Game(9)

He took his leather jacket off and tossed it over the back of a recliner. His arms filled out a black t-shirt way too nicely. He was thick with muscle everywhere, his left arm filled with tattoos that went down to his wrist. It was some kind of wild design with twists, turns, and loops. I suddenly pictured myself tracing the design with my finger. While I was naked. In bed with him.

He put the gun and the magazine on a table and went to the fireplace. Grabbing a piece of wood, he put it on the stone ledge in front of the fireplace. He took a small axe and lifted it up in the air. The defined cut of muscles and throbbing veins was enough to drive a decent woman to the naughtiest places in her mind. The axe came down and the wood shattered into two pieces.

Finn repeated the same thing two more times and then piled the wood in the fireplace. He grabbed some small sticks and put them in. Next he had a lighter and a minute later, there was a fire.

Just like that.

He stood and turned, facing me. That black t-shirt did nothing good for my eyes and body. His shoulders were as wide as the front of his pickup truck. When he made fists, his veins throbbed even more. His body had a monstrous look to it. But his face… he was a cocky *. His hair was slicked back with a steel cut, clean jaw. His eyes were dark and beady, the kind of eyes that would tell anyone to just keep walking. The kind of guy nobody’s parents wanted them to be with. That didn’t matter for me because I had no parents. I had nobody. Right now, the only person I had was him. Finn.

“Sit down,” he ordered.

I stepped to the couch and sat.

Finn blocked the fire and crossed his arms. He stared at me.

“What’s your plan?” he asked.

“What?”

“You heard me. You wanted out. You got out. Now what?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know, Finn. I didn’t plan that. It just happened.”

“Of all f*cking nights,” he said. “Of all people. You don’t realize what you just stepped into with me. You can sleep here tonight but then you’re gone tomorrow.”

“I have nowhere to go.”

“Not my problem.”

Wow. Nice. Thanks.

“Finn… he’ll find me and kill me.”

“Again, not my problem.”

“You’re an *.” I stood up and balled my right hand into a tight fist.

“Feel better?” he asked.

“No,” I said.

I started to move my fist and then Finn made his move. I should have known better than to mess with a fighter. Finn grabbed my fist and spun me around. His other hand went across my chest and he pulled me to his body. Christ, he was made of solid muscle. All solid muscle. All beautiful muscle.

His lips touched my ear. “For tonight, you can stay here. Tomorrow you need to have somewhere to go. That’s my final decision, sweetie. You don’t understand who I am or what I do. I have a really shitty day tomorrow. I’ll probably end up dead tomorrow. That’s the truth. I shouldn’t have been at that fight tonight. And then I got dragged into a fight because I looked at you. You did all this.”

“Blame me, fine,” I said. “I don’t care.”

“But I got my prize, right?” his voice purred into my ear. “My f*cking prize.”

Finn moved away from me. His back was to me as he reached for the gun. He put the clip back into it and had it fully loaded again. He tucked the gun into the back of his jeans.

He looked back at me. “You’re not one of them though. You don’t have the look or the accent. You were hiding there.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I have my own personal reasons, Finn. But you don’t care, remember?”

“That’s right. I don’t.”

He then walked toward a door and opened it. “That’s the only bedroom in the cabin. One bed.”

“Is that how you pick up women? Get them to sleep with you?”

Finn smirked. “You caught me.”

“Well, good try. I’ll take the couch.”

“You sure about that? Could be dangerous if we get attacked again.”

I looked back at the door. Then at Finn.

Shit. He was right.

I composed myself and walked toward him. I was just a foot away. “Fine. I’ll take the bed. You can sleep on the floor.”

“I have the gun now, sweetie. You’re not in control anymore.”

“So I’m sleeping on the floor?” I asked.

“In the bed, with me.”

“Not a chance.”

Finn smirked again.

Yeah, the smoothness may have gotten him places with other women, but for me, I was more attracted to the cuts and bruises on his face.

I reached up and touched the side of his head. “Doesn’t it hurt? To fight?”

“Hurts like hell,” he said. “You know what hurts worse?”

“What?”

“The fact that all those guys got to see your tits and I didn’t.”

“Oh?”

“I was behind you. I saw nothing.”

“Damn,” I said. “That’s too bad.”

I started to walk into the bedroom and Finn put his arm across the doorway, blocking me. “Too bad for yourself. Enjoy the couch.”

“Really?”