Finn (Breakaway Hockey #4)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Sammie

I blink once, twice.

Did Finn just say that he loves me?

There’s no way I heard that right.

Frowning, I ask, “You love me?”

The flames from the fire flicker in his green eyes as he nods and replies, “Yeah, Sammie, I do.”

“Like, as a friend, right?” I try to clarify, because there’s no way he means more than that.

He chuckles a little, then shakes his head. “No, I mean as more than a friend—much more.”

Wow.

While I try to process what Finn has just told me, he leans forward and wraps his arms around me.

I crawl into his lap and hold onto him.

I need a hug right now.

And from someone who freaking loves me.

That’s even better.

Finn loves me!

I keep saying it to myself.

Finn loves me.

Finn loves me.

Finn loves me.

And then I realize I haven’t told him I feel the same way.

Leaning back slightly, I place my hands on his chest and say softly, “I love you, too, Finn. I have for a while, but I never thought the time would come when I could tell you.”

“Well…” He laughs. “That time is apparently now.”

He’s smiling, and the amount of happiness in his eyes lifts me even further from the depths of my despair.

Maybe I am worthy of love?

And maybe the love I have to give is worth something?

With my hands still on his chest, I warn, “There is one thing, though. Finn.”

“What’s that?”

I blow out a breath, before I remind him, “I spent ten years beating myself up, so I’m not going to be fixed instantly. Healing doesn’t happen in a straight line. I’m sure I’ll have setbacks.”

“I know that,” he says quietly, nodding once.

I continue, “For the first time, though, I really want to try to heal and move forward. I want to do those things for you, Finn.”

“Not just for me,” he corrects. He moves one of my hands, holds it up to my chest, and taps my heart. “For you, too, Sammie.”

He’s right.

If I’m going to get better, it has to be for me too.

Nodding, I agree, “Okay.”

I place my head back on Finn’s shoulder and let him hold me some more.

And when we get tired, we stretch out on the floor and place our heads on the throw pillows from the sofa.

Finn pulls me in close, and I snuggle up to him, feeling safe in his arms.

With the fire still flickering behind his back and a sense of peace I’ve not known in I don’t know how long enveloping me, I close my eyes and fall asleep.

I awake with a start, fearing it was all a dream.

But it wasn’t.

I’m still in Finn’s arms.

I sigh and look up at him to find he’s awake too.

“Do you want to go upstairs to sleep?” he whispers.

The fire has long since died out, and the floor is kind of hard, even with a plushy rug, so I whisper back, “Yeah.”

“Okay.”

We get up and make our way to the stairs.

When we reach the top, we pass my bedroom without any hesitation and head straight to Finn’s room, where he turns on a lamp that’s on a nightstand.

He’s not given any indication that he expects more than for us to just go back to sleep, as we were.

But I want more.

I want him, and I want him in the way I haven’t had him in so long.

I don’t say a word, though, about what I want.

I want to show him.

First, though, I tell him I’m going to run to his bathroom. I’d like to brush my teeth, even if it is just with my finger since my toothbrush is in my bathroom, and wash my face.

After I take care of those things, I come back out.

Finn is standing by the bed in his boxer briefs, lowering the covers.

Wow, seeing him with so few clothes on is a sight. I’ve forgotten what an absolutely amazing body he has, so lean and strong. Or maybe I’ve just tried to make myself not focus on it.

Yeah, that’s probably the more accurate statement.

When Finn notices me staring at him and biting my lip, he misunderstands and says, “Um, I can put my shirt back on if you want. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

I wave my hand. “No, no, you’re fine.”

And is he ever.

“Uh, I’m going to run into the bathroom for a minute too,” he says.

It’s kind of cute.

He seems so nervous.

I nod. “All right.”

Once he’s out of the room, I quickly take off all my clothes. I fold and place everything on a chair by the door, then slide into bed, under the covers that I pull up to my neck.

I’m just in time, too, as Finn opens the bathroom door and steps back into the bedroom.

When he pulls back the covers to get in, he gasps, “Holy fuck, Sammie.”

Snickering, I say, “Are you going to get in here with me or not?”

He snorts. “Hell, what do you think?”

In a flash, he’s in the bed with me.

He reaches to turn off the lamp, but I say, “No, leave it on. I want to see.”

I roll halfway on top of him, my breasts pressing into his hard chest, and he moans, “Fuck, so do I.”

Snapping the waistband of his boxer briefs, I tell him, “These have to go.”

“You got it.”

He lifts up, and I roll off of him and onto my side. I then watch hungrily as he shimmies his boxers off and tosses them aside.

He’s already so fucking hard, so I reach over and start stroking him. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this again?” I ask.

He lifts his head and raises a brow. “You have? How long?”

“Forever,” I admit. “Since that night. I never stopped wanting you again, Finn,” I confess as I stroke him up and down, curving my palm over the head of his cock. “I fantasized about you so damn much.”

“Wow. I can’t believe it.” Leaning back his head and closing his eyes, he murmurs, “You’ve been the fucking star of my fantasies ever since that night.”

Smiling, I lean over and press my lips to his.

Suddenly, rolling me back on top of him in a straddling position, he replaces my hand with his and taunts my pussy with his cock, rubbing the head on my clit over and over until I’m gasping and groaning and calling out, “Finn!”

He keeps that up until I fall over the edge, with him holding me up with his free arm.

I’m ready to throw caution to the wind and just slide down onto him. I mean, we talked a long time ago about both of us having been given a clean sexual bill of health.

But I’m not on contraception.

Finn must be thinking the same thing, ’cause he holds me in place and says, “Hold on a minute. I have condoms in the nightstand.”

I move aside so he can reach down and grab one.

After slipping it on, he rolls on top of me and settles between my legs.

“Sammie, my beautiful Sammie.” He smoothes back my hair and kisses my forehead. “I love you so fucking much that it literally hurts sometimes.”

“Finn…” I swallow a lump that forms in my throat, knowing I really am loved by this man.

With his eyes meeting mine, he says in a serious tone, “I want us to be a couple, Sammie. This is not going to be a one-and-done thing like last time.”

I nod. “No, I agree. I want that too. I love you, Finn, with all of my heart. Even in the beginning, there was always something there. That’s why I agreed to be friends. I just couldn’t let you go.”

“So don’t, and I will never let you go either, babe.”

His lips crash down to mine, and our bodies become what our hearts and souls already are—joined.