Chapter Seventeen - Finn
Chapter Seventeen
FINN
PLEASE TELL ME WHY I agreed to this. Spending time with my family is not the highlight of my life, and I woke up angry this morning with the knowledge that I was about to spend the entire weekend with Oliver and Hayley Sheffield. I feel bad taking it out on Michaela but seeing her was also a reminder of what happened between us, and I cannot think about that. She is Josh’s little sister and he’d kill me if he knew what happened. But fuck, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind since. I thought I had myself under control after taking Wednesday off but seeing her walk in this morning in that outfit… Tight jeans. A white satin camisole. Tan blazer. Fuck . I was ready to bend her over that conference table and—
“Finn, it’s good to see you!” Uncle Jack knocks on the car window interrupting my thoughts. Thank God. I can’t be late to this party because of a hard-on thinking about Michaela.
Uncle Jack has always been the fun one between him and my dad. Looking for a good time? Call Uncle Jack. Looking to score some goods? Uncle Jack is your man. Need to get away? Uncle Jack can help you do that, no questions asked. He’s the only one who knows how bad it has gotten between me and Dad in the past. We always tried to keep it hidden behind the red door of the Bridgeport mansion, but some things were just too dark to hide.
“You didn’t need help getting settled?” He asks when I step out of the car.
“Not this time.” I shake his hand before he pulls me into a tight embrace with a quick pat on the back. “Nina’s been helping me out.”
“Villa?”
“Villa-Davis,” I corrected.
“Ah, yes. The one Davis boy scored big.”
“I don’t think he sees it that way. If anything, he keeps her in line.”
“Good, she needs it.” We laugh before he drapes an arm around my shoulders pulling me towards the house. “So, what’s got you hanging out in the city with Davina for this long?”
“Working on something. I’m thinking about moving permanently, kinda like it more than I thought.”
“You mean you like that it keeps you away from Oliver.”
“Something like that.”
“Kind of ironic since this weekend is all about him.”
I couldn’t agree more. This weekend is supposed to be all about Dad as he celebrates the big 6-0. If it had been up to me, I would’ve skipped the festivities and stayed in New York to finish planning the event happening on Sunday. But, I knew if I didn’t show my face for at least some of the weekend, I’d be in deep shit. Besides, Michaela would be better suited for the party planning anyway…
"How are things going?" Mom asked last week — the simple question was the real reason for her phone call. She had spent the ten minutes prior pretending to care about what I had to say, and she'd grown tired of the niceties. She wanted to know what was going on in New York and when I was coming home. The answer to that last part... I'm not. She didn’t have to know that, not yet. Bridgeport isn't home to me, and I'd be happy to never go back again.
"Things are fine." Except for the fact that I’m putting together a nonprofit. I don't think that's what my father had in mind for my life.
"Will you be ready for the board?”
"If Michaela gets her shit together, yes."
“Michaela Davis? Josh's little sister? I thought Davina was helping you."
"She put Michaela on the project."
"She pushed you off on some assistant? How could she do that? You should be her main–"
"Nina has a lot going on, and Michaela isn't an assistant, anymore. She's been running the New York office."
"You just said–"
"She's fine," the statement came out a little harsher than I meant it to. "She and I have different work methods, but we're...figuring it out. That's all I meant."
"As long as she knows what's at risk."
"That's none of her concern."
“Finn, please tell me you understand what’s at stake here. I don’t want this to be another one of your failed attempts to prove something.”
"I have to go, Mom," I huffed opening the heavy metal door to the gymnasium — the screeching sounds on the court echoing inside. "I'm meeting Colin."
"Colin MacFarlane? That boy from–"
"Yes, he’s in New York." Colin waved from the other side of the gym, a basketball under his arm. "Look, I have to go."
"Sure, honey. I'll see you next week for your father's birthday?"
I hung up without accepting the invitation as I reached Colin.
"Sheff, finally! Thought you were gonna bail.” It still surprises me every time I see him how much he's grown up from when we met fourteen years ago — I had just turned eighteen, and Colin was eleven. Colin's mom had enrolled him into the Big Brother, Big Sister program after his dad passed. She hoped it would bring him out of his shell. At first, he didn't seem interested. He would come to the meet-ups, and we'd chat a little, but it wasn't until he noticed my Iron Man key chain that he finally started to open up. Comic books were something his dad loved and they had bonded over them. Once I knew that, it was easy to get him to open up and we instantly clicked. But long gone was that little kid, only to be replaced by a six-foot-two Marine.
"I'm not even late," I chuckled tossing my gym bag on the bleachers.
"Well, after the beating you took last time–"
"You wish, Mac." From the corner of my eye, I saw him plant his feet. He thought I wasn’t paying attention, too preoccupied mentally preparing for our game, but his smirk fell from his lips when I caught the ball without blinking.
"You never let me have any fun," he chuckled.
“I guess it just comes naturally.” I tossed the ball back to him and pulled my hoodie over my head so we could get started.
My phone buzzes once, twice, three times in my pocket. Then again. There are only two people who text like that. I have a feeling I know who this is. Pulling it out of my pocket, my suspicions are confirmed. “Will you excuse me for a second? I need to take this,” I say to Uncle Jack.
“Best I can do is five minutes,” Uncle Jack chuckles opening the front door.
“I’ll take what I can get.”
The group text between myself, Nina, and Michaela continues to buzz with each message Michaela sends. This could have been an email, but apparently, she thought sending photos and instructions from Sasha was urgent enough to be a continuous text chain. Another one comes through detailing how the kids are supposed to check in on Sunday, where they should go and who to speak with, what the different color wrist bands mean, and…
“For the love of God, Michaela, stop texting!” I look up to see Nick helping Nina out of the passenger seat, her phone pressed to her ear. She tells Michaela to put everything in a single email and send it over when she and Sasha are finished walking through the details. When she hangs up, she mumbles something in Italian, only for Nick to hear.
“That’s your friend,” Nick snickers.
“That’s your cousin.”
“She’s got you there, Davis,” I say as they reach the front steps. We shake hands before I pull Nina into a quick hug. “I’m so glad you guys are here.”
“I’m not,” Nick says. “I voted to skip out, but someone said we had to be social.”
“I did too, but Mom vetoed me.”
“She wouldn’t let you skip to finish the getting ready for Sunday?”
“She’s letting me leave Saturday night, so I can be back in time for Sunday.”
“So, Michaela…”
“Will be fine,” I interrupt him. “Sasha can handle anything that may need attention with the event, I already spoke with her.”
“Sorry to interrupt,” Uncle Jack opens the front door, “but, you guys are the last to arrive and your father is wondering where you are.”
“And, so it begins,” I murmur earning a pitiful smile from everyone.