Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
17
ORI
If being wrong about everything feels this damn good, sign me the fuck up, every time.
“Yes. Milkshake duty. I’m on it,” I told Dani the moment she told me where I was needed, giving her a warm smile.
No matter what I did today, I’d be floating on air.
It still didn’t feel real.
How could Finn want me? Truly want me, in the one way I thought would never be possible?
Maybe all along, I hadn’t been avoiding commitment—I’d just never met someone who could compare to the person who fully knew me.
The one person I’d run from, stupidly, trying to chase a hollow dream.
I might never feel like I fully deserved Finn.
But I’d do whatever it took to make sure he knew how much he meant to me.
He’d broken down the last of my walls today, ripping it right out of me.
I was scared. And I also knew I was going to do it anyway.
Finn had sat down at the counter across from me, which also happened to be conveniently close to Mary Ellen’s booth, behind him. As I made milkshake after milkshake, Finn started to help, taking them out to whoever ordered them, defaulting back to the job we’d both had working here as teenagers.
Every fucking time I looked at him I smiled.
Even when I wasn’t looking at him, I was smiling. I’d pick up a ticket of custom milkshakes and be smiling, even though a rush like this would usually mean a mountain of stress.
Dani noticed about half an hour later, giving me a sidelong glance as we both caught up on dishes.
“You’re weirding me out,” she said. “I need to go swap with Mom for Olivia duty soon, but you have to tell me what’s going on with you first.”
“I’m just having a good day,” I said. “Something has to be going on for me to be happy?”
“Did Thomas’ Miami friends offer you a free condo there or something?” Dani said.
“What? No. God, no.”
Dani turned to peek out of the kitchen door, looking over at Finn. I glanced at him, too, and saw him smiling at nothing, looking down at the counter and tracing his fingertips over the surface mindlessly.
“Okay, something is up,” Dani said.
“Hey, guys,” Thomas said, pushing past us carrying an empty tray. “Mary Ellen is asking for you both, by the way. Said you guys know how she likes her strawberries cut?”
I smiled. “I’ll come cut them the Mary Ellen way. Give me a sec.”
When we finished in the back a couple of minutes later, I made my way out to the front and found my dad and Finn standing next to one another, behind the counter.
I glanced over at Finn, looking down to find him with strawberries on a cutting board.
He was slicing them diagonally, just like Mary Ellen always wanted.
“Finn, are you…”
“Hey,” he said, looking up at me.
When our eyes met, I swore it felt like I’d just been away from him for weeks and we were reuniting.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this happy to be around someone. Anyone.
Holy hell, I’m in deep.
“You’re cutting those for her even though you don’t even work here?”
“Hey, Finn’s always allowed behind the counter here,” Dad said.
“Thought I’d help you get ahead, and I know how she likes ‘em cut,” Finn said, carefully slicing them even though he’d never been one to enjoy finicky, detailed cooking of any sort.
Without thinking, I leaned over and pressed a kiss to Finn’s lips.
Some part of my brain lagged behind, idly wondering if I shouldn’t have done it. But I couldn’t give a damn.
When I broke away from the kiss I leaned back, and Finn lifted an eyebrow at me.
Reality caught up slowly.
I turned to see Danielle, looking at me with wide eyes, as if I’d just turned into an alien right in front of her.
“Oh?” she said pointedly, stopping dead in her tracks even though Danielle usually was in perpetual motion around the diner.
“What is it?” Dad asked. He was so busy cooking a trio of grilled cheese sandwiches and a couple of burgers that he hadn’t even noticed.
When I looked at Thomas, he was grinning at me like a maniac.
“Ori, I swear to God,” Danielle said. “What’s going on with you two today?”
“I’m… I’m sort of in love with Finn,” I said.
“Hah,” Thomas said, clapping his hands together. “Knew it. Fucking knew it.”
Dad didn’t even look up from the grill. “Yes, kiddo. We all love Finn. Now get Mary Ellen those strawberries or she’s going to hop behind the counter.”
When I looked back at Finn he had the most serene expression I’d ever seen on his face.
He looked at me like I’d just hung the stars.
He leaned in, wrapping an arm around me, pressing a kiss to my lips with far more flourish than I had.
Dad noticed, this time.