Page 15 of Your Two Lips
“Take that one. I’ll grab another.”
I started to object, but he waved me off. “You can buy the next round. Angela and Alex could probably use your help finding a spot.” He nodded toward the door.
“Okay. Thanks.” I raised my glass to him.
Out on the lawn, we pulled two tables together to seat everyone and sat watching a plane approach the small airport across the street. The late-day sun glinted off the wings in the rose gold light.
“Tell me more about biking in Whistler?” Carrie said as Finn, with a new beer in hand, sat next to Dan, diagonal from me at the end of the table.
“I was there with some friends hiking last spring,” I said. “We tried the downhill bikes on the slopes, and I loved it. I decided to stay awhile and rode as much as possible. I got a seasonal job, and a couple of therapists at the spa also biked. They showed me the ropes until the snow started. What about you? How long have you been riding?”
Carrie turned to Dan. “Years. I met Dan in college, fell madly in love.” She lowered her eyelashes with a sultry smile. “He was always on a mountain bike. I figured I needed to learn to ride one too.”
“I’m glad you did,” Dan said and pulled her closer. “You look good on a bike, especially from behind.” Coughs and snickers came from the other end of the table.
“Don’t pay attention to the assholes down there,” Dan told me. “They’re jealous they don’t have a good woman like I do.” He winked at Carrie. Finn was quiet, his smile relaxed with his friends.
Tom, a confident grin firmly in place, said, “I am too generous to give all this to one woman when there are so many to choose from.” He was built, no doubt about that.
“I’m sure the female population of Perry Harbor thanks you for your generosity,” said one of the other guys at that end of the table.
“Females from Perry Harbor, females not from Perry Harbor. I don’t discriminate.” Tom looked back at me with a head nod. “Your buddy Finn has a few stories to tell. He’s the most prolific non-discriminator of us all.”
The expression on Finn’s face as he stared at Tom would have frozen me on the spot. He rubbed a hand over his face. “Dan’s right. Some guys talk out of their asses.”
“So, are you a bit of a flirt like your brother?” I asked.
“No.” He paused. “I outgrew it,” he said, keeping his voice low.
Tom continued, unhindered by the daggers in Finn’s eyes. “That one last year, if I had a sugar mama like that, I wouldn’t let her slip throughmyfingers.”
Finn’s lips were a thin line as he sipped his beer and didn’t respond, clearly indicating the subject needed to drop.
“Man, that chick was hot. Add in the money, and she was my dream girl,” Tom said.
Finn shifted and looked back at the airstrip. Dan glanced at him with something in his eyes.
So, he had a past. Didn’t we all.
12
FINN
Fucking Tom.He wanted someone like Katherine. He could have her and her money.
I was already losing my taste for one-night stands when I met Katherine last year. She was young, confident, fun, and said all the right things. I liked her, and it seemed like we were connecting until we bumped into her husband and his girlfriend at a restaurant in Oak Harbor. It had all been part of a plan.
Her much older husband needed reminding he already had a desirable younger woman. She said she hadn’t been unfair to me. She hadn’t made promises, and we’d had fun on her dime, well, her husband’s dime.
I trusted her, thought I knew her, and then was blown away because she said she did nothing wrong. She believed she was allowed to treat me any way she wanted since I was a small-town guy. A few expensive gifts and fancy dinners made us even in her mind. Not mine. How did she fool me? How did I not see her coming?
That was it. I shut it all down, the hook-up scene, and the women.
“Emily, do the SkyRamp with us. Finn, you still need a partner, right?” Carrie looked at me, then back at Emily.
“What is it?” Emily asked.
“It’s a bike race in July,” Carrie continued. “Very fun. Two-person teams. They encourage one male and one female. The bike shop that organizes it is owned by two women, and they want to promote the sport to women. A bunch of us are doing it. Finn and Alex down there,” she said and nodded to the end of the table, “they have to since they’re sort of well-known in mountain biking circles.”
