Chapter 34

Chapter Thirty-Four

Finn

I hate baking.

Cooking? Easy.

Baking? It took me seven attempts to make a semi-edible cake and, even then, I had to call my dad for help. Every time Frank heard me open the flour container, he’d hide under the table.

Even my dog was concerned about my baking skills.

The evening walk where Charlie told me about her funfetti cake birthday tradition will forever be etched into my memory. How her face fell when she told me the story made my heart shatter into pieces. At first, I wasn’t sure if baking her a cake was even a good idea; I didn’t know if it would be too painful for her. Deciding to risk it, I spent a whole week baking test cakes until 2 a.m. to get it perfect for her. And by perfect, I mean semi-edible. Could I have bought one? Sure. But with Charlie, I strongly suspect that the sentimental act of someone making a homemade cake is so much more important than the actual cake itself. Watching her now, eating all the sprinkles off of the top layer of the cake, makes those late nights and a sink full of dirty dishes completely worth it.

“So . . .” Charlie’s looking down at her fork, weighing her words carefully. A pale flush appears on her full cheeks. “When are you making me dinner? Unless, of course, this is dinner?” She still hasn’t made eye contact with me, which I find so utterly adorable that I can’t help but smirk.

“First, you consider cake dinner?”

“All the time, actually.” She shrugs.

Interesting. I’ll make another mental note of that.

“What are you doing Friday night?” I ask.

Charlie sits up and sucks a breath through her teeth. “Yikes. You see, I have this Friday ritual with this really tall guy. We walk and talk at night.”

Biting back a smile, I look at her and tilt my head. “Hmm. Is he hot, at least? If not, you should ditch him and let me make you dinner.” I go back for another bite of cake. Damn. I didn’t do a half-bad job on this cake.

“He’s okay looking. You’re much cuter.” She sighs. “Yeah, I think I’ll ditch him.”

“This is the cringiest conversation I think we’ve ever had.” I laugh.

Her giggle fills the quiet room. “The worst. I tried to be flirty and failed. Flirty doesn’t fit me.” She inhales, shaking her head at herself. “My exes would get upset that I wouldn’t flirt with them. They would say, ‘You’re making it too difficult for me to figure out if you actually like me or not.’ It was always a pain point for me.”

Bunch of fuckers.

I shake my head and scoff. “Amateurs. The seasoned professionals know the best women are the ones you have to work for. Like coming into their plant store multiple times a week just to drop off drinks they despise when they explicitly told you they hate coffee . . . for example.” Clearing my throat, I glance up at Charlie. “I’m not speaking from experience or anything.”

Her arms are crossed as her chocolate eyes assess me with a slight smirk on her face. She rolls her eyes at me, her signature move that I can’t get enough of. It’s her way of saying, You annoy the shit out of me, but I think you’re cute and charismatic, so I’ll tolerate it .

“You know that every time you roll your eyes, it only makes me want you more, right?”

Her cheeks turn pink as she bites back a smile for a brief moment. “You have such weird turn ons.” She laughs, shaking her head. “All right, fine, Friday it is. Your place or mine?”

“Mine. I have no idea where all the stuff is in your kitchen, and I don’t want to make an ass out of myself the first time I’m trying to impress you.”

Her gaze softens when she reaches to hold my hand. My hand feels so large in comparison to hers, as if I’m holding something so fragile, and I don’t want to shatter it. “Finn, you’ve impressed me in more ways than I think you realize. I don’t think you could screw anything up, even if you tried. Trust me.”

Hearing those words come out of her envelops me with relief. My shoulders relax as I replay her words in my mind again. For weeks, I’ve been trying my damndest to show her that I can be someone she can rely on. Tonight, I finally got a sliver of confirmation that what I’ve been doing just might be working. Even though the future is unknown for us, it won’t stop me from proving to her that I can be someone she can depend on no matter what.

I can’t help it, I’m falling for this girl in a way that I’ve never felt before. There’s this need inside of me to protect, take care of, and shield her from anything that could harm her.

“Um. I have another question,” she says, shaking me out of my thoughts.

“Of course. What’s up?”

She’s fidgeting with her fork and rolling her lips. “No. Never mind. It’s dumb.” Charlie takes a big bite of cake and chews it thoughtfully.

I cock my head. “Absolutely not. Spit it out, Thorne.” She stops chewing and looks at me. “No, not the cake, you little weirdo. Spit out what you were going to say,” I say in amusement.

Still chewing, she makes a dramatic swallow and then sighs. “On New Year’s Eve. . .there’s this wedding?—”

Hell. Yes.

I’m trying to contain my excitement, keeping my face neutral yet attentive. If she says what I think she’s going to say, I will have to work hard not to run around the store like a champion who just won their first gold medal.

“—we did all the greenery arrangements and I got invited to it and I can bring a plus one.”

My head moves up and down slowly and thoughtfully. Charlie’s eyeing me, hoping I get the gist of what she’s saying.

“A plus one? That’s nice. Are you taking Marnie?” I ask. My fork digs into the cake for another bite. I’m trying to act as calm as possible.

“Well. No. I was wondering . . .”

I swallow my bite, looking at her with a smile, wanting to explode with excitement. “Yes?”

Her cheeks go crimson as she drops her head in her hands. “Ugh. You’re going to make me formally ask you, aren’t you?”

My smile breaks, and a chuckle releases from me. “Oh yeah, sweetheart. You aren’t getting off easy this time.”

Needless to say, I’m enjoying every second of this. It’s cute how nervous she’s getting for someone who, I’m sure, hates weddings.

And plus ones.

And socializing in general, now that I come to think about it.

I hear her mutter fuck under her breath.

“I mean, I’m not sure if fucking was part of your plan, but I won’t say no.” I shrug just as she looks up at me. Her head tilts back, and she laughs. It’s one of those full-on belly laughs that is infectious to anyone in a five-mile radius.

Her smile beams at me. “Okay, that was clever. I’ll give you that. Fine, you win.” She pauses before speaking again, her doe eyes gazing into mine. “Finn, will you please be my plus one at the wedding?”

“Yes, of course,” I say.

“That was the most painful thing I’ve had to do in a while,” she says.

I suck in a breath. “Watching you struggle to get those words out, it did look tough. I’m proud of you. I’d give it maybe a seven out of ten? An eight if I’m feeling generous. That seems fair.”

“Rude.” She laughs before taking another bite of cake.

“Yeah, but you like me,” I quip.

“Now, now, don’t get too ahead of yourself there.” She points her fork at me and winks.

Being with Charlie is as easy as breathing. We don’t feel the need to impress one another or hide our true selves. We talk without worry or fear of judgment.

In the quiet of the night, it’s just us, sharing our flaws and strengths in equal measure while admiring one another for all that we’ve endured in our lifetimes.

The week goes by in a complete blur. With the Thanksgiving holiday around the corner, Dark Side Brews has seen a significant increase in customers. I’ve never been so tired, nor have I ever taken so much ibuprofen.

It’s Friday, which means I finally get to make dinner for Charlie. Yesterday, when I dropped off a hot chocolate, I asked her if she had any aversions or food allergies that I should know about. The last thing I need is to send her to the hospital because of a peanut allergy I wasn’t privy to. I close up the shop early, sending the baristas home so I can head to the grocery store and grab a few last-minute items for tonight. With Frank by my side, we lock up and make the short walk down the block to A New Leaf. Frank, of course, bolts down the sidewalk ahead of me and runs head-first into Charlie’s store sign. There’s a loud crash, and I jog up to my derpy dog as I frantically try to fix the sign.

“What the hell!” Charlie comes sprinting out the front door. “Oh. It’s just you two.” She breathes a sigh of relief.

I look up at her. “Frank got a little excited and decided to make a break for it,” I sheepishly shrug my shoulders, slightly embarrassed by my dog.

“Have you gotten his hearing checked?” she questions.

Charlie’s eyes follow me as I rise to my feet. I went from looking up into her eyes to looking down into her eyes . . . and her shirt. She’s wearing a green checked flannel today with the perfect number of buttons left undone. Damn, I love being tall.

She clears her throat. “I have eyes, you know.” She arches one brow at me.

I feel a rush of warmth rise to my cheeks. Yes, I’ve seen her naked. Yes, I’ve felt every inch of her body.

But I still get embarrassed every time she catches me checking her out. “Uh. Yes. Hearing? The dog. Right.”

She shakes her head and clicks her tongue. “Men are such simple creatures. Give them an inch of cleavage, and they start short-circuiting,” she mutters under her breath.

Running my hand through my hair, I finally compose myself. “Yes. He’s been checked twice, and the vet says he has selective hearing.” I give her a quick shrug.

“I can see that.” She gives Frank a scratch on his head before tucking her hands into the pockets of her apron. “Well, I better get back in there. Want me to be at your place by seven?”

“Actually, I was wondering if I could drop Frank off with you for a couple of hours? I’ll come by and pick him up. I have a few errands to run?—”

“So now you’re using me for dog-sitting services? Low blow, Griffin.” She shakes her head.

“I. Uh. No. Sorry, that’s not—” I panic—full on panic as I feel a bead of sweat trickle down the back of my neck.

Her face goes from serious to amused in less than a second. “You have got to relax. I was kidding. I would love to have him here.” She crouches down and gives Frank’s face a big squeeze.

He’s loving the attention. He needs a positive female role model in his life, and I’m happy Charlie is filling that void for him. Lucky dog.

“Oh, and don’t worry about picking him up. I’ll take Frank home with me and will drive both dogs over when I see you tonight,” she reassures me as she rises from the sidewalk.

“Are you trying to steal my dog, Miss Thorne?” I say, taking a step forward. We are so close that I can practically feel her breasts brush up against my chest.

Her brows knit together, and that cute vertical wrinkle appears. I really hope Marnie was joking about Charlie getting Botox because I love the way her brows furrow.

“Unless you trained Frank to drop his bowl off in front of me when he’s hungry, then no. Your chaotic dog is coming back to you tonight.”

Fuck. I just remembered something.

Taking off my glasses, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I forgot to mention that Frank stole a couple of your plants and dropped them off in front of my shop.”

Slipping my glasses on, I look down at Charlie, who’s looking at Frank.

Charlie drops to the ground again and carefully holds Frank’s furry face. “You. Little. Thief. You stole that money tree? Didn’t you?” She pauses, sighing. “I get it. Those do look like oversized sticks.” She rises up from kneeling by Frank and smoothes down her apron. “As much as I would love to stay out here and talk, I have to get back inside. There’s one pissed-off customer saying that my plant gave all of her plants fungus gnats. I don’t even know what those are, so I need to do some quick research and pretend to be an expert.” Her rosy cheeks puff out as she exhales a large breath.

I snicker, imagining the hundreds of tabs that must be open on her laptop, all trying to get to the root of the plant problem. No pun intended.

“You got it. See you at seven, sweetheart,” I say, smiling at her. She starts to head back into the store when I yell, “Wait! You forgot something.”

Confusion washes over her face as I walk back to her. The moment I reach her, I take my index finger, wrap it around one of her overall straps, and pull her body against mine. My lips gently claim hers in a soft kiss, and I feel her body relaxing against mine.

“Okay. That’s all,” I murmur against her plush lips before stepping away.

Her flushed face wordlessly nods, and I smile down at her.

Before I turn to head back down the street to my car, I wait for her and Frank to get safely inside the store. It’s a routine at this point. Any time before I leave, I have to make sure Charlie is safely inside, wherever she is, for her own safety and for my own peace of mind.

My heart swells in my chest as she gently leads Frank into her store. She looks down at him, whispering soft words to the blind pup, who is loving all of the attention.

It’s impossible not to fall head over heels for this girl.

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