Page 10 of Forever Finn
Finn clears his throat and straightens his spine. “Fuck you, Jesse,” he replies flippantly. “I’ve won awards for those.”
“Yeah, a Razzie maybe.” He grins.
“Ouch.” He smirks. “I feel sorry for Deak because you’re obviously a very hard man to please.”
“Actually”—Deak grins—“he’s very easy to please. There’s this thing I do with my tongue and he—”
“Quit bragging.” I roll my eyes, the banter among these three replacing my shock. “Like I don’t have to put up with this 24/7, may I remind you some of us are still single, please brag responsibly.”
Deak chuckles and shoots me a wink. “As if you’re going to settle down any time soon, you tart.”
“Tart?” My brows rise slowly. “You Brits are so weird.”
“But you love us, admit it.” Deak grins.
“Christ, what did I do to deserve this?” I lament as I turn my attention back to Finn.
“Wyatt, is it?” Finn steps forward, holding out his hand. “It’s uh… nice to meet you. I’m Finn.”
“Yeah, I know who you are.” That sentence seems loaded as I wrap my hand around his, feeling the sparks of electricity jolt through my skin at the contact. His gaze holds mine and there’s something in his eyes, a kind of pleading.
This is someone who’s still obviously deep in the closet, not really surprising given his career, but I’m not about to out him under any circumstances let alone in front of his friends. If he wants to pretend we’ve never met, then I’m not going to contradict him. I mean, we only made out before passing out drunk. It’s not like I fucked him senseless…
Fuck, now I’ve got that picture in my head my dick is giving an interested twitch. I immediately cut the thought off. As much as I’m attracted to him, this is not someone for me. Apart from the fact he’s a famous Hollywood actor who doesn’t even live around here, he’s also deeply closeted and has a girlfriend.
“I’ve seen your movies,” I add, watching as he relaxes a fraction.
“There you go, Finn.” Jesse slaps him on the back. “Someone has seen your movies. I guess there had to be one somewhere.”
“To be fair,” Deak adds. “He said he’d watched them, didn’t say he liked them.”
“I certainly don’t need to worry about my ego getting out of hand around you two.” Finn grimaces.
“This is nothing,” I tell him sympathetically, as I release his hand and step back, my skin still tingling. “They’re a nightmare together when they get going and sarcasm is their tous les jour.”
“Don’t I know it.” Finn rolls his eyes. “I thought they were bad enough as kids, but I see time has just honed their skills.”
I snort out a half laugh, knowing exactly what Jesse and Deak are like once they get going. “So, how do you guys know each other?”
“Finn grew up in the bay,” Deak answers for him. “He was best friends with my older brother Cody, and Jesse’s older brother Reed.”
Something flashes in Finn’s eyes at the mention of Deak’s brother Cody. I recognise the grief but there’s something else there, something I can’t quite parse, but it’s gone as quickly as it appeared, leaving me to wonder if I’d imagined it.
“So, are we going to lunch then?” Finn asks, changing the subject abruptly. “I’m starving, and I’d love to see Mel again.”
“Mum’s going to be so happy to see you.” Jesse grins. “Prepare to be babied to within an inch of your life.”
I watch as Finn smiles softly, and I find myself reluctantly fascinated by this man. It’s not the fact he’s a famous actor, it’s the tiny flickers of emotion that appear and disappear so quickly it’s almost like I can see his thoughts running over his face even if I can’t decipher them. I get that most celebrities are intensely private people, but there’s something about Finn, so many secrets. I imagine I could spend my entire life trying to pick apart this complex man and still not have him figured out.
“Hey, Wyatt.” Jesse waves his hand. “Earth to Wyatt, you checked out again.”
“Sorry.” I frown, shaking my head as he draws me from my thoughts. “What did you say?”
“I said are you coming to lunch with us, or do you still need to deal with Princess… wait, did she actually eat the toilet brush?” Jesse frowns.
“Oh, yeah.” I sigh heavily. “At least half of it. I’ve already dealt with her, and she’s sleeping it off in recovery. That’s of course after the dish cloths she ate last week, the clothes pegs the week before, and Mrs Bryant’s bra the week before that. Seriously, we should just book out a weekly spot for her.”
“I think it’s time we recommended her to a pet psychologist. This is getting a bit out of hand.” Jesse shakes his head.