Page 29 of Protecting Lainey (Broterhood Alliance #7)

She had to get out of there.

Lainey followed several people out to the parking lot. The cooler air evaporated the heat from her body. Heat not just from the bar but from Finn.

And that was the problem.

It wasn’t just that he kissed her. It was the way he held her. Like he did ten years ago. Ten years ago, before he broke her heart. Ten years of wondering why he left and why he never responded to her letters.

That was a yesterday problem.

Today’s problem was that he kissed her. And she let him. Worse, she kissed him back. And now every feeling she’d buried came rushing back.

She once believed they had a future together. Sure, she was going off to college. But people made long-distance romances work all the time. Maybe she was a fool for believing Finn would just follow her. Hell, she knew she was.

Finn never mentioned anything beyond high school. Never once said the word future.

Why not?

Did he think she’d wait around? Or was he always planning to disappear? Was their one night of lovemaking just a way to get his rocks off?

But that didn’t sound like Finn. He was never cruel. Not on purpose, anyway.

She reached her car, fumbled with the keys, and slid behind the wheel. Her heart was beating so loudly, for sure someone would hear it, think she was having a heart attack and call 911.

Lainey took a deep breath. Sitting here wasn’t helping.

She started the engine just as her phone buzzed in her purse. Autumn. Probably checking in. But she didn’t answer. Let it go to voicemail.

The drive home was short, giving her no time to ponder the evening. She pulled into her driveway, locked the car, and walked toward the front door.

Inside the house was quiet. Still.

She dropped her keys in the bowl by the door and exhaled. No need to check in on Luke. He was with her mother, who’d insisted Lainey go out and have some fun, dance a little.

And she had. It was fun being with the girls. She hadn’t danced in … a long time. Richard didn’t dance.

And now she was alone, standing in a silent house. Finn’s kiss still lingered on her lips, bittersweet. She closed her eyes, remembering the look in his. Want. Maybe lust. Maybe something more.

Love had gone out the window a long time ago.

Well, not entirely true. She often thought of him over the years. And how could she not when Luke was the spitting image of him? Same eyes. Same color hair. Same crooked smile when he was up to no good. A living reminder of a boy who loved her once and left.

Damn memories.

She crossed the room and poured herself a glass of wine. Brought it out to the back porch. Sat in the rocker. The lake was like black glass under the twinkling stars. The reflection of the condo lights rippled with each small wave.

Why did life have to be so complicated?

Sure, she worked hard, worked doubly hard to get her master’s degree so she could fuel her passion and provide a good life for Luke.

Outside of her short relationship with Richard, she’d been alone. Never dated. Never wanted to. Not when a part of her hoped Finn would come back.

He never did. Just another disappointment on a list she stopped keeping.

Tonight, though, Finn looked at her like she mattered. Like he remembered the girl he once swore he’d never stop loving.

And God help her, part of her wanted that.

But another part, the devil on her shoulder, laughed and whispered the truth.

W hen he finds out Luke is his son, he’ll never forgive you.

She tried to tell him. Wrote to his mother’s address again and again. Poured her heart out on paper. And for years, she’d lived with the silence.

It was clear now. He’d never gotten those letters.

And now she had to tell him. All over again.

Lainey downed the wine. Thought about another glass. Then said to hell with it.

Instead, she walked into the condo, locked the door, changed into her nightclothes, and crawled into bed.

Because all the wishes in the world couldn’t rewrite the past.

And tomorrow everything could change.