Chapter 24 Finn #2
His eyes dart nervously, but I’m already moving away, heading back inside before he even has a chance to say another word. He doesn’t follow me, which is good. This is Coyote Glen. I make sure it stays that way.
I walk back in to find Aurora watching me, brow furrowed in surprise.
I nod to the door. “He’s gone. He won’t be back.”
Her eyes flicker with relief. “Who was that?”
I take a step toward her. “Someone who won’t be bothering you anymore.”
She opens her mouth to protest, but I can see it, the way she’s trying to make sense of things that don’t need to make sense.
“Please don’t argue with me on this.” My voice is firm, and I don’t care that I sound intense. Not right now.
A beat of silence passes, and I watch her carefully, the way she’s still fighting to keep her walls up.
Finally, she nods.
“Thank you,” she says quietly.
I know she doesn’t want to need me. I know she’s not the kind of woman to rely on anyone. But right now, I’m here. And if she lets me, I’ll make damn sure no one touches her again.
The Hollow always sounds different when we’re closing.
Less laughter. More echo.
Chairs flip onto tables one by one. The register clicks shut. It’s the in-between hour where the place is ours again instead of public territory.
I’m wiping down the bar for the third time because apparently that’s who I am now. A man with feelings and a sanitizing rag.
Zane’s hauling the last of the trash toward the back door, movements efficient. He works hard, trying to sand down the day.
Ryder’s counting the till, posture straight, expression stoic. Every bill aligned. Every movement controlled. If he keeps everything in lines, nothing spills.
We’re quiet for a while.
Then I say it.
“She’s not staying.”
Neither of them looks up.
But I see it. The shift.
Zane sets the trash bag down slower than necessary. Ryder’s thumb drags once over the chain at his chest. That silver ring leash he pretends no one notices.
“She was never planning to,” Zane says.
“She’s passing through,” I add. “Ashes. Closure. Two weeks. That was the pitch. I know she’s been with us for longer than that already, but I still don’t think we can be sure she’ll stay.”
Ryder finishes stacking the bills before he answers.
“She hasn’t bought anything solid,” he says evenly. “She hasn’t changed her mailing address. Her car’s still packed like she could leave tomorrow. I guess we do need to consider that possibility.”
Zane leans against the back counter, arms folding.
“She doesn’t unpack,” he murmurs. “Ever, so maybe…”
“That doesn’t change anything,” I say.
Ryder finally looks up at me. “No?”
“No,” I repeat. “I didn’t plan to give a damn either. Then we moved her in and gave her a job, so she started repainting your walls and reorganizing my personality.”
Zane huffs a quiet laugh.
Ryder doesn’t smile. But his eyes aren’t as cold.
“If you love something,” Ryder says slowly, “you don’t make it a target.”
“Yeah,” I shoot back. “You’ve said that like six times.”
“And if she leaves,” he continues, ignoring me, “she’s exposed for nothing. She doesn’t plan on staying anywhere. This is a ‘finding herself’ journey. Aurora has been very clear about that. I don’t know if any of us can be enough to change that.”
Silence.
Because that’s the question.
I toss the rag down.
“Maybe we’re not,” I say. “Maybe she leaves. Maybe this blows up spectacularly. But I’m not pretending I don’t feel it just because it might end.”
Zane nods once. “Same.”
Ryder studies us as two reckless recruits.
“You’re both willing to build something with someone who might walk?”
“Yes,” Zane says without hesitation.
I shrug. “I’ve built nothing with people who walked anyway. At least this would be real. At least, it feels real to me. For all of us.”
Ryder’s jaw flexes. “We don’t fracture over this. We have enough drama of our own.”
“We’re not,” I reply. “But if we don’t deal with what’s happening soon, we might.”
“You slept with her,” he says to me.
“Yeah.”
“You did too,” I shoot at Zane.
Zane doesn’t deny it.
Ryder exhales through his nose. “Yeah, so did I. Even though I knew it’d make things complicated.”
“You bought a bar as a redemption arc,” I point out. “You love complicated.”
His eyes flash.
Zane pushes off the counter. “We need to finish this upstairs.”
Ryder grabs the cash box. I flick off the remaining lights, leaving the low amber beam we keep for atmosphere.
We head upstairs to the apartment.
Ryder sets the cash down on the kitchen table and turns to face us fully.
“If we do this,” he says, “we do it intentionally. No half commitments. No testing the waters while she thinks it’s solid ground.”
Zane nods. “Agreed.”
“And if she leaves?” Ryder asks.
Zane’s jaw tightens, but he answers. “Then she leaves. But she doesn’t leave wondering how we felt.”
I lean against the wall. “I’m not performing anymore. I’m not the fun option. I’m not the side quest.”
Ryder looks at me sharply.
“I want to be chosen,” I admit. “Not rotated.”
“You’re not disposable,” Zane says quietly.
It hits.
Ryder’s thumb presses against his silver ring again.
“She deserves clarity,” he says.
“She deserves choice,” Zane adds.
“She deserves all the information before she packs her car and disappears again,” I finish.
A beat.
Ryder nods once. “Then we tell her.”
The door creaks open.
All three of us turn as if we’ve been caught plotting a coup.
Aurora stands there. “…Why does this look like an intervention?”
I wince.
Ryder inhales once and straightens.
Zane rubs the back of his neck.
Aurora’s eyes narrow. “Why are you all up here? And why is Finn leaning like he’s about to deliver a monologue?”
Rude.
“We were closing,” Zane says gently.
“And?” she presses.
Ryder steps forward. “We were talking about you.”
She blinks. “I need everyone to stop doing that without me present.”
“Fair,” I say.
She looks between us. “Okay. Should I be bracing?”
Zane answers first. “No.”
Ryder answers second. “Yes.”
I grin. “Mixed messaging. Great start.”
Aurora exhales slowly. “What is this?”
“You don’t plan to stay,” Ryder says.
“I… I told you that,” she says carefully. “I’m not… settling. I’ve already been here longer than I planned.”
Zane nods. “We know.”
“And that doesn’t change how we feel,” I add.
Her gaze flicks to me.
Then to Ryder.
Then to Zane.
“You had a meeting,” she says faintly.
“Yes,” I reply. “Very official. No snacks.”
She presses her lips together.
Ryder continues. “If this is something we pursue, it’s not temporary in intention. Even if it ends.”
Her breath catches.
Zane steps closer, softer. “We’re not asking you to promise forever.”
“I’m not playing anymore, Aurora,” I say. “If you leave, that’ll suck. A lot. But I’d rather feel it than act like this is just convenient.”
“But… all of you?”
I offer her a one-shouldered shrug. “This is Coyote Glen. You know how it goes.”
Aurora steps fully into us with a playful glint in her eyes.
Her hand slides to my chest first. Then her other hand reaches back without looking and finds Zane’s wrist. Ryder is directly in front of her, close enough that the heat from him feels intense.
“I mean,” she says, “if this is happening… I don’t want to stand here talking about it like it’s a business merger.”
That does something to all three of us.
Ryder’s jaw tightens. “Aurora.”
“You want me,” she continues, gaze lifting to his. “All of you. Together.”
Zane steps closer behind her, near enough that her back brushes his chest when she shifts.
“Yes,” he says.
Her fingers curl slightly in my shirt.
“Then stop looking at me like I’m going to shatter.”