Fighting Redemption(55)

Fin twisted and looked down at him. “Well … yeah. When else was I supposed to get it done? Is there some special decree that says you can only get a tattoo on a weekend or something?”

“Smartass.”

She winked at him and his heart tripped over. “Nerds are cool.”

“That’s hot,” Kyle announced. Ryan didn’t like the way he was looking at Fin like she was naked. “Show us.”

“You’re not getting your eyes on it,” Ryan told him.

Kyle smirked at Ryan. “You’ll show me, won’t you, Fin?”

“I will,” she replied, and Ryan’s entire body tightened, “if Ryan says it’s okay.”

“No,” Ryan replied without hesitation.

Kyle grinned at him. “Sharing is caring.”

Wine in hand, Jess sat down in a cross-legged position on the fluffy, cream rug. Tiny with black hair and blue eyes, Ryan remembered her from Fin’s party. She was an accountant and had been commiserating with Rachael about the lack of male eye candy in the office.

He’d mentioned that the Army recruited accountants and maybe they should try their luck there, laughing when both their mouths fell open.

“Really?” Jess had asked, her eyes narrowing as she searched for Fin through the crowd of people. “How come Fin never told us this?”

“Maybe because you’d have to move across the other side of the country,” he pointed out.

Jess excused herself at that point when someone called her name. “I’ll be back in a minute. Hold that conversation.”

“Not keen on getting off your ass and joining the Army, Rachael?” he teased as they watched Jess disappear into the crowd.

“And break a nail?”

He raised a brow sardonically. “That’s your priority?”

“No,” she’d said softly, her eyes on Fin. “My friends and family are.” Rachael turned and ran her eyes over him in his military uniform. “What’s your priority, Ryan?”

His eyes had immediately fallen to Fin, his stomach in knots at the thought of her leaving for Antarctica the next morning.



“Someone better get the barbecue started before I chew a hole in the couch,” Jess shouted over the conversation.

He was thankful they hadn’t gone anywhere. In the next few weeks, he was going to need Fin to be their priority when he left.

Ryan stood up, setting Fin on her feet. “I’ll do it.”

“No, it’s okay, Ryan. I organised the party.”

He pushed her towards the seat he just vacated. “No. Sit down, spend some time with your friends.”

As the guys vacated the room with him, he heard Laura say, “Well that got them out of the room, Jess. You can show us your tattoo now, Fin.”

Kyle spun around and Ryan reached behind him, grabbing a fistful of his shirt. “You go outside and start the barbecue,” he ordered, shoving him towards the direction of the back deck while he headed into the kitchen.

The four girls were laughing loud at something when he peered at them over the fridge door. “What am I cooking, baby?”

She looked up at him. “There should be some chicken and veggie kebabs in there on a platter and some steak I marinated this morning.”

He inspected the contents of the fridge, not seeing anything that resembled what she just said.

“It’s probably hidden behind all the beer,” she called out.

Crouching down, he shuffled a few bottles around. “Got it!” His hands full, he joined the guys on the back deck as Kyle lit the barbecue. Setting everything down on the nearby table, he took the beer that Monty held out. Twisting the cap off, he joined the circle as they saluted him with their bottles and wished him a happy birthday.

Ryan nodded as he stared at the ground. He didn’t want them to see his eyes burning because his best friend wasn’t there. It felt wrong getting older without Jake aging alongside him. Jake would never grow old, he would never have another birthday, he would simply stay twenty-seven forever. It made his stomach churn. Would the ache ever get easier to live with?

“Jesus,” Kyle breathed.

His head snapped up and followed Kyle’s line of sight to the group of girls inside. Fin’s dress was hiked up, her panties pushed down the side of her hip slightly as the girls crowded around for a closer look at the tattoo.

“Fuck me,” he heard Monty breathe beside him.

Ryan rapped on the glass French doors with his bottle of beer, and they all looked up.

Kyle cleared his throat. “Well. That’s one hell of a birthday present, Kendall,” he said, the girls laughing while Fin snapped her clothes back into place.

Ryan raised a brow. “And that’s as close as you’ll ever get to it, yeah?”

“Stand down, Kendall,” he replied with a grin. “I love you both like family.”

“Shut up, *, and check if the grill is hot enough yet.”

Kyle returned to the barbecue. With his beer in one hand, he used the other to scrape the stainless steel spatula over the hotplate.

“Have you told Fin yet?” Monty asked.

His chest tightened. “Not yet.”

Kyle looked over his shoulder at him, grief flashing briefly across his face. “You better do it soon. The next four weeks are gonna fly.”