Curious (The Finn Factor 1)

Tasha turned toward him, clinging to Jeremy’s hand. “Good morning, Senator. There’s coffee upstairs. You look like you could use it.”

“Thanks, but I need to talk to you first.” He glanced apologetically at Jeremy. “Alone, if that’s okay with you.”

Jeremy nodded, releasing Tasha and taking a step back. “Should I be expecting the entire family?” he asked carefully.

Stephen put his hand on Tasha’s shoulder as soon as she reached his side, as if he needed to assure himself she wasn’t going anywhere. “Seamus is getting his neighbor to watch the kids then he’ll be by.”

He hesitated, studying Jeremy with an inscrutable expression. “Owen had something he insisted he had to do. He wasn’t sure he would make it for breakfast.”

“Oh.” The message couldn’t be any clearer—the trouble might be over, but Owen was done with him.

A sharp knife couldn’t have cut more deeply.

Taking a shaky breath, Jeremy nodded. “I’ll leave you two alone then.”

“Jeremy wait.” Stephen sighed, rubbing the stubble on his jaw. “You should know… It’s been dealt with. Our problem. Lucky for us, Scott is a moron. Man didn’t even make copies. And what we had on him sealed the deal.”

“Good,” was all Jeremy could manage. He needed to get away from the Finns. He didn’t want them to see him like this.

“He’s not coming? I’m going to kill him,” Tasha exclaimed to Stephen as he set off down the shoreline.

Though he was genuinely appreciative of her outrage on his behalf, Jeremy kept walking, uncertain he could keep the pain from spilling out. The family descending on his house en mass was a gesture that almost moved him to tears. They knew, or most of them did, and they were still here.

They were still here.

How much of that was for Jen and how much of it was for him he wasn’t sure, but none of them had treated him with disrespect or disgust. Owen’s father had shaken his hand, for God’s sake. His mother had told him she was proud of him.

Owen was the Finn who was a no-show. His lover. His best friend. Owen was the one rejecting what they had. What they could have. Not his family. Him.

Will talk later.

He sat down on the dock and stared at the ripples the wind made on the water. Sunlight skimmed the surface and made it sparkle like diamonds, but the sight didn’t bring him the peace it usually did.

His heart had whiplash. As quickly and abruptly as their fling had started, it was over. He’d always known it would end, though, hadn’t he? Always known it was temporary.

The other shoe had finally fallen hard and all he could think about now was yesterday morning.

He should have woken Owen with the kind of kiss he loved. Should have taken him in his mouth and made him moan in pleasure. He should have touched him more and thanked him properly for breakfast. For making him realize that he wanted more. He wanted the kind of family and laughter and love that was currently taking over his house. He wanted someone to share his life with, and yes, he wanted a dog. Maybe even a child. Someday. Because he had a lot of love to give.

The problem was he couldn’t imagine doing that with anyone but Owen.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, lost in his personal suffering, but footsteps on the dock made him look up distractedly. He forced a smile. “Seamus. You made it.”

Stephen’s twin sat down beside him, knees bent and arms wrapped around his legs. His hair was a little longer and wavier than Stephen’s precision cut, and he wore a faded flannel over a washed out t-shirt instead of a suit and tie. Other than that and the scar that curved roguishly on Stephen’s chin, the two were identical.

Their personalities, however, were polar opposites.

“Mom has a plate waiting for you in the kitchen. She’s putting on a good show, but I can tell she’s starting to get a little worried. Are you ever planning on coming in again? It is your house.”

Jeremy shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m being rude, I know. I just needed a minute.”

“You’re being human,” Seamus told him. “It’s allowed, considering the bombshell that just dropped on all of us. My vote was for maiming, in case you were wondering. Torture and maiming. Sadly, Stephen shot me down. Apparently his constituents frown on that sort of thing.”

“I would’ve backed you up,” Jeremy said grimly. “I still will. It’s not too late.”

“It’s done. He knows better than to come near us again, and we all had a cathartic laugh when Jen sent him that picture. And then posted it on Instagram. She earned that, but now it’s time to move forward. If I were talking to my kids, I’d tell them there’s a lesson in this. More than one.”