MAYA BROOKE
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Maya. Happy birthday to you!”
I grin as I glance around at all my friends I’ve made over the last six months. Friends I wouldn’t change for the world. Friends who won’t abandon me in a random bar by myself, drunk. No, I found better people than that.
Jade and Alice particularly feel like family, and I doubt I’ll be getting rid of them any time soon—we’ve been through so much in the short time we’ve known each other.
“Make a wish.” Alice winks as she holds up the huge caramel cheesecake she made me. “And make it a good one.”
I suck in a breath and close my eyes as she holds the cake to my face. I slowly exhale as I blow out the candles and allow my wish to fly through my head.
I wish that my relationship with Finn works out and we’re the happiest we can be.
A burst of claps erupts around the small section of the pub we’ve cordoned off for my birthday, along with cheap drinks and party food.
As Jade starts to cut the cake, I latch onto my phone and stare down at the time. My heart thumps in my throat because Finn said he’d be here thirty minutes ago, and he’s still not shown his face.
We woke up together this morning, and we went our separate ways as we both had lectures we needed to attend, but something churns in my stomach at the thought of him not being here yet. And that makes my mind race with a thousand different possibilities.
Has he gone out and got drunk? He seems to do that a lot, and I know he does it to try and quieten his mind, and rather than letting him drink himself stupid, I usually distract him by inviting him over to watch shitty movies, talk nonsense for hours, and have great sex.
When I know he’s in my company and sober, it’s a relief.
He doesn’t need alcohol when he’s with me, but then there are times when he doesn’t always answer his phone, and it terrifies me.
I try not to let it force me into overdrive with the amount I overthink, but I can’t help but feel like nothing I do is enough. I know he cares about me, that’s obvious, he just has his own battles to face, and I don’t know if I can do anything to help in the long run.
Alice slings an arm around my shoulder before adjusting my party hat. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” I force a smile.
She frowns. “You’ve got that fake look going on. Is it because Finn isn’t here yet?”
“No. He’ll be here. He’s just running late.”
“Alright.” She takes my hand and drags me closer to the table. “Let’s eat this monstrosity of a birthday cake.”
After devouring a slice and ordering a few more drinks, I watch as Jade glances at someone behind me, and when relief washes over her face, my heart rate increases. I twist my head over my shoulder to find Finn strolling in, wearing an oversized hoodie and jeans.
Everything stops when I see him because he’s so undeniably beautiful it hurts.
His blond hair is ruffled but somehow still lies perfectly on the top of his head.
The second his eyes rest on mine, he smiles, and I instantly know he’s not drunk.
For once, his eyes aren’t bloodshot, and there isn’t a sway in his step, he’s walking towards me with confidence and purpose.
Finn grins from ear to ear, and I lose my breath. As soon as he reaches me, he clasps my cheek with one hand and towers over me with bright green eyes that make my knees shiver.
“Happy birthday, sunshine,” he whispers before pressing a sweet kiss to my lips.
He already said it this morning, but I’ll take hearing it twice.
I hum in surprise and grip onto his bicep as he kisses me again and again.
“I’m sorry I’m late. We had an issue with our washing machine.
It started leaking, and I had to turn off the power before we got electrocuted.
It was only me and JJ, and I couldn’t leave him. I’m sorry, it was fucking chaos.”
A small chuckle escapes my lips as I stare up at him. “That’s okay. All that matters is that you’re here now and you didn’t get electrocuted.”
Finn’s thumb brushes across my cheek tenderly, while not taking his eyes off mine. “Thank god we didn’t,” he says softly. “How’s your birthday been so far?”
“Good.” I look over my shoulder at my friends. “We cut the cake and had a few drinks. Nothing crazy.”
“Well…” He pulls away slowly and thrusts a gift bag into my hands. “I got you something.”
I stare down at the glittery bag before taking it with my fingers. “We’re doing presents?”
Finn scoffs. “Of course we’re doing presents.”
“Okay.” I raise my shoulders with excitement.
I fish through the bag and remove a flat white box. My brows crease as I flick the lid open. I tremble as I stare down at the most gorgeous locket I’ve ever seen. It’s oval-shaped with a floral design on the front.
“Finn,” I whisper as I take it out of the box and hold it delicately.
My thumb flicks it over, and on the back are mine and Finn’s initials.
“Do you like it?” he asks as he brushes a hand down the back of his head.
I’m nodding like a woman gone mad. “Like it? Finn, I love it. It’s beautiful. Thank you.”
“Not too cheesy, huh?”
I beam and press onto my toes to kiss him, wrapping a hand around the back of his neck. “You should know by now I love all the cheesy stuff. I might not know a lot about romance, but I’m the cheesiest romantic at heart. Thank you.”
Finn releases a breath of relief. “Okay. Good.”
“Put it on me?” I hand him the necklace and turn around. It doesn’t take him long to tighten the clasp as the locket rests in the centre of my chest, and I twiddle it between my index finger and thumb.
“There,” he whispers in my ear. “Let me see.”
I turn back around to face him, and he brushes my dark hair from my chest, his thumb grazing over my jaw sensually as he stares down at the jewellery.
“Yeah, it looks really good on you, sunshine.” He drops his hand to the locket before popping it open with his thumb.
“And you can put some pictures in here. I thought we could take one tonight and put it in. I mean, only if you want to. If it’s too soon, then I totally get it. ”
My chest warms, and I release a quiet laugh. “Too soon? Absolutely not.”
I wrap my arms around him once more, and he buries his head into the crook of my neck, inhaling deeply. “I’m so glad to see you today,” he murmurs into my shoulder.
My fingers gently drag through the back of his hair. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He squeezes me tighter. “It’s been a tough week, but I didn’t want anything to ruin your birthday.”
“Nothing could ruin my birthday when you’re here.”
We pull away from each other, and my cheeks burn from how bright I’m smiling. It’s inevitable with Finn around. He’s my rock, and I’m his.
I’ve never felt this way about anyone. Ever.
Finn greets my friends, and we sit and play games. I watch Finn as he has a couple beers but doesn’t go much further than that, something that takes me by surprise. But an hour or two later, I’m the one who’s drunk and stumbling about like an idiot on her birthday.
I head outside for some fresh air, and Finn stands in front of me as I lean back against the brick wall. My hazy eyes watch him as I press a hand to his chest, my fingers bunching in his hoodie.
“You look so sexy tonight,” I slur.
Finn chuckles. “You think so?”
“I know so.” I bite down on my lip. “What do you say? Birthday sex?”
He sucks in a breath and shakes his head, and I immediately pout. “Sunshine, you’re far too drunk, and I take consent very seriously.”
“But I know what I want.” I kiss his chin. “And we’re in a relationship. It’s different.”
“It’s not,” he says as he cups my cheek. “Enjoy your night, and if you’re feeling up to it, we can do it in the morning, and I’ll make you feel better.”
I slump back into the wall with a huff. “Why are you being gentlemanly?”
“Because I am not taking advantage of you, Maya. I mean it.”
My heart thumps because I want to be frustrated—sexually, of course—but he never has bad intentions, and it makes me even hotter, and it’s driving me mad.
“Finn,” I whisper as his eyes slowly drag over my face.
I love the way he looks at me. So much tenderness. He sees me. Every part of me.
“Yeah?”
My lips part, and his brows pinch as he studies my expression. “Finn…I love you.”
Finn’s lashes twitch as he takes in my slurred words. Ones that I’ve wanted to say for weeks, if not months, because it’s true. I love him. I love him so much, it’s painful.
The last thing I was expecting when I came to university was getting a boyfriend, but he’s the best plot twist I could have asked for.
“Say something,” I blurt when he stays silent.
Finn pulls back an inch, and nausea swarms me. Oh god. I shouldn’t have said anything at all.
“You don’t love me?” I murmur, allowing my drunk thoughts to get the better of me.
“Maya,” he says, voice cracking slightly. “Of course I love you.”
My chest quivers. “Then what?”
“It’s that I thought no parts of me were loveable after everything,” he confesses, and the agony in his voice is enough to make me break down because he believes it with such sincerity that it crushes me. “I just never thought I’d hear you say those words.”
Tears threaten my eyes as I throw my arms around his neck and press my lips to his cheeks, jaw, chin.
“You are the most loveable person in the world,” I whisper into his skin, and he closes his eyes.
“And you deserve to be loved in the best way. Because I do. I love you, and I’ll show you how easy it is to love you. ”
“Fuck,” he curses as he brings our lips together, claiming mine with such intense passion that my toes curl in my shoes. “Maya, you are the one thing I’ll never deserve.”
“No. Don’t say that.”
“I love you, sunshine,” he whispers against my lips, and tears slip down my cheeks. “I love you, and I want it to be enough.”
“It is,” I gasp, nodding furiously. “It will always be enough.”
Finn blinks and swipes my tears away with his thumbs. “No, no. Why are you crying? You can’t cry on your birthday,” he says with panic.
I release a croaky laugh. “I’m crying because I’m happy. And I can absolutely cry on my birthday. It’s tradition for me.”
Finn rests his forehead against mine. “I don’t want any more tears on your birthday. I refuse.”
“Okay,” I sniffle. “As long as you stick around to be there?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
And I hold onto it because I don’t want a life without him.