Page 53 of Rules in Love

Page List

Font Size:

Finn shook his head and thumbed my cheek with so much tenderness I could cry. “God no. I think it’s brilliant. Besides, I can hardly be upset with you for something I did myself.” His body inched closer. “I understand why you didn’t tell me, Scarlett. You needed to know you could trust me. I get it. We were just kids when we were blessed withourown. Life can be cruel and hard, and we’ve done what we need to survive.”

The door of our room swung open. “Goodnight, Jason.” Drunk as a skunk, Victoria staggered into the room but stopped when she saw Finn on his knees, at the foot of our bed. It was understandable. “Oh, so ‘nothing is happening’between you two, huh, Scarlett? God, you’re so full of shit.”

Scarlett

“Jesus, help me!”

I woke with a fright, my room echoing the hollow moans, sobs, and begs for mercy of a distressed woman.

Victoria?My eyes shot open,searching the room for the raven-haired beauty, but she was nowhere in sight. Neither were her bags.Weird.

“Victoria? You here?” Nothing. Not a peep. Stumbling from bed, I padded in the dark to the bathroom, then blinded myself with the buzzing harshness of the fluorescent light. The month’s supply of cosmetics she’s set up like a store display was gone too. My immediate thought was that I’d slept in and been forgotten, just left lying on the bed like some smelly old teddy bear. But no. I returned to the bed and checked the time, 1:07.You’ve only been asleep for two hours, dork.

I slid back beneath the sheets and replayed the events of the evening. Victoria definitely returned to our room twice. The first time was when she cockblocked me—well, lip-blocked at least. When Finn begrudgingly left, she took a shower, and I did what any reasonable woman would do. I lay on my half of the bed and worried and cried like a pathetic loser.Is it time to give up? We were alone, baring our souls and hidden secrets in a romantic—if you squinted—hotel room for god’s sake. If nothing happened now, maybe it never will.Looking me over with a fresh face of make-up and expression of absolute disgust, Victoria whipped through the room, told me she was going back to the bar, and left.

Things went downhill from there. I took my own shower then, lathered myself in body lotion, and slipped into the inappropriate sleeping attire Teddy insisted I pack. “Just in case Finn wants to slip his bill into your platypussy.”

Bored. Lonely.All dressed up with no one to bone.There was nothing left to do but consume the remaining contents of the mini-bar and cry myself to the point of dehydration until Victoria returned just before eleven. She refused to play Uno with me, or watch a movie, so I just fell asleep in a pile of candy wrappers and tissues.

Man, I must have been dead to the world not to hear her packing her things. And why did she pack her things?Accompanied by banging, my headboard shook, and the moans increased in volume and frequency.Screw this. I need a drink.

With a frightful head of wild curls and my skimpy nightie, I opened the door and poked my head out to check if the coast was clear. The corridor to my left was empty, but much to my horror, the first thing I saw when I turned right was a forlorn Finn sitting cross-legged on the floor with his overnight bag at his side.

“What? Finn, what are you doing out here?”

He looked up at me through his own wild hairdo, his eyes brimming with that undefinable Finn-ness and a look that almost drove me face-first into the floor. Bam. Dead. Just like that. Goodbye, Scarlett. Death by hotness.

“Honestly, I’m trying to work up the courage to knock on your doorrrr…” His voice trailed off. He’d noticed my attire. And he dug it.

Feeling quite thrilled with myself, I watched his eyes widen and felt the burn as they journeyed upward over my long bare legs, my smooth satin stomach, my lace-lined breasts—where there was definite lingering—and eventually up to my face. I casually tucked my hair behind my ear and then hung onto the wall…just a little bit, though, and just to help me stay upright. And maybe to cover my bum. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I…uhh… I was, but…umm… Do you always wear things like this to bed?”

“Finn, concentrate. Why are you on the floor and not in bed?”

Those eyes slowly blinked in time with his words. “Oh, right, yes, I was, but about twenty minutes ago, a little Victoria-shaped birdy tapped me on my shoulder and kicked me out. She and Jason have been going at it ever since.”

“What? Really? Oh my God. I knew they were flirting all night, but—Wait. Isn’t he married?”

“Yep. She is too.”

“What? Victoria’s married?”

“She sure is. She told me all about her heinous hubby one night at the pub.”

“What? You went out for drinks with her?”

“Scarlett, stop what-ing and start breathing, or you’ll hyperventilate.” He was right. My heart was racing, and I didn’t think I’d taken a breath since I walked out and saw his gorgeous body slumped on the floor. “I didn’t go outwithher. I just happened to be out, and she was there with a group of friends.”

“Oh. And did you have a good time with her and her friends?”

“I guess we chatted for a bit, danced for a bit—”

“Wha—I mean…you danced with her?” The utter devastation this was causing in my body was not right. I knew Victoria wasn’t interested in Finn. She had told me hours earlier. But the thought of them dancing made my skin crawl. Clearly, the horror within me was showing on the surface.

“Nothing happened, Red. We all danced as a group for one song, and then I left.” Rising to his feet, Finn shuffled closer. “I’m not interested in Victoria.” His eyes drifted again.

“I know you’re not. And she’s not into you either.”