Page 34 of Forever Finn

My gaze lingers on Garrett with his piercing blue eyes, his long dark shaggy hair liberally shot with grey, and that tough muscled build he earned legitimately from building giant ass sailboats. Damn the man is hot, I can’t deny it. Cody looked so much like his uncle that looking at Garrett now, it’s like getting a glimpse of what Cody would’ve looked like if his life hadn’t been cut so short.

The same old sharp flash of pain spears through me when I think of Cody, and I ruthlessly shove it down. I’m still not ready to face it, and I don’t think I ever will be.

“Hey! What the fuck’s up! Did you guys miss me?” a jovial voice bellows from the doorway, and I look across grateful for the distraction only to find Kyan Amos, bonafide Grammy winner and top five worlds sexiest man winner five years in a row standing with his arms raised like the second coming of Jesus and a huge grin on his face.

“Well, things just got a lot more interesting,” Reed says mildly as he takes a sip of his beer. “Things tend to get a bit wild when Kyan drops in to visit.”

“Does he do that often?” I eye the gorgeous rocker, trying not to be too obvious. “Just drop in I mean.”

“As often as his schedule allows.” Reed laughs. “When he’s on tour is the only time we’re safe.”

“Who’s that?” I ask curiously as Kyan moves aside revealing a beautiful slim man in an impeccable deep blue Tom Ford suit, his black hair spilling down his back in an inky waterfall to his hips as his almond shaped eyes take in the scene in the garden.

“JIN!” An enthusiastic voice calls from across the lawn, and I turn to see the cute red head in a bow tie skip across the garden and hug the slim Chinese man affectionately.

“Hello, cupcake.” The one called Jin smiles slowly as he releases him.

I just happen to glance across at Garrett in time to see his brow fold into a frown.

“What’s the story there?” I nod at Garrett.

“I see living in LA has fed your insatiable need for gossip.” Reed grins. “That’s Jin.” He nods in his direction. “He’s a famous paper artist.”

“Paper artist?” I blink in confusion.

“Just think giant arse origami and you’ll be close,” Reed explains. “I saw one of his shows in London, and his installations are incredible and so intricate for something so huge. He also does these incredible traditional Chinese watercolours. Nat’s got one of them, it’s beautiful.”

“Wow,” I mutter.

“Yeah.” Reed smiles. “Jin is very close to Deacon and Kyan and their other friend Damien. When Deak came back to the bay, they kind of followed him, well except for Damien, and although they’ve mentioned him a few times none of us have actually met him.”

“So what’s the deal with Jin and the red head?”

“Colin?” Reed sips his beer slowly. “Colin runs the local cupcake shop. He was always really quiet and shy until Nat arrived in the bay and took him under his wing. Then Ryan got them all drunk on his Bad Decision beer, and Kyan flew them all to Vegas for a weekend bender at which point, Deak and Jess ended up married and they all bonded. Jin more or less adopted Colin. Colin and Jin have been inseparable since.”

I glance back over to Garrett who is still scowling into his beer. “Does Garrett not approve?”

“Garrett?” Reed snorted. “I think it’s pretty obvious that Garrett has a thing for Colin… well everyone except maybe Colin.”

“I still can’t believe Garrett’s gay.” I blink slowly.

“Seriously?” Reed chuckles. “I’m straight and even I can tell Garrett has Daddy written all over him.”

“Hey you guys,” Deak calls over. “You coming over to eat or you going to stand and gossip like old ladies all day?”

“Is it safe?” I eyeball the plate of burgers he’s holding.

“Perfectly.” He grins. “But in the highly unlikely event of a medical emergency we’ve got Doc Reed on hand.”

“It’s my day off,” Reed deadpans.

“Sit.” Jesse waves us over. “You’re safe with all the side dishes if your tummy’s a bit delicate.”

“Fuck you very much.” I grin and flip him the bird.

“I don’t know.” Deak shakes his head as he turns back to the grill. “You’ll jump out of an exploding building but not try my lamb koftas?”

“In all fairness, Deak, that wasn’t actually me jumping out of those buildings, it was my stunt double.” I slide casually into the plastic seat next to Wyatt, itching to reach out and touch him.