Chapter 13 Finn
FINN
Sunlight hit my face. I groaned and cracked one eye open, glaring at the offending blind that allowed any amount of light to break me out of my glorious dreams. A warm body stretched out in front of me. Toes stroked my ankle, and a tiny snore puffed pouty lips.
Bree.
Not a dream. I grinned at her sleeping face and stretched oh so carefully to keep from waking her up.
The clock on the other side of the bed showed five-thirty a.m. We had time, and Bree needed a little extra sleep after last night.
My body ached in all the best ways when I wiggled my toes, muscles I hadn’t used in a while protesting our rigorous workout.
Last night had been fucking incredible.
Bree lay wedged between me and Declan, her red hair spilling across the pillow. Ronan had claimed the other side of Declan and had thrown his arm over both Declan and Bree while sleeping. We’d passed out in a tangle of limbs sometime around three. After another delicious round of sexual frenzy.
Best night of my life. Hands down.
I slipped out of bed, hissing through my teeth when the icy floor assaulted my bare feet. Grunting through it, I yanked on my socks and jeans, digging them out of the pile of clothes we’d left in the middle of Bree’s floor before making my way to the window.
Holy shit.
Three feet of snow piled against the building and buried the street. Nothing moved except the occasional rogue snowflake.
My grin widened to the point of pain. We might be snowed in another day and night with Bree. Oh no. A snort almost escaped before I trapped it with a swallow. Being snowed in with Bree wasn’t any kind of tragedy.
I pulled on my shirt, buttoning it as I made my way downstairs to assess the damage. Snow blocked the front door, covering it halfway up before a hint of sunlight peeked through.
Bree would’ve had one hell of a time digging herself out alone. Good thing we’d stayed.
Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Declan walked down first, his hair standing up in every direction. Ronan followed, looking more alert than I felt even though I’d been getting up at this ungodly hour for years.
Declan took one look at the door and groaned. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.” I jerked my thumb at the wall of snow. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
“Shovel still in the storage closet?” Ronan headed that way before Declan had a chance to answer.
He shrugged and ran both hands through his hair. “Probably. Maeve kept everything back there.”
Ronan came back with two shovels and a bag of salt with a torn edge that left a thin white trail across the floor. “This’ll take a while.” He handed me one shovel and Declan the other, set the bag of salt beside the door, and pulled on a pair of gloves.
“Good thing we have time.” I hefted the shovel and eyed the snow, searching for the best place to start.
Soft footsteps padded down the staircase. Bree’s feet appeared, then a soft blue robe wrapped tight around her torso. I already missed her curves. She pulled her hair back into a messy bun, somehow managing to look beautiful and shy and perfect at the same time.
She met my eyes, and my stomach dipped. This was not the same woman we’d taken to bed last night.
“Morning.” I tried my usual smile, but she kept her chin tucked.
Declan set his shovel against the wall. “We’re going to dig out the front.”
“You don’t have to do that.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I can handle it.”
“With what shovel?” I gestured to the two we’d found. “We’ve got it covered.”
She nodded, bit her lip, and continued to avoid looking at us. Finally, she took a breath. “About last night.”
Here it came. I’d anticipated something but anticipating and having it happen hit different after a night like last night.
“I let things get carried away.” She stared over my shoulder, fingers clenching and releasing the robe. “I don’t regret any of it, but it was just a one-time thing.”
My breath rushed out, leaving me woozy. I’d had plenty of one night stands. Too many to remember them all. Usually I was the one doing the walking away after making it clear things were over and one night was plenty.
Being on the receiving end felt like shit. I didn’t like it. Not one fucking bit.
“You don’t need to apologize.” Declan wrapped both hands around the shovel handle, twisting like strangling the wood would help his mood.
Bree looked at me, then the others. “I do. We were all drunk and having fun. Maybe things got a little carried away. I hope we can keep working together without it being awkward.”
One time thing.
I kind of hated those words. No. No kind of. When Bree said them, I hated them with every fiber of my being.
I should’ve expected it. I’d known better than to think last night meant more than what we all agreed to.
But I still didn’t like the way Bree avoided looking at us. Guess we’d all be doing a walk of shame. Good thing I’d changed out of my green outfit late last night. I’d definitely be memorable if I walked out of here in that getup.
Declan tapped the shovel’s flat edge against the top of his boot. “It won’t be awkward.”
“Good.” Her shoulders relaxed and she stopped twisting the belt into a knot. “That’s good. I need to ask you to keep what happened between us a secret. Please. If anyone in town found out–”
“They won’t.” Ronan cut in with a savageness to his voice I hadn’t heard in years.
Declan nodded. “The old stiffs would make your life hell. We wouldn’t do that to you.”
“Right. Thanks.” What might’ve been a smile appeared but it was gone too fast to be sure.
She thanked us for keeping quiet about the best sex of my life, and I was supposed to smile and pretend like it was nothing.
Fuck.
“No problem.” I propped the shovel against my shoulder. “We should get started.”
Bree backtracked to the bar, and the three of us pulled on coats and gloves before opening the door and stepping into the snow.
Ronan and Declan worked alongside me, the three of us attacking the snow with a rhythm we’d developed over years of helping each other.
Scoop. Toss. Repeat.
My muscles burned. Sweat gathered despite the cold, but the physical work helped quiet the noise in my head.
By the time we’d cleared a path to the street, the sun had risen over the tops of the buildings. A snow plow rumbled past, pushing snow into banks along the curb.
Declan straightened and wiped his forehead. “That should do it.”
“Yeah.” I drove my shovel into the snow bank one more time for good measure.
Ronan took our shovels and walked into the pub. He hadn’t spoken a word the whole time.
Bree stood behind the bar when we entered. She pushed three cups of hot coffee with steam curling up toward us. “You’re lifesavers. Thanks for helping so much. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
I took the coffee and wrapped my frozen hands around it. “Happy to help.”
That was us. Just a bunch of happy, happy fuckers.
I drowned my cynicism with a scalding drink of coffee.
Bree didn’t seem to notice. She moved around the bar to the front door. “Guess we might as well open early. I’m sure people will want some hair of the dog after last night.”
I wanted a whole lot more than that. I’d much rather pull a caveman, grab Bree around the waist, throw her over my shoulder, and carry her back upstairs.
I’d fuck her until she begged me to never leave her bed.
After seeing how she responded to us last night, I didn’t know how I was supposed to go back to normal sex.
There was no such thing with Bree.
Twenty minutes after Bree unlocked the door, Tom and one of his buddies shuffled in. Tom settled on his usual stool. “Didn’t expect you to be open this early.”
“But you’re here anyway.” Bree chuckled and poured him a pint.
Tom eyed us with bleary eyes. “You three get here at the crack of dawn? Must’ve to get the walk shoveled already.”
Shit.
Small towns ran on gossip the way cars ran on gas, and the three of us standing in Bree’s bar with a fully shoveled front walk meant we’d been here a while.
It might take Tom a bit to make a leap about anything beyond that, but the minute he mentioned us being here to one of the gossipy women we’d be sunk.
Even good ole, clueless Tom sensed a secret that would stir up the undercurrent of nosy curiosity.
Bree paled.
I snorted into my coffee, making the sound as derisive as possible.
“Declan drove us home last night. Roads were shit. He came back this morning to shovel, and we figured we’d help out.
You’d better be glad too, or you’d be up shit creek with your hangover.
Besides, work goes faster with three guys, and Maeve’d haunt us all if we let Bree do all that work herself. ”
Tom laughed and lifted his glass. “Damn right she would.”
Crisis averted. I caught Bree’s eye across the bar. She mouthed “thank you” while pouring herself a cup of coffee. She’d changed into her usual jeans and sweater while we were outside, and the soft material flattered her curves and made my hands itch.
She’d put us in our place with that one time business, but I didn’t know how long I’d make it before I tested the boundary.
Another small group pushed their way through the door and to the nearest booth. “Thank god you’re open.” Joan unwound a scarf from around her neck. Her companions agreed with heartfelt claps.
Tom filled them in on my little speech, which caused several glances my way before a round of cheers for Bree climbed to a roaring pitch.
I’d been careful last night not to drink so much I’d end up with a hangover, but many others were not so lucky.
Within an hour, the pub filled and everyone was too happy about fixing their throbbing heads to worry about why the three of us wore the same clothes we’d had on last night.