Page 3 of The Moment Promised
My eyes meet his. I get lost in them and can’t look away, like catching the last glimpse of a rainbow hanging in the sky after a storm. His expression is serious, not even a hint of a shadow where his dimple hides.
I clear my throat, forcing my eyes anywhere but his.
“I think I’ll go shower.” I toss my thumb over my shoulder, toward the staircase that leads to a series of bedrooms and bathrooms.
He nods, and his lips straighten into a thin line.
I quickly spin around, face planting into the shoe rack. Mother fu?—
Someone laughs behind me, and I slowly turn my head toward Finn, who is biting his bottom lip to keep from laughing more.
“I will be going now.” I turn around, slowly this time, and walk up the stairs. I feel Finn’s penetrating gaze on my back, but I refuse to peek back at him.
I pass his parents’ room, the first on the left. Then Finn’s.
When I open the door to the guest room, I look around in confusion. “What the hell?” I whisper to no one.
“My parents turned it into a gym.”
My hand flies to my chest as I gasp, turning around to see Finn. How the hell did he get here so fast?
“Guess I’m sleeping on a treadmill tonight,” I say, as if my night of inconvenient events couldn’t get any worse.
“You’ll sleep in my bed,” he says casually.
The light from the guest r—gym—floods into the dim hallway, and I can finally really see Finn since running into him in the dark parking lot.
It’s only been five weeks, but he looks so much older. My eyes sweep over his hair. The brown strands are shorter on the sides and longer on the top of his head, like he’s found a new barber other than the one he’d been going to since he was a kid. He probably doesn’t even notice the difference between the two styles, but this one makes him look different. Like he’s a man instead of a boy. His gleaming eyes are finally visible in the light, and just as alluring as they were downstairs. His T-shirt is loose along his torso but tight around his shoulders, like he’s been working out.
My breath catches in my throat like it did earlier when he touched my knee. My childhood best friend is nowhere in sight. The man standing before me is…attractive.
I shake the thought loose from my head.It’s just Finn.I’m tired from working all day and in need of ahotshower.
I blink a few times, and realize Finn is waving his hand in my face.
“Hello. Earth to Adeline…”
“Sorry.” I blink again. “What did you say?”
“You’ll sleep in my bed,” he repeats himself with a bored expression, like he’s used to my daydreaming.
“Um, you know what, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to sleep on a treadmill…” I laugh awkwardly.
Finn stares at me like I have grown another head. “This is what you get for befriending the weird ones. Just go get a shower and meet me in my room.” He starts to walk away, but I burst.
“Wait! Won’t it be weird sleeping together?” I whisper-scream, like the act of us sleeping in the same bed is too dirty to discuss at full volume.
He turns around and stares at me head on, suddenly I can’t look into his eyes. “Why would that be weird? We’ve been sleeping in the same bed since we were kids?”
“Um, well I guess it’s not?—”
“Look, if you’re uncomfortable I can sleep on the floor or somethi?—”
“No!” I shout, cringing at the volume since his parents are sleeping down the hall. Finn’s my best friend, I’ve never seen him as anything but that. I’m being ridiculous.
“Um, okay.” And with that, he slowly turns around and disappears inside his room.
I lock myself in the guest bathroom and sink to the floor.