Page 49 of Say I'm Yours, Firecracker

“And if you’re okay with it, I’d like to move some of my stuff into the guest room.” He said it with such hope in his eyes that I couldn’t help but nod and bite my lower lip.

“How did you like the bed?” He switched topics. “Was it comfortable?”

I laid my hand over his. “Finn,” I said, snaking my head to catch his eyes, “It was a perfectly acceptable bed. You don’t have to keep buying me things.”

“I just want to give you everything, Firecracker. You deserve the world”

I hid my face, because I had to tell him. If I was going to really embrace this, with him, he had to know. “It wasn’t real.”

“What?” His brows kissed, in a damn near perfect v.

“I was never with Eli.” I admitted.

He laughed, throwing his head back and patting his chest. “You really know how to stop a man’s heart, Ronnie.”

“What’s so funny?”

“I know. Well I didn’t at first.” Finn chuckled darkly, like he knew this news would shock me. “Eli felt bad for me after the run in at Billy’s. Told me the whole story.”

“That little snake!”

“What can I say, men stick together.” He mocked.

I smacked his stomach and he gently brushed my bangs from my face, pausing before he asked, “Can I please kiss you now?”

At my timid nod he dipped his head and lightly brushed my lips with his.

The kiss wasn’t heat filled passion. Instead it was a comfort.

A promise, and that was so much sweeter.

Fake breaking up with Eli was fun. He took me to play mini golf, which he absolutely killed. We laughed, he fed me snacks and we talked about the wedding.

He loved his brother so much it almost brought me to tears hearing him tell me stories about them as children. How they would fight over girls, when they cried over their mom passing. It felt like something I should have had with my brother.

In a way Eli helped me with more than just keeping Finn at a distance. Guarding my heart and head from the possibility of a broken home wasn’t helping me, it was holding me back.

He helped me want to love again. Especially since Finn had listened to my past and hadn’t taken off the other night.

I wanted a family full of laughter and love, a whole heart and home. Finn wanted to be a father, and I knew he wanted to be a family with me and our baby. I could admit that the platonic friendship wasn’t working out, even before I’d called him in that vulnerable moment.

We had connected in that hallway with my skirt skimming my ass and his hands skewing my top to hold on to my breast. I’d buried my hands in his thick hair, and my lips had devoured his. We had claimed each other that night.

Denying it now seemed pointless.

Finn and I could never be just friends.

But we could be family. He and I could build again, slowly this time. As co-parents and, hopefully…more.

“I hope Finn makes you happy, Ronnie.” Eli said as we handed in our putters and left the cute place.

I ducked my head and blushed, because I knew Eli was sincere. He had been since the first time I’d met him.

“I think he will,” I replied. Because even though my head saw the changes in him, my heart wasn’t ready to admit it. I was sad to see Eli go, but since his sister's wedding was officially over he had no reason to stay.

He dropped me off at my apartment, where I had not thought to tell Eli I didn’t live anymore. Just as I was pulling out my phone to call Finn for a rescue I heard his voice call out across the street.

“Need a ride, Firecracker?” I turned, finding the man himself leaning out of his truck window. “I think standing outside of a building you don’t live in is called loitering.”

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