cold air with him. He met Finn’s eyes in the rearview. “Ready to go, ladies?”
“Sure are.” Finn pulled his lips tight in a fake smile, and Simone bumped him with her knee.
“Behave,” she whispered. “He’s just looking out for me. As far as everyone in town knows, we’re still sworn enemies.”
Easy to forget after the eventful past few days that to everyone in town he was still the guy who’d thrown down with her on live TV. Not exactly the image he wanted at the forefront of their minds. “But you do plan to, like, set the record straight at some point, right?” Whoops. He hadn’t meant to ask so bluntly, but the drinks had affected his filter.
“So a franchise, huh?” Shawn spoke up, gruff.
Simone went stiff, and if they’d been alone, he would’ve slid his hand into hers. But he settled for pressing his shoulder against hers in a show of support. “That’s the plan,” she said.Was it?
Turning on the wipers, Shawn pulled onto the main road, a glorified dirt path covered by drifting snow. “Gotta admit ...” He trailed off.
“What?”
His eyes shifted to the rearview again, and then he cleared his throat. “It’s nothing, Sim. You gotta do what’s best for you.”
“You don’t think the franchise is what’s best?” Her tone was clipped, taut.
Shawn tugged at his collar, and Finn didn’t blame him for the unease. “We just thought you were staying this time.”
The car fell silent. Finn held his breath, waiting for her response. Dreading the reply that would take him out of the equation. But next to him, Simone stayed silent, facing the window.
After a moment, Shawn cleared his throat, awkward after the rock he’d tossed into the stream of conversation. “So does Finn have somewhere to stay?”
Ah, back to speaking about him like he wasn’t there. Classic. “Finn will figure something out,” he replied, tipsy enough to counter Shawn’s passive aggression by referring to himself in the third person.
“He’s staying at my place,” Simone cut in.
Feeling chastised for letting Shawn get under his skin, Finn bent his head toward Simone. “I could sleep in the car,” he said in an undertone. The last thing he wanted was to be a burden to her anymore.
“Are you serious?” she whispered back. “It’s a freaking blizzard out there.”
So it wasn’t that she wanted him with her; she just wanted him not dead. He’d confessed that he had feelings for her, but all she’d offered in return was common decency. Pretty clear where he stood.
Shawn took a turn, and they bounced along a driveway bordered on both sides by lit-up candy canes jutting out of the ground like runway beacons. Outlined by flashing, multicolored strands of lights, a farmhouse was visible through the whiteout.
“This is your place?” He somehow pictured Simone living somewhere less Las Vegas meets North Pole landing strip.
Alisha laughed. “No, this is our grandparents’ house. We’re on a mission to retrieve the movies.”
“Not ‘we.’ Me,” Simone said, correcting her. She opened her door, and snow blasted in like it’d been shot from a confetti cannon. “Y’all are so drunk you’ll wake up Pops and bring down the wrath of God on us.”
“Will not, Bossy Pants.” Alisha opened her door with a flourish. “I’m coming too.”
