Page 43 of Heir of Fire
“I’m confused, okay?”
Had he been standing, his legs would have given out. Finn was dumbstruck. Gianna was finally admitting something to him. Something he already knew—still, something she probably had never shared with anyone else.
“What are you confused about?” He kept his voice soft and supportive. It surprised her, judging by the look on her face, andit even surprised himself. He had never heard himself speak that way in his life.
Her hand waved around in the air. “All of this.”
“The room?” he asked, trying to crack a joke.
Her lips lifted in the smallest smile. “You know what I’m talking about.”
“What about it confuses you so much?”
“You’re Finn Kingsley. I’ve known you for years as Luna’s annoying, overbearing older brother. Suddenly, we’re in the shower having sex and you’re saying we’re dating and it’s all so quick. Actually, quick is an understatement. It’s moving faster than the speed of light.”
“I’ve always known you as Luna’s annoying little best friend who was a brat. Wait, that’s still true.”
“Finn, I’m being serious.”
He groaned. “I see what your point is, princess. We can’t change how we used to know each other though. You’re not going to stop being friends with Luna, and I’m not going to stop being her brother. Get to know me as me, without any of that shit getting in the way.”
Gianna looked reluctant, then let out a loud groan. “You’re not going to leave me alone, are you?”
“Hell no.”
TWENTY-TWO
GIANNA
It seemedlike the more Gianna pushed, the more Finn latched onto her and refused to let go. He was driving her insane, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him either. When she said she was confused, she wasn’t lying.
Whenever she got into these moods, there was only one place to go: the studio. Tonight, she chose the home studio instead of the one at school. The more she danced and tried to force herself to nail down the stupid leap she kept messing up, the more she began uncovering that confusion.
One part of it came from the possibility of losing Luna if she ever found out about the stupid relationship. She didn’t exactly know Luna’s opinions on the matter, not that she could ask her outright. God, she didn’t even want to think about how that conversation would go if it ever did happen.
Gianna knew that Luna loved her and only wanted to see her happy. She also knew that Finn’s happiness meant the world to Luna. Now, whether she would want to see them happy together was a whole different question. The point was, she wasn’t ready to risk it. There was a possibility of everything going right and working out, but just the same was the possibility of everything going wrong. Luna could find the relationship uncomfortableand never support it, which would put Cecilia and Blair in an awkward place. Gianna would never make them choose a side; she didn’t even want sides to exist. However, that would be the natural consequence. Who would they pick? God, making them pick would be awful.
Valerio would definitely choose Luna, Dante would choose his brother, and Allister would be stuck between his loyalty towards his best friend or his little sister, unless he hated her for breaking everyone up like she did to their family.
Now she was spiraling.
This was why she hated thinking about these things and why she couldn’t risk it for Finn. She couldn’t lose everyone and everything on the small chance of it working out with him.
Which brought her to the second part. She didn’t think Finn was fully into the whole concept of monogamy. Hell, he only just started thinking about girlfriends. He didn’t know anything about relationships and had never been in one. Not to mention, he had just been kidnapped home. He hadn’t come willingly. There was a big chance he could leave at a moment’s notice and an almost sure chance that he would break her heart in one way or another.
No matter what, she would be losing someone.
Was it worth it to lose Finn though, or to lose her entire group of friends and the only family she had left?
She would have thought that the choice was obvious enough, but when she thought about it, there was a horrible ache in her chest. It had already happened, it seemed. He had managed to break his way in.
“Do you always dance this aggressively?” Allister asked from behind her.
She screamed, turning around in a panic. Thank God it wasn’t Finn, but still the sudden intrusion was enough to freak her out.
“What are you doing here?”
She walked over to the music, pausing it so she would be able to hear him clearly.
