Page 11 of A Hard Fit (Falling Hard #2)

Love

Walking on air, floating on cloud nine—all the happy meteorological metaphors applied to Finn Monday morning. He got to work early and went straight to Rory’s office, nearly running into them as they were coming out. Rory was even more stunning than Finn had been picturing all night, eyes rimmed with impossibly thick lashes, hair hanging over their forehead, begging to be brushed aside, and a sweet blush warming their cheeks.

Everything in him screamed to grab Rory and never let go. “Hi,” he said, fingers twitching. He stole a glance down the empty hall before leaning in for a kiss.

Rory hauled Finn back into their office and offered another, more thorough, kiss.

“Our appointment’s not until two,” Finn mumbled around Rory’s lower lip. He had wasted no time emailing HR yesterday evening after Rory had left. “So I’m not sure yet, but I don’t think we’re supposed to do this at work.”

Rory’s fingers found Finn’s hair. “Well, until they tell us otherwise…”

Fuck, they tasted so good, and the way Rory melted under his hands drove Finn absolutely wild. In fact, it had been all he thought about since they hung up the phone last night. About three seconds after the HR email, he had texted Rory. I miss you, he said, and only had time for a flicker of nervousness that it was too much before Rory replied,

I miss you too.

Don’t text and drive, Finn admonished, heart singing.

Don’t text me then, silly. (I’m at a red light.)

Let me know when you get home, Finn said.

They did the whole cliché thing, talking until late in the night with phones on the pillow next to them. Never did Finn think he ever would have engaged in “you hang up, no, you hang up,” but there he was. And now, here he was, Rory perched on the edge of their desk, Finn’s tongue down their throat.

“Okay,” Finn gasped at the next oxygen break. “We’d better stop.”

“Right. Yes.” Rory straightened their shirt, short of breath. So cute how flustered they were.

“You want to grab dinner tonight?” Finn asked, smoothing their hair for them.

“Sure.” Rory hopped off the desk. “What were you thinking?”

“Takeout on my couch?”

“Sounds perfect.” Their eyes crinkled. “I packed an overnight bag.”

* * * *

When Finn finally tore himself away, he headed straight for Luka’s office. His brain and heart and nerves were alight. His cheeks were hot. A laugh nearly bubbled out of his throat, there, alone in the middle of the hallway. He got a weird look from one of the sales reps. Oh my God, Finn thought, fanning his face. This is…something.

He appeared in Luka’s doorway, smiling so big it hurt his face.

Luka grinned back. “And how was the rest of your weekend?”

“Good. So fucking good, Luka.” Finn collapsed into his chair, damn near ready to cry with happiness.

“Look at you,” Luka mused. “You’re…completely in love.”

Love . Was that the word? Fuck. Fuck . “Maybe,” he said, only because it was Luka. Anyone else would have gotten a denial.

“That’s great, Finn. I’m so happy for you two.”

“Thanks. We already made our appointment with HR.” Finn sighed, visions of Rory twisted in his bedsheets floating behind his eyes. “Rory is amazing. And the sex… God.”

Luka shook his head and laughed. “Congratulations.”

“Right? All weekend, man, like—”

Thomas strode in, his face a thundercloud. His scowl deepened when he saw Finn.

Finn did his best to tone down his grin, but couldn’t manage to erase it completely as he got to his feet. “Morning, Wolf. Did you get Morgan’s drunk ass home okay the other night?”

“Yes,” Thomas said, dumping his briefcase on his desk with considerable force.

The room was silent as they waited for Thomas to say more. He did not.

“Well, okay, then. See you guys later.” Finn shot Luka a look and eased out of the door. What the fuck happened there? He’d have to check in with Luka later. In the meantime…he tried to think of a good reason to wander in the direction of Rory’s office.

* * * *

Work. I need to do some actual work today , Finn scolded himself, logging into his laptop to face the barrage of emails that was no doubt waiting for him. He hadn’t checked his work email a single time since…since Rory.

And ‘barrage’ was fairly accurate. Markos had emailed four times over the weekend, plus two more that morning, and a few other emails from his Thrill Island and Sartini teams had piled up. He got to work, with only a few pauses here and there to look at the costumed selfie of him and Rory. And to send Rory a couple of texts. Okay, five texts.

They had arranged to have lunch together, of course, and it was heaven to step into the brisk November air, Rory’s hand in his. They had lunch at Montagu’s again, but this time, their legs wound together under the table, with Rory’s hand on his thigh.

Finn insisted on paying. Rory’s eyes glimmered as they tucked their wallet away. “Is this our first official date?” they asked with an adorable head tilt.

Finn leaned forward to give Rory a kiss. “Sure is.”

When Rory went to the washroom— damn , that ass though—Finn texted Luka.

Hey, everything okay with Thomas?

Luka replied right away. Yeah, why?

He seemed pissed off this morning. Did something happen with him and Morgan?

The next reply was short. Don’t know, none of my business.

It seemed Thomas wasn’t the only pissy one. Luka never missed an opportunity to bitch about Morgan. But if he didn’t want to talk about it…

All right, man. Good luck with your shoot tomorrow.

Thanks.

He forgot about Luka’s shortness when Rory slipped back into their chair and returned their hand to his thigh, sliding it a little higher than before and adding a squeeze for good measure.

“Maybe don’t do that in front of HR,” Finn rumbled, lifting Rory’s other hand to kiss their knuckles. “Otherwise, never stop.”

It was slightly awkward discussing their burgeoning relationship with the suits in Human Resources, but the training mostly consisted of several online modules and a stack of forms to sign. Finn didn’t mind if it meant he got to be with Rory. He’d do those courses and sign that paperwork every day for the rest of his life if he had to.

“Big day for us,” Rory said on their way out of the office. “First date, first pledge against sexual harassment… What’s next?”

Finn laughed. “First takeout? You like Chinese?”

Rory didn’t kiss him this time, but the smile was enough. “Sounds perfect.”

* * * *

Finn pulled Rory in after him, slamming the kitchen door shut while their bags cascaded to the ground. Their clothes followed on their way to Finn’s bedroom.

“Oh my God”—Finn ripped his shirt off then went for Rory’s—“I’ve been dreaming about undressing you all day.”

Rory’s gaze drifted over Finn’s shoulders and torso as they undid his belt. “Same.”

Fucking Rory only got better each time, as they each learned the other’s body, shared whispered requests and check-ins, sighs and moans noted and filed away for future use.

As Finn pressed inside Rory, the words ‘I love you’ gathered on his tongue, but he bit them back. Too early. Rory would think he was insane. So instead—“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, brushing his lips against Rory’s eyelids. “So beautiful.”

Rory said nothing, just kissed him again as their bodies moved together in the shadows.

* * * *

Finn handed Rory a pair of chopsticks and flopped next to them on the couch. “You know what dropped tonight?”

“Season three of Godstrike !” Rory squealed. “Do we dare?”

“We can’t stop now.” Finn picked up his plate. “Is Ophy back from the dead? Will the snake get its revenge? How many times will Colios’ wig change? We need to know!”

Rory laughed. “It can’t be any worse than season two, right?”

It was worse, but in a glorious, delicious, satisfying way. The producers had clearly listened to feedback, and had leaned right into the absurdity. The costumes were skimpier, the snake was bigger and Ophy was indeed back from the dead—something about how the wildebeest hooves had only made her stronger. It didn’t really matter.

They laughed and cheered, rolled their eyes and crunched on egg rolls, and it was the most perfect night of Finn’s life.

* * * *

They fell into an easy rhythm, cooking dinner at Finn’s house together most nights, watching an episode of Godstrike before giving each other a mind-blowing orgasm or two, then curling up for the night in a cocoon of bliss. But that wasn’t all—he still got to look forward to waking up with Rory, having breakfast with them and leaving for work hand in hand. Rory spent the odd night at their own place, to swap clothes, pick up a warmer winter coat, collect their mail and water their plants, et cetera. Finn missed them terribly when they weren’t there.

Work was better, too, getting to spend so much time with Rory on the Thrill Island project. It was fun seeing their vision become a reality. The park had closed for the season now, the remodel was underway and Finn’s attention had shifted to the marketing campaign. Markos’ emails were a little like his personality—sort of in his face, although friendly—but so far, all was on track.

The weird blip with Luka and Thomas seemed to have passed as well. Luka didn’t mention it again, and Finn was glad to see them back to Obviously Totally Into Each Other But in Denial About It territory. The four of them had lunch together one day, and the cuteness factor was through the roof.

Luka was telling them about their near-disaster commercial shoot in his dramatic Luka way—no heat in the building, the wrong furniture was delivered and there was some mix-up at the agency and half the extras didn’t show up.

“I was totally panicking,” Luka said, turning to beam at Thomas. “But Thomas kept it all together. He fully saved the day.”

“ We saved the day,” Thomas corrected. “You were right there with me.”

Luka’s smile only grew. “And they put us in the commercial, like we were on a date. Can you imagine!” His laugh was music. “Anyway, the whole thing ended up being a total triumph. I even convinced Thomas to eat some ice cream after in celebration, six-pack be damned.”

Finn shared a look with Rory. “Sounds like you two had a great time.”

Life continued on that way, until one mid-November night on the couch.

“So… Thanksgiving is coming up,” Rory said, once they had finished their salmon and rice.

The holiday was barely on Finn’s radar, since he had no family around to celebrate with. He’d had a few dinners with Luka over the years, but last year Luka had traveled to Andchester to see his parents, so Finn had ordered pizza and watched an action movie marathon by himself.

“My family does the whole thing on the Thursday,” Rory continued. “Dinner starts at one o’clock, everyone is there—aunts, uncles, cousins, everyone.” They fiddled with their napkin. “And, I mean, you’re totally invited, but…it might be a lot to meet my entire family at Thanksgiving for the first time, you know?”

To be honest, the idea of meeting Rory’s huge family even in small doses was terrifying. He was not good at families. “Yeah, no, that’s fine. That would be…a lot.”

“But why don’t we cook a Thanksgiving dinner for ourselves, too?” Rory said, sitting up excitedly. “On the Saturday. We could even invite Luka, if he’s available. Ooh, and Thomas! He doesn’t have any family here either. Or anyone else at the office who needs somewhere to go.”

“That’s a great idea.” Finn leaned over to give Rory a kiss. Phew . Family gathering avoided. He’d have to meet Rory’s family eventually, though. He’d sort of forgotten about that part.

He’d mostly forgotten about his own family too, aside from a few idle wonderings here and there about how Liz’s divorce was going. Then, a few nights later, his phone buzzed.

He stared at his sister’s name.

“Are you going to answer that?” Rory asked gently.

“No,” Finn said, thumb hovering over the answer button.

“I know things with her are shitty,” Rory said, rubbing Finn’s knee, “and it’s totally your choice. But I don’t think it’ll ever get better unless you talk to her.”

Finn took a deep breath and answered the call. “Hi, Liz.”

“Well, hello, baby brother. How are you?”

“I’m fine.” He studied Rory’s calm, encouraging face. “How are things with you?”

She let out a humorless chuckle. “They’re shit. They’re absolute shit, Finn.”

“Neil’s being a prick?”

“You wouldn’t believe. Him and the fucking lawyers.”

Rory squeezed his knee. Finn plunged on. “How are Cali and Bryson doing?”

“It’s been really hard on them, of course. All the mind games Neil is playing. That’s sort of why I’m calling, actually.”

Here it is. Of course. Every fucking time. Finn had tried to help her out where he could over the years, but he was tapped out. It never went well, and it was somehow always his fault. He rubbed his forehead, waiting for the latest ask. “And?”

She sighed. “And I was wondering if maybe they could come stay with you for Thanksgiving?”

Finn’s hand dropped to his lap. “What?”

“Neil took the good car, of course, that asshole. Doesn’t care that I have to get the kids around, too. And my car is a piece of shit, needs to go in the shop, so I can’t drive them to Oakport, but I could put them on a bus Wednesday and that way they—”

“You want to send them here ? To me ?”The kids hadn’t seen him for years now. He’d basically be a stranger to them. Who sends their kids on a bus to a person they don’t even know?

Rory’s brow pinched in concern.

“They need to get away from the chaos, Finn. They need a break. And I just need a few goddamn days to figure some shit out. I’ve been trying to pick up extra shifts, but we have a court date the Tuesday after and I’m drowning in all the legal BS.”

Finn’s jaw dropped. So she wanted a babysitter. “You…are unbelievable.”

She paused. “I thought you’d be happy to see your niece and nephew.”

Now Finn’s jaw clenched into a hard line, rage gathering in his chest. “Don’t you dare make this about guilting me, Liz.”

Her voice climbed. “I’m not trying to guilt you, Finn, for Christ’s sake, I—” She stopped. The distance between them yawned. “You know what? Forget it. I knew this was a bad idea. Happy Thanksgiving.” She hung up.

Finn put his phone down, limbs shaking.Once again, his fault.

Rory grasped Finn’s hands between theirs. “I’m sorry.”

Finn shook his head, thoughts a blur. “Don’t be sorry.”

“I’m proud of you for trying.” Rory climbed into Finn’s lap.

Finn wrapped them in his arms and held on tight, burying his nose in their neck. “She wanted me to have them here for Thanksgiving.”

“I heard.” Rory stroked his hair.

“I mean…I haven’t even seen them since I moved here! It’s absurd. They’re kids … I doubt Bryson would even remember me at all. And she’s going to put them on a bus to stay here? What the hell is wrong with her?”

“I know, babe,” Rory murmured. “It’s okay.” Finn’s scalp tingled under their fingers. “Just breathe.”

He inhaled deeply, centering himself in the weight and warmth and scent in his lap. Rory was an anchor and a lighthouse all at once, holding him down, lighting his way. His heart gradually calmed, and his next words came on an exhale. “I love you.”

There was no chance to hold them back, but he didn’t care.

Rory leaned away to meet Finn’s eyes. Theirs were wet, same as his. Rory brushed a tear off of Finn’s cheek. “I love you, too, Finn.”

Another tear fell. Finn stood and carried Rory into his bedroom.