Like Gravity(65)

I detangled my hands from where they were wrapped around Finn’s neck and looked up into his eyes.

“Hey,” I said, smiling.

“You came,” he grinned back at me.

“I told you I would.”

“I know,” he shrugged. “I just figured you’d have found a way to talk yourself out of this by now.”

“Well, fine,” I huffed. “I’ll just leave if that’s what you were expecting,”

I tried to pull away from him. His arms, still wrapped around me from our kiss, didn’t buckle or even loosen as I struggled against his hold.

“Stop fighting me, princess,” Finn said, his voice low. “It’ll be a lot easier for both of us if you quit running away from this and inventing reasons to be mad at me.”

“I’m not running and I’m not inventing anything,” I snapped, even though I kind of was.

“Bee.”

“What.” I barked the word, staring at his chin so I wouldn’t have to see the look in his eyes.

“I’m happy you came.”

I sighed and, just like that, the anger I was trying so hard to hold onto slipped away. Anger was easy – I could deal with rage, or hate, or indifference. It was these new emotions, the ones I was too afraid to even put a name to, that I was struggling to cope with.

Lifting my eyes, I met his gaze, which was warm and full of amusement.

“This isn’t going to be easy, you know,” I told him.

He raised an eyebrow. “This?”

“Us,” I choked out, nearly stuttering over the word.

He smiled and the dimple in his right cheek popped out.

“The good things – the things that are really worth it – usually never are,” he replied, hooking one arm around my shoulder and steering us toward the bar. “Now let’s get a drink.”

“Or five,” I added under my breath, swallowing nervously.

Finn laughed and squeezed me a little tighter as he led me toward the stools where Lexi and Tyler were sitting.





Chapter Thirteen


Free Falling



Finn and Tyler were back on stage, whipping the crowd into a frenzied state as their second set of the night progressed. They’d spent their break laughing at the bar with Lexi and me, and – not that I’d ever admit it to Lexi – it had been so much fun I was actually looking forward to the possibility of double dates in the future.

After they left us to go perform, Lexi and I had claimed a small high-top table on the outskirts of the crowd where we had a prime vantage point for ogling the band and watching the writhing people on the dance floor. We were giggling at the sight of a stumbling-drunk couple sloppily making out against a thick ceiling support column, when Finn’s voice cut through the noise of the club and immediately caught my attention.

“Alright, alright, alright!” Finn yelled into the mic. “You guys enjoying the show?”

The crowd screamed their approval.

“We’re gonna slow it down a bit now, so bear with us. This next song is really important to me, ‘cause it says everything I never seem to be able to find the right words for.” Finn smiled as he looked out over the crowd, his eyes coming to rest on me. “This one goes out to my special girl – she knows who she is.” He winked at me.

There was a collective sigh from the females in the audience; it was obvious that 99.9% of them believed he was talking about them.

“And, actually, I’m gonna need her help to sing it,” Finn told the audience. “She’s probably going to kill me for doing this, so I’ll need your help getting her up here. Let’s give her some encouragement! Make some noise for BROOKLYN!” He held his arms out at his sides and waved them up and down, pumping up the crowd’s volume to an ear-splitting decibel.

“You call that loud?” Finn yelled into the mic.

The crowd roared even louder. This was unprecedented; never once in Apiphobic Treason’s history had they ever called someone from the audience up on stage.

“Come on, princess, get your ass up here!”

He was laughing into the microphone, undoubtedly amused by the look of murderous rage that was beaming from my eyes. I began vigorously shaking my head back and forth so he would understand that there was no way in hell I was getting up on that stage.

“He means you, dummy!” Lexi shoved at my arm. “Go!”

I looked at her in horror. “I’m not going up there! Whose side are you on?” I yelled, appalled.

“Finn’s!”

Traitor!

By this point the crowd had started to turn around, curious about the identity of Finn Chamber’s ‘special girl.’ Then, the chanting began – a slow-building crescendo of my name, called out in unison by the nearly three hundred people.

“BROOKLYN, BROOKLYN,” they chanted relentlessly, the room vibrating with the sound.

Whoever was working the stage lights located me in the crowd – Finn had probably tipped them off beforehand so they’d know exactly where I was standing – and I suddenly found myself illuminated on all sides by a spotlight.

Well, there goes my plan to escape unnoticed out the back door.

“Come on, princess, don’t be shy,” Finn’s voice teased, booming through the speakers at me.