Page 80 of Molly's Mr. Wrong
“Should I drop your class?”
“No.” She gave a small sniff. “Besides losing your money and your credit, it makes us look guilty.”
Finn settled back in his seat. “We are guilty.” He took her hand again, laced his fingers through hers.
“I feel better because of it,” she admitted.
“For how long?”
“Meaning do I have regrets?” She smiled a little. “More like concern for the future.”
“I won’t screw with your future, Molly.”
“If I thought you would, I wouldn’t be here.”
“So...you’re saying you trust me?”
She turned her head to look at him, her cheek pressed against the vinyl of the sofa. How did she tell him that she trusted him to a point, just as she trusted herself to a point? As long as they had clear sight of the boundaries of their relationship, she could let herself go. Trust him within that parameter.
Because the truth was, she fully expected to get burned again. Guys like Finn, guys like Blake, guys who didn’t know what they wanted in life, or couldn’t pin down what they needed...they’d move on as they searched. Molly was staying put. But the difference between this relationship and the last was that she knew what to expect. Forewarned was forearmed.
She reached out to touch Finn’s face, to trail her fingers down the scruff on his cheeks, loving the feel. Not yet ready to give it up. “I’ll be here for you, and you can be here for me...but I’m not putting any kind of label on what we have.”
She hadn’t answered his question and she could see that he was fully aware of that fact.
“I won’t hurt you, Molly.”
Not on purpose, anyway.
“Can we leave things status quo, while I figure a few things out?”
She felt him withdraw, but made herself stay strong. Shewouldbe there for him. At this point she might fight tigers for him. But she wouldn’t put herself into a position where her world crumbled when he moved on.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
GEORGINASPENTTHEweekend hiking and camping with Chase, leaving Molly home alone, catching up on her grading and avoiding any hint of public scandal that Jonas’s parents might pick up on and use to put the screws to her. It was nice to be alone when she had so much to do, but she was becoming concerned about the amount of time Georgina was spending with her beau, not that she had any reason to address the issue other than the fact that Chase came from a questionable background. Honestly, though, she would have been concerned regardless. Her sister was an adult, but she was also only nineteen—not that much younger than Molly had been when she’d begun to embark on the biggest mistake of her life.
Molly had told Finn that Mike needed to deal with his own issues in his own way, and now she needed to listen to her own advice—but how did one stop feeling protective of their little sister?
One did not.
So one attempted to focus on other matters.
Making love to Finn sprang to mind a number of times. He’d called on Friday to touch base and ask her if everything looked normal at Mike’s house and on Saturday he’d been at Mike’s, but he didn’t make his way over to her house. She didn’t know if he was giving her space, or if he was being careful of not giving the appearance that she was involved with him.
She would have liked to see him. Touch him. Wrap herself around him.
This was new territory for Molly. When she’d hooked up with Blake, she’d practically been a pseudo-wife from day one. She’d loved being needed. Loved the perks of a close relationship, disregarded the part about seeing to her own needs. Caring for Blake was her need. If she did that, she felt great.
And he felt up someone else.
Jerk.
Molly forced herself to focus on her prep work. On Monday she hadthemeeting—the one where she defended her grades—and she wanted everything to go smoothly that morning so that she could focus on exonerating herself.
Jonas had bullied his way through the system for too long, and he needed some comeuppance. For his own good and the good of those he’d have to deal with in the future. Molly was all about giving it to him.
Her fingers stilled on the keyboard. How would she have reacted to this situation two or three years ago—while she’d been Blake’s caretaker?
