Page 41 of Heir of Fire
“I’m being serious,” Gianna said.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“To my room.” The confusion was clear in her voice. Where else was she going to go? Exhaustion swept through her body and her eyes were burning with the need to sleep. Her bed was the only place she truly wanted to go.
“Just stay here.”
“Are you serious?”
“Why would I joke about that?” Finn asked. His tone was serious enough, but she still couldn’t tell if he was being serious. She could only assume he had to be joking because they had a full house that could walk in on them at any moment.
“I don’t know,” she answered honestly.
“Just spend the night. Don’t think too much about it.”
She couldn’t help the snort-chuckle that slipped past her lips. “Well, that’s easy to do.”
“Try it, you might be surprised to find that you like it,” he said.
“You must be an expert in not thinking.”
“Fucking brat,” he muttered. He pinched her butt cheek, moving to lay beside her now.
She turned on her side, staring at him and he stared back at her. It wasn’t awkward. No, there was something almost comforting about it. He pulled the covers over himself, surrounding them both in warmth and silence.
It felt nice. Too nice. Nice to the point where she felt like she shouldn’t be enjoying it. Like it would get pulled away from her, like most things usually did.
Gianna sat up in a panic. “I have to go to the restroom,” she told him, quickly getting out of bed. He stared at her in confusion, but she ignored it, rushing to the ensuite and closing the door behind her.
She used the restroom and washed her hands, staring at herself in the mirror. The image that stared back wasn’t one that she hated, which was rare. Flushed cheeks and the glow on her skin looked good on her. Why then did she feel this panic settling deep inside of her?
It wasn’t her first time lying in a bed with a man. Well, not without them wanting to fuck. Usually, the lying in bed part only happened as they took breaks, but then they picked back up where they left off before whoever she was with snuck out sometime in the early hours of the morning. So no, she had neversleptwith anyone like that before. Innocently, at least. Was that why she was freaked out? The intimacy of sleeping in bed right beside someone and how much she might like it?
Or was it because she knew she would crave it again? The only issue was that once she left herself wanting something,cravingit, she set herself up for disappointment when it was taken away from her.
If she wanted real intimacy—or worse, started needing it—what would happen if he just left? One day, if Finn decided that he wanted to be free and hop on his bike and run away again, she wouldn’t be able to stop him.
Hell, she couldn’t even keep her own mother from leaving. She couldn’t expect anyone to stay just for her. Not her best friends, or her brother, or even her cousins.
Gianna hadn’t even realized that she was chewing on her nail, biting the skin beside it raw until she tasted blood. She turned away from the mirror, suddenly disgusted by what stared back at her.
Opening the door to the bathroom, she was stunned to see Finn standing right outside of it. His hand was lifted as if he was going to knock but she beat him to it.
“I came to see if you were okay,” he said.
She cleared her throat. “I am.”
“Are you going to spend the night?”
The question was simple. Not a big deal. And when she looked into his brown eyes, the same ones that seemed to bring a newfound comfort into her soul, it made her long for something she hadn’t dared to long for in forever. Made her yearn for something she saw in Luna and Valerio, in the shows she watched, in the dreams she dreamt.
Someone who would choose her and stay.
Gianna nodded her head. “Yes.”
TWENTY-ONE
FINN
