by Anne Black
Our dinner consumed, I feel like I want to pass out. I might never eat again. Well, I'll eat, but it will be a strict vegetarian diet consisting of fresh vegetables, legumes and fruits because I'll need an angioplasty if I continue eating like this. The one piece of sinful chocolate cake we ordered was as big as my head. Chicago's new slogan: City of Big Guts.
Finn clears the plates from the table and asks if I want more wine. I walk over to the counter and pour my own and lean back watching him put the dishes in the dishwasher.
"The big man actually does his own dishes?" I ask with mock horror. "I thought you'd have a live-in maid for those things."
"For your information, my mother taught me right," Finn says, scraping the dinner detritus into the garbage. "We were expected to do chores growing up. I know my way around a washing machine, too."
"Will wonders never cease?" I say mockingly. "Who's included in this 'we' you speak of?"
"I have a brother and two sisters."
"Younger or older?"
"I'm the oldest. What about you, any siblings to torment?"
"Nope, I'm an only child."
"That sounds about right."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask with mock indignation.
"Nothing. You just come off a little stand-offish."
"That has nothing to do with being an only child and everything to do with being a woman in a field dominated by men who either don't believe I can do the job as well as them or don't want me to do the job as well as them because they're threatened by me." I put my wine glass on the counter and lean over. "Being an only child has its perks, you know. I never had to share, never had to compete for attention--"
Finn cuts me off. "Those aren't highly sought-after qualities, you know."
"Says who?"
"Dr. Phil."
"You watch Dr. Phil?"
"We have a lot of downtime and I don't control the television choices in the clubhouse. But I can tell you, the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. And someone who grew up not having to share usually isn't the best person to order dessert with."
"What are you insinuating?" I ask with a smile.
"I'm not insinuating anything. I'm stating for a fact that you ate three-quarters of that cake."
"You should have asked for it if that's what you wanted."
"I don't ask for things, I take what I want," Finn closes the dishwasher and leans across the island, taking my hands in his. He rubs slow circles on the back on my hands with his thumbs and my body responds like his fingers are elsewhere. He drops my hands and walks slowly around the island, leading me to the couch. With a touch of the remote, he switches the TV to music and lowers the lighting. He scrolls through a list and stops, the sounds of Mumford and Sons filling the room softly.
Finn stretches out next to me, his legs angled toward me, balanced on the coffee table, his arm thrown casually above me on the back of the couch. I tuck my legs up next to me, knees and body angled back toward him. I tuck a piece of my hair behind my ear and try not to stare at him. I look out at the view, now an expanse of city lights with a vast blackness in the distance.
"Come here, Katey," Finn beckons with a smile.
"Why don't you come over here?" I respond with a grin of my own.
Finn sits up and shifts towards me, closing the gap between us. His stare bores holes in my soul and I wonder for a moment if he can read my mind. I certainly hope not, because it would ruin me. He hesitates for one delicious moment of anticipation before he leans down and kisses me. My mind goes blank and I forget about everything in this moment. This is the only way I can do this -- to completely disassociate this "Finn" from the "Ryan" I'm investigating. My only concerns now are his hands, his lips, his body on mine. I'm not thinking about steroids or scandals or stories. I'm thinking about sex. And how I desperately need to feel Finn's skin on mine.
He runs his hand up the outside of my thigh, his mouth never leaving mine. I reach for the buttons on his shirt, quickly undoing them in succession until it's open and I can freely run my fingers over his chest. Our kisses increase hungrily, nipping at each other's lips and sliding our tongues into each other's mouths with urgency. Finn kisses a spot between my jawbone and my neck and I moan with pleasure.
And then his body is gone, I open my eyes to see why the spell has been broken and he's standing above me, holding his hand out to me.
"Come on, you haven't seen the view from the bedroom yet," he says huskily.
I grab his hand and let him lead me down the hall to a large room, dominated by the same floor-to-ceiling windows. A huge king-sized bed faces the bank of windows and he walks me over to it. A gray suede duvet covers the bed and I run my hand over it. "Looks exactly like the view from the other room," I say, standing at the edge of the bed.
"No, this one's slightly different," he says, standing in front of me, fingering the shoulder of my sundress. He reaches around me and expertly unzips the dress. I hesitate before letting the straps fall off my shoulder, the dress pooling at my feet. Finn takes a sharp breath in and looks appreciatively at the black lace lingerie. "This view is better."
He runs his hands down my arms and back up again and leans down to kiss my neck. Before I know what he's doing, he lifts me onto the edge of the bed and I lie back while he pulls his arms out of his shirt. Naked from the waist up, he settles on top of me, one hand exploring while he balances on the other arm. His palms travel from my hip to my breast and back again, teasing me. I wiggle under him, breathing hard and kissing his smooth jawline. He moves my bra straps down over my shoulders, pinning my arms to my side and turns the attention of his mouth down to my cleavage. My nipples harden in anticipation of what's to come and I arch my back in the hopes he'll take the hint. Instead, he kisses along the edge of my bra, his hand skimming lightly over my thighs.
I sit up and try to pull him closer, but my bra straps limit my movement. Finn reaches around and unhooks it, throwing it to the side at the sight of my breasts. He dips his head and kisses circles around one erect nipple, holding out on the one thing I must have. And suddenly, I feel a wet heat around my nipple and involuntarily shudder and moan my approval. He turns his attention to my other breast, which elicits the same reaction.
Not wanting him to stop, but needing to feel the length of him on me, I turn and push him down onto his back. I straddle his lap, giving him a view of my breasts before moving on top of him. I kiss him without coming up for air, aggressively. I don't know what's come over me, but I have to have him now. My skin is on fire in the spots we're connected and the spot between my legs is throbbing as I push against the bulge in his jeans. I reach down and unbuckle them and he helps by sliding them down and off. As I resettle on top of his lap, I realize he isn't wearing boxers. I smile into his mouth and continue kissing him when he flips me onto my back with one motion. Impressive move, I think.
He reaches down and massages me through the lace of my thong and I gasp with pleasure. I move my hips in time with his hand, moaning when he finds the rhythm my body craves. My hand finds his erection and strokes the length of it, which causes him to moan softly. I love that I have the ability to excite him, to turn him on like this. He pulls back and asks hungrily, "You OK with this? I need to grab a condom."
I nod. "Hurry up," I say.
"Trust me, I'm not hurrying anything about this," he says.
Finn slowly pulls my thong over my hips and down my legs, inch by inch. I think he's trying to torture me with pleasure. He runs his hands up the length of the inside of my leg, starting at my ankle and ending at the apex between my legs. I gasp and grab the duvet, bunching it in my fists as he traces slow figure-eights around and around, teasing me. "Finn, please, oh God, don't stop," the words escape me before I even know what I'm saying. He slides a finger down and into me and I groan.
As slowly as he slides it in, he smoothly moves his finger out, again and again. His thumb expertly finds the spot aching for his touch and I know I'm close to clim
axing. He rubs circles while plunging into me and I can feel myself building higher and faster, not caring about anything but making sure he doesn't stop touching my body and sustaining this feeling. His thumb hits just the right spot and I shudder, my back arching, my body reaching out for him. He moves his mouth to mine, kissing me with intensity. I respond hungrily, not sated by my orgasm but wanting more of him, every part of my body tingling in anticipation of what comes next.
He slides on top of me and hesitates just before entering me, pulling away from our kiss so he can look down at me. Our eyes meet, both of us flushed and ready for the next step. He bends to kiss me again before I hear the sounds of people in the hallway outside the bedroom. I freeze, stiffening and whisper, "Oh my God, there's someone out there!"
CHAPTER FOUR
Finn doesn't seem fazed about a potential intruder in his home and continues kissing me. "That's just Brady, my roommate, ignore him."
I push him off me and scoot backwards. "Brady? Brady Turner? Your roommate is Brady Turner?" My eyes are crazed and Finn just looks confused.
"Yes. What's the big deal? Come on, Katey, relax." He reaches out for my face, but I grab the duvet and cover myself. "It's not like he's going to throw the door open and ask what we're doing. Besides, it sounds like he has company of his own." I make out a high-pitched giggle through the door.
"The big deal is nobody is supposed to know about us," I hiss, trying to keep my voice low. "And now your roommate has brought someone else here, so now two people could see us together."
The mood broken, Finn rolls to the side of the bed and sighs. Apparently some higher power just doesn't doesn't want us to complete the act of actually having sex. Karma is the ultimate cock block.
I look around for my discarded clothing, trying to cover myself while I gather my things. I dress quickly with my back to him. When I turn around his bemused expression infuriates me. "What's so funny?" I snap.
"What's so funny is you trying to be all demure, hiding from me like I can't see you while you get dressed. Five minutes ago you weren't so shy."
I can't believe he is saying these things. Is nothing sacred? Everyone knows you don't revisit sexual behavior outside the moment.
"Five minutes ago, Brady Turner wasn't banging some groupie in the bedroom next door."
"Actually, it sounds like they're in the living room."
"Even better, now I'm stuck in here." I sit down on a brown leather bench at the base of Finn's bed in huff, crossing my arms.
"So now you're throwing a tantrum? I can't say I figured you for the type, Katey." I refuse to turn and look at him, but I hear him stand up and the sounds of jeans being pulled up over legs. He comes around to the front of the bed and bends down in front of me. "Hey, this is ridiculous. Come on. Brady's going to take her in his room and it'll be fine."
Finn runs his hands through his hair and sits down cross-legged in front of me. He looks frustrated, but I can understand seeing as we came about an inch from having sex a few minutes ago.
"I'm sorry," I say. "It was just surprising. I thought you lived here alone and when I heard the voices, I freaked out."
I reach out and cup his cheek with my hand. "Perfect timing, huh?"
"Spot on," he says, a small smile escaping.
I slide down and sit on his lap, our faces inches from one another.
"I thought you knew I had a roommate. Brady and I have the same agent, so he just hooked it up for me. I figured he would be out after the game tonight, but apparently he had other plans."
A quick glance at the clock on the bedside table shows it's after midnight and I really need to get home. "How long until they're out of here?" I ask.
"Brady kicks his visitors out before they can pass out in his bed. It shouldn't be long."
"Are they still in the living room?"
Finn gets up and holds his ear to the door. "I hear some moaning from that general direction, so I'm going with yes."
"Gross," I say, wrinkling my nose.
"Listen, why don't you stay here?"
I start to protest and Finn holds up his hands to ward off the verbal attack. "I swear, no expectations. You can borrow a T-shirt and boxers and sleep on your own side of the bed. We won't even speak if you don't want to."
I hesitate for a moment. "What about tomorrow morning? Brady will still be here. And I don't want to run into him in the bathroom."
"First, we have separate bathrooms. This isn't a dorm. Second, he sleeps until noon. Trust me, you will not run into Brady in the morning. He doesn't even know what a morning looks like."
Grudgingly I accept some clothes from him and head to the bathroom to change. Finn whispers through the door, "There's a new toothbrush in a package in the top drawer" and I smile. I wash the makeup off my face, staring at myself in the mirror. We went from almost having sex to a pajama party in mere minutes. This is one of the oddest first dates I've ever been on. Not to mention I'm not sure what either of these activities says about my career choices. On the one hand, I'm doing exactly what Nick told me to do and I'm getting close to Finn. On the other hand, getting close to Finn makes me realize I have feelings for him. And that's complicating everything.
My face freshly washed and with no makeup, I emerge from the bathroom shyly. I feel more exposed like this than I did when I was succumbing to him on his bed.
Finn is lying on the bed in a pair of gray boxers, the TV tuned to an episode of Game of Thrones. Some sort of ghost apparition is chasing a dude in a bearskin fur. "Do you watch?" he asks.
"I've seen a few episodes, but it's not really my thing," I say.
He throws the covers back and pats the bed next to him. "Come on, I'll explain it to you. It's only the most fantastic show on television." He pulls me toward him and tucks my shoulder under his arm and gives me the Cliff's Notes version of the show. I'm falling asleep when I hear him pause. "Katey? Are you listening?"
I feign sleep and Finn chuckles when I don't respond. He kisses me on the top of my head, pulling me a little closer to him. I throw my arm across his waist and do give in to sleep. I can figure everything out tomorrow. Right now I'm too exhausted to think about what all of this means.
CHAPTER FIVE
I wake up the next morning and sit bolt upright in an unfamiliar bed. Finn's bed. Oh God. Light leaks weakly through the edges of the blackout blinds as I take a moment to get my bearings. It's after nine and I'm alone in the room. Did he desert me? But then I hear the sounds of running water and use my excellent investigative reporting skills to deduce Finn's in the shower.
Lying back on the pillows, I sigh. I really need to get out of here. I fumble for the bedside lamp, turning it on so I can rummage around for my clothes on the floor. This is so cliche: I'm going to have to make the walk of shame back to my apartment. Well, actually, the cab drive of shame. But still. I pull my bra and underwear on and slide my sundress straps up over my shoulders. I can only imagine what my hair looks like right now.
The shower sounds cease and I wait a minute before Finn quietly cracks the door open and sees lights are on.
"Hey! You're up," he says with a big smile. A towel wrapped around his waist, I try unsuccessfully not to drink in the sight of his abs. "I didn't mean to wake you. Sorry."
"Please, I needed to get up anyway," I say, waving my hand dismissively. "But I need to freshen up a little before I head out."
"Of course, sure. I'm an idiot just hogging the bathroom like this. There's another bathroom down the hall toward the living room."
I scoot by him and grab my toothbrush from last night. The steamy bathroom is filled with the intoxicating scent of Finn's soap and he lathers his face with shaving cream while I try not to stare. As he draws the razor down the right side of his face, my knees go a little weak. There's just something about a man shaving that gets me every time. It's incredibly sexy.
"I'll just, uh, take this in the other bathroom then," I mutter. It takes every ounce of discipline I have to not pull the to
wel off him and take him right here on the bathroom floor.
Opening the door to Finn's room, I check to make sure Brady's door is closed and make a break for the powder room. Although I wonder if one can even call it a "powder room" in a condo inhabited by two dudes. And this particular bathroom especially defies that description with its espresso wood and hammered silver subway tile.
Shutting the door quietly behind me, I rummage through the drawers looking for toothpaste. I find it in the middle of the three drawers on the lefthand side of the vanity, but drop it and watch helplessly as it bounces off the bottom of the drawer and falls through the smallest of openings into the drawer below it. I couldn't recreate that if I tried. I sigh and open the bottom drawer, picking up the tube of Crest when I hear a sharp knock at the door. Startled, I quickly slam the drawer shut without thinking or moving my hand out of the way. I involuntarily yelp as pain radiates from my fingers while a disembodied voice asks if I'm OK from behind the door and I freeze. The voice isn't Finn's. He said Brady slept late! Why did I ever believe him?
I clear my throat. "Yep, thanks," I manage to croak. "Be out in a few minutes."
Sitting down on the closed toilet seat, I review my options. As I see it, I have two choices. I can either greet Brady like it's no big deal or I can try to disguise myself using hand towels and toilet paper to create some sort of burka.
I take a deep breath, stand and open the door, but find the hallway empty. I silently pledge to replicate whatever good deeds that resulted in this bit of karma and sprint to Finn's bedroom. I slam the door behind me and he looks up from his iPad, raising an eyebrow. "Is everything okay?"
"Brady knocked on the bathroom door while I was in there," I say, looking like an insane person with my wild eyes and hands waving around my head.
Finn checks his watch. "He's up already? That's highly unusual."
"It's also highly unusual for me to be in your guest bathroom. Guess it's one of those days, isn't it? Now, how do you propose I extricate myself from this situation?"
