Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Frankie
“Hey! I have a question for you.” I slid into the vacant office chair beside Finch, rolling the rest of the way to her. "I brought you a scone."
"Thank you, goddess,” she replied, leaning in for a split second before leaning back in her chair. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately, catching herself at the last moment.
The lines were being muddied even further between what happened in her bedroom and what happened outside of it. But Finch seemed to think affection in the bedroom was for fun and affection outside was for show. We didn’t need to kiss when no one was looking, but damn did I want to. Her mouth was just so irresistible.
“I can see the wheels in your mind spinning,” Finch said.
I nibbled at my lip and her eyes dropped to my mouth. “It just looked like you wanted to kiss me.”
“I did,” Finch admitted, averting her gaze from my mouth. “Sorry. I’m getting all my wires crossed. I blame the lack of sleep.”
“Even casual hook-ups kiss outside the bedroom,” I said, trying to feel out her response. “Especially when they’re pretending to be dating, right? Like, if someone walked in and saw, it would just lend credibility to our lie, so . . .” When Finch didn’t respond, I shook my head. “Ugh, sorry. This whole thing is turning into a lasagna of secrets and I’m just trying to keep up with all the layers.”
“A lasagna of secrets?” she asked incredulously.
“I’m tired!” I said as Finch held a hand to her mouth to contain her laugher. “I would have better metaphors if I had more than two hours of sleep.”
“Worth it though,” Finch whispered conspiratorially.
“Definitely,” I added with a mischievous smile.
Finch licked the jam from her thumb. “So you said you had a question for me?”
“Yeah.” I swept a strand of hair behind my ear. “So tops and bottoms." Finch’s cheeks dimpled as she took another bite of scone. I swatted at her. "Don't laugh at me."
"I'm not laughing at you,” she said even as her shoulders continued to shake. "Go on."
"You're a top, right?"
"Yep," she said immediately and then weighed her head side to side, considering. "Well . . . yes, but you know I like being taken care of too."
“Oh, I know.” I smiled around the lid of my coffee. "I like taking care of you."
I couldn't believe I’d just said that out loud, but it was true. I loved when I made her come. It felt like a victory every time I brought her pleasure. She was still the commander of our ship in the bedroom, but I loved making her fall apart too. Before her, I’d always thought sex was a chore. And I definitely didn’t think I’d enjoy giving as much as I enjoyed receiving, but Finch had changed my mind about everything, and yet, there was still so much I didn’t understand.
"So does that make me a bottom?" I asked, scrutinizing the ceiling. "I'm clearly not a pillow princess, but?—”
"Somebody's been spending too much time on Google.” Finch chuckled. “And we will be taking no pillow princess slander in this house. They’re an important part of our community.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” My lips curved up. “I just want to understand everything."
"There's not as much to understand as you think,” Finch said. “We don’t all worship at Sappho’s shrine. This isn’t a standardized religion. Each person is different. Each couple is different. If there's anything I can ‘teach’ you, it's to have the confidence to ask for what you want.”
I swallowed thickly. "I'm just trying to understand where I fit in to all this. What's expected of me."
"What's expected of you? Expected of you ?” she repeated pointedly. "You're still talking like you're sleeping with a man."
I laughed. "Right."
Finch ran a hand through her short hair, sweeping it back off her face. "Honestly, I don't think I'm a very good instructor for you, Goldilocks. Everything you do turns me on."
A wicked grin stretched my lips as an idea popped into my head. “You said I should have the confidence to ask for what I want?”
"Uh-huh."
"Will you teach me how to go down on you?"
"Whoa!" a voice barked from behind me, and I whirled to find Finch's little brother spinning and running out the door.
"Crane!" Finch shouted. She pointed at me. "We will definitely be finishing this conversation, Goldilocks.” She ran out the door. "Crane, get your ass over here. Do not pick up your radio. Put the radio down!”
The radio on Finch's desk crackled, and I heard Crane's voice saying, "Hey, Heron, do you still have my power drill with you? I need to perforate my eardrums immediately." Then I heard Finch's voice in the background of his radio call saying, "Get over here, you little shit!” as the sound of stampeding footsteps echoed up behind him.
I buried my face in my hands, horrified.
“Put it in the group chat before Finch murders you,” Dove replied. “Don’t let your death be in vain.”
“Do not put it in the group chat!” Finch shouted at the same time Crane said, “Done!”
“Okay, well, that’s actually kind of cute,” Dove said over the radio.
"Still not as bad as what happened with Hawk and Hannah," Heron chimed in.
“I will remind the keeper team once more that the radio is for work-related matters,” Evelyn jumped on. “Unless you’re all done for the day already and need some more tasks to be assigned to you?”
The radio waves went silent at Evelyn’s threat. I had a sneaking feeling that the conversation was still continuing on in the group chat though.
I decided I didn't want to be around when Finch returned from whatever sort of telling off she gave her little brother and headed off back to the Peacock. It was my fault. I should've been more discreet. I’d just gotten swept up in trying to learn everything there was to learn about being with a woman. But so far, Finch was teaching me to forget everything I’d learned and just focus on her. And God did I want to just focus on her.