Chapter Thirty-One - Finn
Chapter Thirty-One
FINN
“I GOT YOU SOMETHING.”
“Please don’t get me anything else,” Michaela begged as we walked into the condo after our date at the Met. “You’ve done too much already.”
It could never be too much. I wanted this to be different. I wanted to show her what it meant to be appreciated. I get the distinct feeling there weren’t a lot of nights like this in her relationship with Asshole. Besides, being a Sheffield has its advantages, and it doesn’t hurt to be able to make a sizeable donation to the museum when they’re looking to make some changes. What’s the old expression — money talks? “I had Paul make a spare for you,” I said passing her a key.
“You’re giving me a key?” She looked confused. “Why?”
“You’re always welcome here, Shortcake.”
“Finn, we’ve been dating less than two weeks.”
“And? I’ve known you for over a decade. If you wanted to kill me, you would’ve done it by now.”
“The jury is still out,” she joked and I rolled my eyes but pressed the key into her hand. She continued to stare at it for about five minutes before she finally shoved it inside her clutch and followed me to the bedroom. Despite my lack of sleep the past week, I suddenly found myself wide awake.
That first date was perfect, and so were the two others since then, but I’m still struggling with having to hide our relationship from Josh. Michaela wants to tell him in person, and I respect that, but sometimes it feels like she’s putting it off. She’s been waiting for him to come into town instead of inviting him to visit or making sure to see him before coming home from Bridgeport. I get it, sometimes schedules don’t align, but you’d think she would want to tell him about the divorce and start dropping hints that she is seeing someone new.
I don’t push, though. I can never understand what she’s going through, not really. When I broke up with Amanda it was much easier than I thought it would be — for me, anyway. This is going to sound terrible, but I’d grown tired of her. Don’t get me wrong, I used to love a good party, but she was addicted to it. Eventually, it turned into something more sinister. I tried to get her help, I did, but she didn’t want it. You can only lead a horse to water. It’s up to them to drink it. Amanda didn’t want anything to do with it. Everyone thought she was a good, wholesome girl — the girl I’d end up settling down with — and they were upset when I broke up with her after three years without an explanation. But, I knew they’d blame me for bringing her into our world, introducing her to this world of unlimited access with limited repercussions.
I blame myself too.
“Dude, get your head in the game!” Colin shouts towards Josh pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Okay, Wildcats,” I snicker shoving Colin back a step. “Take a breather.” I can’t blame him, we’ve been getting our asses handed to us every time Josh goes anywhere near the ball today. It’s pretty obvious something is on his mind, keeping him from being anywhere near the court and the other team is taking advantage of it. I’m curious what’s eating at him because I know what it’s not .
“Did you just make a High School Musical reference?” Knox looks appalled.
“Shut up,” I laugh pointing a finger at him.
“Don’t let him fool you,” Nick chuckles. “He was a secret Disney kid.”
“You’re one to talk, Mr. Call Me Maybe.”
Nick shrugs, “It’s catchy, sue me.”
“What is going on with you?” I ask Josh.
“Nothing,” he snaps.
I share a look with Nick who subtly shakes his head. Now is not the time to get into this, whatever this is. My watch dings, a message. Shortcake . The name appears and I quickly dismiss the notification. The last thing I need is for Josh to see his sister’s name in my notifications. I don’t even want to think of how to explain that when we’re not working together anymore, and he still thinks we hate each other.
“You got somewhere else to be?” Colin asks. I look up from the dramatic gif she had sent in response to meet four curious stares.
Thanks, Colin.
“You’ve been checking your phone a lot,” Josh adds with a knowing smirk. He knows me better than most and I’m sure he already has it figured out why I’ve been so preoccupied. The problem is, I don’t want to be the one to tell him the who. “Something you want to share with the class, Sheff?”
“Nope.” I offer a tight-lipped smile locking my phone.
“It’s my mom,” Knox says quickly. I’m grateful the kid is quick on his feet. “She’s wondering when I’ll be home since she got off early today.”
“You just said you could come to Benny’s with us,” Colin looks between us.
“Yeah, I can. He was confirming that with her.”
“Why didn’t she text you?” Colin motions towards Knox’s phone in his hands.
“I wasn’t answering,” Knox shrugs. “C’mon, we gonna finish the game or what?” He returns to the court and yells the same thing to the other team. I follow him, ignoring the questioning stares of my three best friends.