Fighting Redemption(56)

Ryan looked through the doors again at Fin. He hadn’t seen her this happy since … he couldn’t remember. “Soon,” he muttered.

“I need to ice this cake, girls,” he heard her call out as she stood. He frowned when she paused, her eyes going vacant for a moment.

“Fin?” Rachael called out.

She turned to look at Rachael, a distant smile on her face as she said something and waved her hand in casual dismissal.

Had she eaten anything at all today? Was not eating her way of controlling her grief? Maybe he needed to ask someone.

“Back in a minute,” he said and walked inside to where she was now standing in the kitchen, bowl in hand.

“Have you got some sort of inbuilt frosting beacon?” she teased.

His brows drew together. “You okay?”

Fin paused, the spatula hovering over the cake. “Of course.” She looked at him, her eyes wide. “Why?”

Ryan took a deep breath. “No reason.”

She dipped her finger into the frosting and held it out to him, her eyes closing when he leaned forward and licked it off.

He swallowed the sticky, sweet sugar, getting hard as he imagined licking it off her entire body. “Can we send everyone home yet?”

Fin laughed, the sound husky on her lips, and he grabbed her hips, yanking her towards him. “Soon.”

“Good,” he breathed against her mouth before he kissed her long and slow.





Fin turned the key in the ignition and Ryan’s car came to life with a deep, throaty growl. Pleasure shot through her body, fizzing her blood with excitement at the sound. Putting her hands on the steering wheel, she looked at Ryan, grinning as he opened the passenger door.

Ducking his head, he met her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m letting you do this.”

“It’s only a fifteen minute drive to Mum and Dad’s place,” Fin pointed out.

There was no way he was getting out of letting her drive this car. For a brief moment of joy, she was going to ignore the gas guzzling pollution and feel the brute force of Ryan’s car move beneath her touch. She rolled down the window, knowing the feel of the wind blowing carelessly through her hair would only heighten the experience. Fin returned her hands to their tight grip on the steering wheel and a light sweat of anticipation broke over her palms.

“You’re sure about me driving your car, right?” She didn’t know why she asked that. It didn’t matter because she was driving this car whether he was sure or not.

Ryan shook his head as he slid inside the car. “No. I’m not sure at all. I’m only letting you drive it on one condition.”

Her fingers tapped impatiently as she watched him shut his door. “This is the first time I’ve heard anything about a condition being attached. What is it?”

He grinned at her. “I’m not saying what it is. You just have to agree to it, and when I do eventually tell you, you’re not allowed to say no.”

“Alright,” she replied, knowing she’d agree to almost anything in that moment just to drive his car.

Ryan put his seatbelt on, her first attempt at an apple pie wobbling on his lap as he clicked it into place. Finished, he looked at her. “Remember when you first learned how to drive?”

Laughter bubbled out of her at the memory. Fin’s dad had sat in the passenger seat. His voice had taken on that scarily patient tone—the one where you just knew he was holding it together by the skin of his teeth. She would’ve preferred the shouting because the alternative made her more nervous. What made it worse was that Jake and Ryan were sitting in the back seat, Jake having insisted on getting front row tickets to her misery. Ryan had sat there, his lips suppressing a smile. Jake wasn’t so polite—he was already laughing before she even backed the car out of the driveway. How was she to know that the balance of the clutch and the acceleration pedal was an exact science? Dad and Jake, and even Ryan for that matter, made it look so effortless.

After Fin stalled her way across town, she made sure to do a lap around the car park at the beach where Jake and Ryan’s friends hung out. It had been a beautiful day—there were no clouds lining the sky and the heat of the sun burned hot and bright, making the beach a busy place that particular morning. She’d giggled as the car bunny hopped wildly around the entire length with Jake hunched over in the back, hiding as he begged Dad to make her stop.

“I’m not sure you’ve improved,” Ryan told her.

Fin arched her brow at the seriousness of his tone. “You’re not nervous are you?” she teased as he ran his fingers through his silky hair.

Ryan turned to look at her. The heated pink of the sunset reflected brightly in his dark eyes, and her breath caught at their beauty. “It’s not your driving I’m nervous about, baby.”

He was worried about seeing her parents, but he didn’t need to be. They didn’t deal with their own heartache by taking it out on others—not like his father. He was solely to blame for the tension making Ryan’s shoulders tight. “Ryan … I don’t know your dad, but I do know it’s possible to hate someone you’ve never met.”

“Don’t, Fin.” He reached out and grabbed her hand. Rather than the usual warmth, his touch was cold and damp. “Don’t hate. I don’t want that inside you.”