Untold

by Shannon Richard

  “Me too.”

  “Perfect.” Grace nodded. “And if we can’t find anything in our closets, maybe a trip up to Tallahassee will need to be booked.”

  “Agreed.” Everyone nodded.

  “Yeah, agreed,” Brie said as she downed more of her water.

  She’d only been half listening to the conversation, her mind still reeling from that ridiculous marriage thought…and the image she’d gotten in her head of walking down the aisle of St. Sebastian’s, Finn at the altar wearing a tux.

  Yeah, she’d definitely had way too much to drink.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Surprise Yourself

  The Sleepy Sheep was pretty busy that Saturday night. There were three bartenders behind the bar: Finn, Shep, and Reggie. All of them were keeping up a constant pace of refilling drinks and clearing away the empty ones.

  But even with how busy they were, Finn was aware of every single person who walked through that front door. Why? Because he was waiting for Brie.

  He thought about another night when he’d watched that door like a hawk, the second night she’d been in Mirabelle, the night she’d come back to get a drink and see him. Unlike that night he knew she’d be walking through that door…knew he’d be going home with her.

  Home, to his house. They hadn’t spent much time there that week, but they’d been there enough for him to realize just how much he liked her there. An image from the other day popped into his head, one of Brie asleep in his bed, hair spread across the pillow. Then he saw her the following morning, standing by the windows as the sun rose over the water, a steaming cup of coffee in her hands, wearing nothing besides one of his T-shirts. And then them in the shower, steam billowing around them as he moved inside of her.

  Yeah, he really liked her in his house and he was looking forward to sleeping in with her the following morning. Looking forward to lingering over coffee before making breakfast together.

  Very much looking forward to it. Not all that surprising as he enjoyed every minute he spent with her.

  “How’s it going?” Shep asked as he moved into the space text to Finn, helping him stack clean glasses.

  “Fine. Just trying to keep up with everyone.”

  “Not what I was talking about. I meant with Brie.”

  Finn paused in his cup stacking for a moment. “It’s good. Really good. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m going to cut back on taking shifts here for a bit.”

  “How long is a bit?”

  Finn took a deep breath before he turned to his brother. “For the next month or two.”

  “Or for as long as Brie is in town?”

  “Yeah.” Finn returned his attention back to the glasses.

  “OK.” There was a moment of silence before Shep spoke again. “You know, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you like this.”

  “Like what?”

  “Happy.”

  Finn looked over at his brother in surprise. “I’ve been happy.”

  “Hmm.” Shep shook his head. “Not like that you haven’t. And it’s more than the look of happiness a man gets when he’s having regular sex. It’s the look a man gets when he’s having regular sex with a woman he cares about. Cares a lot about.”

  “I like her.”

  “I’ve seen that. Up close and personal. Our friends over there haven’t.” Shep tilted his head to the side of the bar where Brendan, Jax, Bennett, Liam, and Tripp sat. “You know everyone is going to be watching the two of you tonight like you’re a tiger exhibit at the zoo. Girls included.”

  “Oh, of that I have no doubt.” That was the norm when it came to anyone in their group seeing someone. The new person always had to be vetted and approved of if they were going to be sticking around.

  But Brie wasn’t sticking around. A fact that Finn was ignoring more and more as the days went by.

  “It’s going to be an entertaining night,” Shep said as the front door opened and the group of girls in question all trailed in.

  Brie was right there in the middle, looking beyond beautiful in a pair of jeans and her black leather jacket. Her cheeks were slightly pink, perhaps a result of alcohol or the cold air outside, or both. She was too far away for him to see her eyes, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were gold.

  “A really entertaining night.” Shep clapped his hand down on Finn’s shoulder before he moved off.

  * * *

  Brie stopped walking as all of the girls headed off for a group of empty tables in the corner. The reason she stopped walking? Because Finn’s eyes had met hers and she forgot how to walk.

  OK, maybe she didn’t forget how to walk. She just chose to stop because he was walking across the room to her and she wanted a moment with him. A moment with him surrounded by a room of people. All of her doubts and worries and concerning thoughts from the evening were suddenly gone. He made everything else disappear.

  How long was it until they got to leave again?

  “Hi.” He didn’t hesitate for a second, lifting his hand to the back of her head and pulling her in for a kiss.

  “Hi,” she whispered against his lips.

  “The girls all treating you well?”

  Brie turned to look at the group to which Finn was referring. They were all standing around the table, watching them. But the second she looked over they started moving again, pulling their gaze and sitting down.

  “Safe to say all of them know what’s going on?” he asked as he reached up and pushed a strand of her hair back and behind her ear.

  “You might’ve come up in conversation.”

  He laughed, the sound of it rich and real, warming her up from the inside out. Then again, he always made her feel warm.

  “On a scale of one to ten, how drunk are you right now?”

  “One being I’ve only been drinking water, and ten being I’m about to black out?”

  “That’s a good rating,” he said with a nod.

  “I’m about a five. Five and a half. Those ladies sure know how to drink their margaritas.”

  “They do indeed. But it looks like you’re keeping up.”

  “By the skin of my teeth.”

  He laughed again and it took everything in her not to push herself up against him. She wanted all of the warmth he could provide.

  “Come on.” He grabbed her hand, pulling it to his lips and placing a kiss on her knuckles before he turned and started leading her to the table where everyone was sitting and watching them with the biggest freaking smirks Brie had ever seen in her life.

  “Ladies, what would everyone like to drink?” Finn asked as he pulled the chair out for Brie and then pushed it back in when she sat,

  “How about something with more tequila?” Paige requested.

  “I can do that. And a cranberry and ginger ale for you?” he asked Beth.

  “You know it.”

  “I’ll be right back.” He squeezed Brie’s shoulders gently before he turned and headed back for the bar.

  “Well that was fascinating.” Mel’s smile got even bigger.

  “Beyond fascinating,” Grace agreed.

  Brie looked over her shoulder, too, watching as Finn walked away. As he went behind the counter her eyes went to the row of men who were all looking over at their table. She’d met—or seen—most of them at one point except for the two at the end with dark brown hair. Both were beyond attractive with a decent amount of scruff growing on their strong jaws, but Brie’s focus stayed on the one at the far end.

  “Holy shit,” she whispered.

  “What?” Meredith asked, and out of the corner of Brie’s eye she saw the woman turn and look, too.

  “That…that’s Liam James.”

  Brie loved music of all genres and decades, country music being one of them. Liam James had been around for years, Brie liking him when he was doing small concerts for less than two thousand audience goers. He was now selling out arena
s as the headliner for twenty thousand. He’d made it big a couple of years back with his hit song “Forever,” which just so happened to be one of Brie’s favorite songs ever.

  A collective laugh moved around the table and Brie turned back to the women.

  “What?”

  “My one-night stand that ended in marriage?” Harper said, grinning. “Liam’s my husband.”

  “Holy. Shit.” Brie couldn’t help but repeat the words. Violet eyes and the lips of a goddess—she heard the lyrics in her head—I knew I’d want more than just one kiss. “The song ‘Forever’ is about you.”

  “It is.” She nodded.

  “My mind has just been sufficiently blown.”

  “Finn didn’t tell you about Liam?” Hannah asked. “Or that Liam’s brother, who we’re also friends with, and who Paige’s best friend is married to, is Logan James? Who plays for the Jacksonville Stampede?” She gestured to the TV behind them.

  “No.” She shook her head. Which was interesting as the second night she’d come to the bar they’d watched a Jacksonville Stampede game and he’d explained the rules of hockey. They’d also had on many games in the background while he helped her pack up stuff at Bethelda’s house.

  He didn’t use other people’s fame—fame of his friends—to impress people. That wasn’t exactly the usual. Most guys she’d dated would’ve totally used that as a pickup. But he’d just used all of his own natural charm.

  And damn did he have a lot of charm. Charm she really needed to distract herself from at the moment. Luckily for her there was a readily available topic, one that she was more than interested in.

  “OK.” Brie leaned over the table as she looked at Harper. “I’m going to need to hear this whole story from the beginning. I love that song and want to know as much as you’ll tell me about the conception of it.”

  “So there I was, sad, depressed, and alone,” Harper started. “When this weirdo with a neck tattoo that read Bubba walked up and started hitting on me…”

  Brie settled in, beyond excited as she listened to Harper and Liam’s story. Beyond happy that she was surrounded by a group of wonderful women who wanted her at that table. Beyond thrilled that Finn was just a few yards away from her.

  * * *

  The crowd at the Sleepy Sheep had started to lessen once the Stampede game finished. Shep said he could handle closing with Reggie if Finn would just drop Hannah off at the inn. It was close to eleven when Brie and Finn walked in the front door of his house. Well, he walked, Brie stumbled a little bit. He grabbed on to her waist, steadying her, and she turned to him, laughing as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  She wasn’t terribly drunk; the drinks she’d had at the Sheep had only bumped her up by a point. She’d been pretty diligent about keeping up with drinking water.

  “You keep catching me,” she whispered against his mouth.

  “I can’t very well let you fall.” He kissed her before he pulled back enough to look into her face. Something flickered in her gold eyes, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. “What?”

  “I just like you, that’s all.”

  “That’s all?” He grinned.

  “Mmm hmm. Now go let Frankie out”—she said of the dog who was now circling their legs—“so I can show you just how much I like you.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” He pulled away from her and headed back to the front door while she moved farther into the house.

  It was less than two minutes later when he and Frankie walked back inside to hear music playing from the living room. They headed down the hallway to find Brie dancing around the room. She’d taken off her shoes and socks and was now barefoot, her jacket on the sofa and her long hair swaying around her as she moved.

  “Come dance with me,” she said as she lifted her arms above her head, showing a strip of her stomach as her shirt rose up.

  Finn tossed his jacket next to Brie’s before he kicked off his boots and pulled off his socks. Then he crossed over to her, pulling her into his arms. They moved with each other easily, like they’d done this a thousand times. Maybe it was because they were just so used to each other’s bodies. Either way, it might’ve been the best foreplay of his life.

  The simple caress of her palm moving over his chest. How her hair wrapped around his forearm, tickling his skin. Then there was her mouth at his ear, slightly breathless. She laughed when he spun her in a circle before pulling her back against his chest. Her ass pressed into his erection as she continued to move her hips.

  He had no idea if they danced to one song or five. He stopped paying attention to the music, following her lead as they moved. Not caring about anything but her. When he reached his max he pulled her up into his arms and carried her upstairs to his bed.

  Brie let him take charge right up until the moment he was about to push inside of her. She shook her head. “I want to be on top.”

  A request he wasn’t going to deny, not for a second. He rolled them, holding on to her hips. Once she was straddling him she lifted up, wrapping her hand around his cock and lining him up with her entrance. Then she was slowly lowering herself down, hands on his chest as her entire body arched back.

  He watched her move over him, watched her breasts bounce, watched the flush that crept up her chest and her neck, darkening as she got closer and closer to her orgasm. He listened to her moans and cries of pleasure. Felt her body flex under his hands, felt her core pulse around his cock as she came.

  She was magnificent. She was everything…but she wasn’t his.

  * * *

  Sunday started off pretty low key with Brie and Finn sleeping in. She had a slight headache from all the drinking the night before, but nothing that a couple of Advil and a strong cup of coffee wouldn’t fix.

  After Mass with his family, they picked up Frankie and headed to the bungalow to have brunch with Lo. Once everyone had full bellies, it was time to tackle another project around the house. Brie decided that Sunday would be Bethelda’s closet.

  She tried to go through everything section by section. The unworn shoes—which comprised about half of the hundred or so boxes, all with price tags still on—were all taken to the office to be put on eBay. The used ones, which were also in pretty excellent condition, Brie donated to the Triple C. It was the same with the clothes, new or used; they were put in bags and loaded in Finn’s truck.

  That was until she got to the very back corner of the closet to find black garment bags hanging up. She only opened a few, finding dresses with sequins, taffeta, organza, silk, satin, and some truly eye-popping colors.

  “Leave these here,” she told Finn as he left with an armful of bags.

  She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and snapped a picture. She sent a group text to the girls saying: Jackpot. That is if you don’t mind wearing a dress of Bethelda’s.

  It was Paige who responded with, I think showing up in some of Bethelda’s dresses would be poetic justice in a way. Maybe that’s just me, though.

  Nope. I agree, Grace responded.

  Friday Fashion show @ Bethelda’s @ 6:30, Hannah typed out.

  Well, that’s going to be an interesting night, Mel said, sending a wineglass emoji.

  No doubt about that, Harper texted, adding about ten wineglass emojis.

  Don’t worry, I’ll be the sober one taking pictures of this drunk fashion show, Beth told the group.

  Perfect, Meredith said. I’ll bring pizza. Let me know topping requests.

  Brie felt eyes on her and looked up to find Finn in the doorway of the closet, leaning against the door frame and grinning.

  “What? What’s with that smile?”

  He pushed off the frame and crossed the few steps to her. “You smile and I can’t help but smile, too.”

  “The girls were just being funny.”

  “Oh were they?” He reached up to her chin, pushing up as he leaned down and kissed her. “And what were they being funny about?”

  “They’re coming over on Friday, f
or drinking and dress-trying-on for the dinner thing.”

  “Another night of you drinking with the girls. I’d say I’m more than a little jealous that they get your Friday night, but as I will no doubt benefit greatly once they leave, I’m not going to complain.”

  She put her hands on his chest, moving her palms up and out. “Are you saying you enjoyed last night?”

  “Very, very much.”

  “I did, too.” She stretched up for another kiss and he didn’t hesitate to give it to her.

  “You don’t stop that and we’re going to have to take a break so I can have you.”

  “Well as the closet is empty besides those dress bags, I’d say you deserve a break.”

  The sentence was barely out of her mouth before he was bending down and throwing her over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold.

  “Oh my gosh, Finn! I can walk.”

  “This is faster,” he said as he turned around and carried her to the air mattress in the den. And really, what was the point in arguing? There was something so beyond sexy about the ease with which the man could pick her up and carry her off to whatever flat surface he wanted to take her on.

  No point in arguing at all.

  * * *

  The week that followed was fairly similar to the previous week. Brie would wake up next to Finn (either in her bed or his), they’d have breakfast with Lo and Frankie (always at the bungalow), Brie would work on her thesis until lunch with Finn, and then when he left she’d work on clearing something out.

  One thing that did change was what she was clearing out. There were few things left in that house that were what she’d deemed “extra” or “trivial.” And she didn’t use the word trivial lightly; it was just that she really didn’t believe she was going to discover anything from her past in Bethelda’s bear collection. Which had also all been packed up and sold on eBay.

  And yes, just about every buyer had a bear-themed name: BreakingTheSoundBearer, BearNecessities, BadNewsBears13, ConanTheBarBearian, BearFootMama69, GrandeBearista, ThreadBear72, and—Brie’s personal favorite—BearItAll, who believed that bears were not made to be clothed and should be naked as God intended.