Page 56 of October
“Really?”
“I love the campy 80s ones, with all the blood and gore.”
“Well, let’s hope that this has none of that,” Molly suggested.
“Do you like this stuff, too?”
“I do. Good horror movies are great. Not a big fan of the blood and gore part, though, as I have to remind myself that it’s not real,” she shared. “I can handle it, but it’s not my favorite thing about the genre. My favorite overall movie isNotting Hill.”
“You’re so cute,” Finley replied, smiling over at her. “There’s this haunted house I went to with some friends last year. Would you maybe want to go with me sometime?”
“Haunted house? I can watch a movie just fine, but that’s real life. Won’t guys with chainsaws and hockey masks come out and try to get me?”
Finley laughed, and then her arm moved around Molly’s shoulders to pull her more against her as they walked.
“I’ll protect you. And they can’t actually touch you,” she replied.
“You really love all this stuff?”
“I do. You didn’t know?”
“Nope,” Molly said. “I just got the idea for a tour from Gwen and went with it, thinking it might be nice because you could get a different view of the city. You haven’t lived here all that long, so I took a chance that you hadn’t done anything like it before.”
“It was a good guess. I haven’t,” Finley confirmed. “I know my way around, and I’ve spent some time on Bourbon, but I’m at home most of the time, working on my computer, or with–” She stopped.
“You can say her name, Finley.”
“Can I? I don’t want you to order a salad again.”
Molly laughed then and wrapped her arm around Finley’s waist, pulling her in even closer.
“I won’t break if you mention her, but tonight, maybe we just focus on us.”
“I like the sound of that,” Finley replied. “Now, where are the ghosts?”
Molly tucked her face into Finley’s neck, and it was then that she realized that Finley’s hair was already dry, and when the breeze picked up and headed her way, she could smell her own shampoo in Finley’s hair. She waited until they arrived in front of NOLA Guides and turned toward Finley before she finally ran her hand through Finley’s soft hair and watched as Finley closed her eyes at the touch.
“I’ll go check us in,” she said. “Wait here.”
“Okay, but only if you do that again later.”
“That’s a promise,” Molly replied.
Feeling like she was on cloud nine, she turned around, walked inside, met the guy at the counter, who looked to be about eighteen, and got their tickets. When she turned back, she saw Finley standing outside, looking in through the glass at her. Finley had a smile on her face, and Molly smiled back at her. She still couldn’t believe this was her life right now.
CHAPTER 15
Finley knew that there wouldn’t be any actual ghosts on this tour, but that didn’t stop her from pretending that there could be and asking the tour guide, Melinda, about how likely it might be that one would show up.
“Has anyone ever actually seen a ghost on this tour?”
“I’ve had a few people tell me they did, yes,” Melinda replied as they walked ahead of the group. “But most of them were under the age of nine, so take that for what it’s worth.” Melinda looked past her to Molly and added, “You’re friends with Gwen’s girlfriend, right? Gwen called me earlier and said you might do a tour tonight.”
“Juliet is my best friend, yeah. She said Gwen was great at planning their dates and recommended I get an idea for what to do tonight with Finley.”
Finley smiled at her and squeezed their still-joined hands because Molly had asked someone for ideas for their date. She hadn’t dropped Molly’s hand since she’d taken it back after Molly had walked out of the tour guide, and prior to that, she had stared at her as Molly had been checking them in for their tour because she couldn’t stop herself. Molly was so beautiful, and she looked great in those form-fitting jeans and the tennis shoes she had worn for all the walking. Finley didn’t need her to dress up or wear heels. Molly already looked perfect to her.As she had stared, though, she had also wondered what Molly looked like when she woke up in the morning. Finley didn’t think they would get there tonight, but she hoped that soon, she would get to wake up next to her and find out for herself. She knew Molly was taking a chance with her heart, given Finley’s past, and she wanted to respect that.
Only Finley really knew how done with India she was, and evenshehad doubted herself a few times right after she had ended things. From Molly’s perspective, she had watched her and India reconnect time and time again, so Finley understood that Molly didn’t want to be a woman she dated for a few weeks before things with India sorted themselves out.
