by Cala Riley
“What’s the rush? I’m not even eighteen.” I bite the inside of my lip.
“Do not question me, little girl. I want a wedding date set immediately.”
“But, Daddy—” I sigh. “—I don’t love him.”
“Love?” he scoffs. “What do you know about love?”
I take a deep breath and stand up straight. “I know I love Finley Abbot.”
He backhands me across the face before I can blink, catching me off guard. His hand tangles into my hair, and he jerks my head back, making me cry out in pain.
“You listen to me, little girl. You will forget about Finley Abbot,” he spits out, peppering my face with saliva. He jerks me by the hair again. “You will give up on the idea of love. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I whimper.
He leans in close and growls into my ear, “Love doesn’t exist for girls like you. You have one purpose and one purpose only. Do not let me down, or you and your brothers will pay.”
He tosses me back, making me fall to the floor. I bite my lip to stop from crying out, my mouth filling with the taste of copper. I watch him wipe his hands like he dirtied himself by touching me.
“By the end of next week, you will have a wedding date for me,” he calmly states before turning and walking out of my room.
I hate him.
I stand up and grab my phone off my desk.
Me: Can you come over?
Xavier: Sure, give me twenty.
I set my phone back down and head into my bathroom, wincing when I look into the mirror. My hair is disheveled, and a red handprint is easy to make out on my cheek.
“I fucking hate him,” I mumble to my reflection before making my way to the kitchen. I’m leaning against the kitchen island with a bag of lima beans on my cheek when Xavier comes in.
“Hey, sweetheart, what happened to your face?” His brow wrinkles with worry as he slowly approaches.
I drop the lima beans on the counter and rush into his arms. Xavier holds me tight, giving me the comfort I need.
He runs his thumb along the apple of my cheek. “Why do you have a handprint on your cheek, sweetheart?”
“My father stopped by.” I sigh before stepping out of his hold.
“Why would he hit you?” He sits down on a stool across from me.
“This”—I point at my cheek—“is because I told him I don’t love you and don’t want to get married at eighteen.”
Xavier breaks eye contact and rubs his face with his hands.
“My dad’s on me too, honestly.”
“But why? Why are they so adamant about this?”
“I don't know. I honestly don’t.” He taps the counter three times with his pointer finger. “Would it really be that bad though if we did it?” I go to respond, but he cuts me off. “Wait, hear me out. You're one of my best friends. I love you, I do, and I'm sure I could eventually fall in love with you. We could both do worse.”
“We could, but that's not the kind of love I want, especially when I know what that kind of love looks like,” I plead with him, hoping he understands.
“Finley.” He nods slightly, resigned.
“This has nothing to do with Fin.”
“Sweetheart, who are you trying to convince?” He sighs. “Look, you know I don’t want to get married anytime soon, if ever, but if it will stop shit like that—” He points at my cheek. “—from happening, I will gladly do it.”
“I love you too.” I smile weakly.
“Good, now come here. I need you to comfort me and my shattered ego.” He holds his arms open for me to fall into. I wrap my arms around his middle and rest my cheek on his pec.
“We’ll figure this out, I promise,” he murmurs against my hair before kissing the crown of my head.
“I know.”
A throat clears, breaking me and Xavier apart. I look over my shoulder and see Finley standing there looking uncomfortable.
“Hey, your brothers home yet?”
“No, not yet, but they should be soon.”
Xavier lets me go and pushes the bag of lima beans against my cheek.
“I’m going to head out and leave you two.” He raises his brow with a smirk.
“I’ll talk to you later.”
“Later, sweetheart.” On the way out, he stops next to Fin. “Have a wonderful holiday.”
“You too,” Fin mutters.
I hear the front door open and close.
“So, you and the pretty boy….”
As he approaches the counter, I walk around the island and throw the bag of lima beans back into the freezer before turning towards him. “We’re friends.” I shrug. Finley’s body suddenly goes taunt. “What? What's wrong?”
“Did he do that to you?” he asks, his voice eerily calm.
My hand flies up to my cheek. “No!”
“If it wasn’t him, then who was it? That’s fresh, Tinsley,” he growls.
I drop onto the stool next to him. “My dad stopped by.”
“Last I knew, you guys hadn’t talked to him since right before graduation,” he states, referring to his and Keaton’s graduation.
“The guys haven’t talked to him since then—” I bite my lip. “—but I still talk to him from time to time.”
“Tinsley,” he groans.
“What? He’s my dad!” I throw my hands up. “What was I supposed to do? Stop answering his calls? Could you imagine how that would have gone over?” I yell.
“Who the fuck cares! He hit you, Tinsley. How long has that been going on?”
“This was the first time.” I drop my head into my hands.
“Why? Why would he hit you?”
“He wants me to marry Xavier,” I murmur without looking up.
Finley laughs hard and loud.
“Glad to see my life amuses you,” I snap.
“Wait, you're serious?”
“Of course I’m serious!”
“Yeah, that's not going to happen.”
“As if you have a say in what happens!”
Finley leans towards me until he’s in my face. “Over my cold, dead body will you marry that pretty boy,” he growls before slamming his mouth onto mine.
It’s not a sweet, soft kiss like with Xavier but an all-consuming, body-on-fire kind of kiss. Finley pins me against the counter and threads his fingers through my hair. Breaking the kiss, he bites my bottom lip, making me moan. He releases my lip and kisses me softly.
“You will never marry him, understand?” he whispers against my lips.
My eyes flutter open. “I don’t want to.”
“I know. We’ll figure it out.” He kisses me once more before stepping away. “Your brothers will be here soon.”
“I should probably go cover this.” I wave at my face.
“They deserve to know, Tins.”
“I’ll tell them… just not tonight. Please.”
Fin sighs and nods. “Fine, go cover that before the guys get home. I’ll wait in the living room.” He turns and walks out before I can respond.
I ghost my fingers over my lips, still feeling his kiss. “Holy shit, Finley Abbot just kissed me!” I whisper to myself and do a little happy dance before dashing upstairs.
✽✽✽
Finley
I kissed Tinsley. I kissed Tinsley Yates.
It was everything and more.
Was I too rough?
“Ugh,” I groan.
“You okay over there, man?” Reed teases as he walks into the room, followed by Sage.
“Yeah, why wouldn't I be?” I sit up and avoid eye contact with both of them.
Can they tell Tinsley just blew my mind?
“It's been awhile. How have you been?” Sage asks before being pulled down into Reed’s lap. “I swear you get more possessive the longer we’re together,” she tells Reed before pushing his face away from hers.
“But you love me,” he murmurs against her neck before blowing a raspberry.
Sage squeals, “Yo
u dick!” making us all laugh.
Once everyone calms down, Reed looks at me. “Seriously, you’ve been pretty MIA since you graduated, you good?”
“I’m good, just busy.”
Keaton and Morgan walk in before Reed can probe any further.
“Look who it is!” Keaton yells before rushing over and jumping onto me.
“Yeah, go love on your boyfriend,” Morgan teases.
“I missed you. Did you miss me?” Keaton asks in a girly voice.
“Get off me, you idiot,” I deadpan.
“But… I thought you loved me too!” he says in outrage.
“You're so strange,” a soft voice says from the doorway. I see Tinsley standing there with her arms crossed, looking amused at her brother's antics.
Fuck she’s gorgeous. Don't get hard, Fin. Whatever you do, do not pop a boner right now.
Keaton scrambles off me and over to Morgan. “Well, that was fun.” He looks around the room. “Look at that, we’re all together again!”
“We’re missing V and Sterling,” Sage reminds him.
He waves away her comment. “Yeah, but it’s past Amethyst’s bedtime. They have my goddaughter on a schedule, and they don’t need to disrupt that for game night.”
“Your goddaughter?” Sage asks.
“Clearly, I’m the best option,” Keaton says airily.
“Are you high?” Sage questions before turning towards Reed. “Should we raid their bedrooms unannounced and look for drugs?”
Reed just shakes his head and looks at Keaton. “Stop antagonizing her. You know Amethyst is ours.”
“But where's the fun in that?” Keaton pouts.
I tune them out as I watch Tinsley walk into the room and sit between Morgan and me. She looks at me out of the corner of her eye and blushes, making me smirk.
“You’re kind of flushed. Are you feeling okay, Tins?” Sage asks.
“Yeah, it’s just kind of warm in here, that's all.”
“What bullshit game are we playing tonight?” Reed asks.
“For that comment, we’re playing Cards Against Humanity,” Sage says, making him groan.
“I fucking hate that game.” Reed groans.
“Why, because no one ever picks up what you lay down?” I tease, making everyone laugh and Reed flip me the bird.
Two hours go by in a blink of the eye, and Keaton is running off with Morgan to have some alone time before taking her back to her parents’ house.
“We’re going to bed,” Reed tells us while looking at Sage.
Sage rolls her eyes before turning to Tinsley. “Do you need help cleaning up before this caveman locks me away?”
“I’ll help her,” I offer, surprising all of us.
“You will?” Sage cocks her brow.
“I will.”
“Good, now let's go.” Reed stands and pulls Sage up, “Night, kids, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”
“Night,” Tinsley and I tell them in unison.
I gather up the cards, slipping them back into their box while Tinsley picks up the glasses and empty snack bowls.
I watch her gracefully move around the room with her back turned towards me. “My mom is bipolar,'' I blurt out, watching Tinsley pause before continuing on.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, sometimes she’s crazy high, like scrubbing the house from top to bottom, and I have to worry about her forgetting that she has something in the oven. Other days she’s insanely low and won’t get out of bed.” I pause, watching Tinsley for any reaction.
“I’m assuming she’s on medication that’s supposed to help balance her somewhere in the middle?” she questions, her back still to me.
“She is, but you never know if it will be enough.” I sigh. “This summer she was all over the place.”
Tinsley turns towards me, face full of confusion. “When you were gone this summer?”
“I wasn’t gone this summer.”
Tinsley sits down across from me. “Yes, you were. You missed Amethyst’s birth. You left immediately after graduation and returned right before school started. No one saw you and barely talked to you.”
“She was crazy low this summer. We had to put her on some new medication, and with my dad always gone, I had to be there to make sure she didn’t hurt herself. I’m the one who has to be there for her. To fix her.”
Tinsley tilts her head to the side. “No one knows, do they?”
I lean forward, grab her hand, and play with her fingers. “Only you.”
Tinsley squeezes my hand. “Thank you for telling me.”
“I know your secret, and now you know mine.”
“You know it won’t change anything if you tell them, right? They will love you the same. They will support you. You’re not alone in this.”
A rush of breath leaves my mouth. “I can’t burden them with my problems. I shouldn’t have even told you, but I had to give you something.”
She pulls me over to the couch, urging me to sit next to her. “You’re not a burden. Your problems are not a burden. We’re your family. That’s what family does.”
“You’re a good person, Tin. I’m not ready to tell them yet. Baby steps.”
She nods, cuddling into my side. “I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me.”
We sit like that in silence for a long while, and I savor every moment with her in my arms, the demons in my head quieting for once.
After she yawns for the third time, I quietly stand up, pulling her up with me. I walk her to her room and press a small kiss to the corner of her mouth before bidding her good night.
Heading back to my house that night, I realize I feel lighter than I ever have. For once, I’m not itching for a fight.
I don’t have to question what the change is.
Tinsley.
✽✽✽
Tinsley
Sitting in the hot tub in the backyard, I enjoy the night sky. The stars are bright tonight with the sky clear. This is my favorite thinking spot. Something about the night sky and the warm water helps me process my thoughts. I let the warm water relax my body. I’ve been growing more tense with each day that passes.
I haven’t seen or heard from Finley in two days.
Two entire days.
My heart aches at the tiny bit of hope that I found.
That kiss.
It set my world on fire. It’s what a kiss is supposed to be. It kicked my heart into overdrive and sent tingles to areas of my body only touched by my own hands—areas that beg to be touched by Finley’s.
I thought the kiss meant something. Him admitting one of his darkest secrets afterwards got my poor heart believing in something more.
Then radio silence.
I could text him first. I have a million times before, mostly stupid stuff to get his attention, but this time is different. I want him to reach out to me. For him to admit that he misses me.
That and I can’t handle any more rejection from him.
Letting out a heavy sigh, I bring my knees up to my chest and my chin on them just above the water.
“You’re thinking awfully hard there. Care to share with the class?”
I almost sink under the water at the sudden intrusion. Gasping, I turn around to find Finley standing a few feet away, looking as sexy as ever, his sandy blond hair messy as always. The dark jeans sitting low on his hips are matched with a plain black T-shirt. He makes simple look sexy as sin.
“Keaton’s not here,” I blurt out, mentally kicking myself.
His smirk deepens. “I know. I came to see you.”
My heart races as he makes his way closer, stopping to lean against the side of the hot tub.
“Me?” I whisper.
He nods slowly.
“You haven’t called or texted me in two days.” I cringe at how immature that sounds.
His eyes soften. “I know. I needed a minute to think.”
I bite my lower lip, my breath catching as his eyes follow the movement.
When his eyes meet mine, there’s something burning beneath them that I’ve never seen before. “Want to know what I needed to think about?”
Do I want to know? The simple answer is yes. The more complicated one? I’m not sure. What if it’s not what I want to hear? What if it is? Am I ready for that? Is he even really here, or is this a heat-induced mirage?
He doesn’t speak as my mind runs through its madness. Once it quiets, I meet his gaze.
“What did you need to think about?” My voice is barely a whisper.
“You. Me. Us.”
His simple words cause my heart to drop into overdrive. I want to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. Did Finley Abbot just say he needed to think about ‘us’?
“There’s an us?”
He nods, a smile spreading across his face. “Did you already forget that kiss we shared? Do I need to remind you?”
I barely bite back a “yes please.” Instead, I stay silent.
“Are you going to sit in there all night, or are you going to come talk to me?”
I narrow my eyes at him. I hate when he teases me. It always makes me feel like a kid.
“I’m fine right here. Say your piece. Better yet, get in, and then we can talk.” I’m feeling brave now that he admitted that there was an us.
Well, that and he brought up the kiss. I had myself convinced he’d pretend the kiss never happened.
He looks back to the house, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. Turning back to the hot tub, a whispered “Fuck it” can be heard as he undresses.
Once he’s down to his boxers, he makes his way to the hot tub’s steps. I gulp as my eyes wander his body.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Finley without a shirt. Hell, this isn’t even the first time I’ve seen him in his underwear. However, this is the first time I’ve seen him like this since that hot-as-fuck kiss we shared… since he admitted there is an us.
This is a game changer.
I openly let my eyes take in his body, roaming down him as he climbs into the hot tub next to me. Finley’s fit. He’s lean but fit, with well-defined shoulders and arms and abs for days that lead into the V that all women drool over.
Once he’s fully immersed in the water, his hand darts out, grabbing my arm to pull me into him. He kisses the corner of my mouth, like he did when he told me good night two nights ago.