Surviving (Surrender 2)

Birthday Celebration

I wake up twisted in Declan’s arms and with a slight headache. When I try to get up quietly, the stupid mattress shifts under me which wakes him. I motion that I’m going to the bathroom, and he nods. I go ahead and change and put on light make-up so we can leave when we’re ready. Declan had a bag in his car with clean clothes, which made me question if he planned his sabotage last night.

I text Finn that we will be there to pick him up in an hour. After cleaning up as much as possible without waking anyone, Declan and I go to a small diner for breakfast. My brother meets us there.

“How was last night?” Robbie asks after we order.

“It was great until five brooding guys crashed the party.”

“I warned them, but lover boy over here, couldn’t be swayed.” He points to Declan.

“Didn’t like the idea of sleeping alone, even if it meant sleeping on that shitty air mattress.” Declan answers.

“Quick question, why was Gabe with y’all?”

Neither one of them answers me, but I don’t miss the look they give each other.

“Okay, if you won’t tell me, I’ll assume it has something to do with the way he was looking at Harper?”

Still no answer.

“Well, if you’re both going to stay mute, I’ll share something with you. If it did have something to do with Harper, and if he is interested, he needs to move fast. She has a date next week.”

“I’ll make sure to let him know.” Robbie tells me as our food arrives.

“And another tidbit of information, Kendall is dating a new guy that lives here. She invited him to The Steamroom tonight to meet us.”

They both nod their heads to me but can’t talk because they’re stuffing food in their mouths.

When we get to Finn’s place, Tripp answers the door and looks like we woke him up. I glance around the room and notice it’s not nearly as clean as when Finn lived here full-time. When we left for Paris and even when he stayed behind, he kept his portion of the rent, so he had a place to move back when he came home. I never really paid attention, but it seems he was the one who did the housekeeping.

Finn’s door opens, and I’m shocked to see a brunette walk out with hardly any clothes on. He’s right behind her, and when our eyes meet, he looks uncomfortable. Declan wraps his arms around me possessively.

“Baby Girl, you’re early. I was about to walk Sandy out.” He says.

“Mandy.” she corrects him.

“Huh?”

“My name is Mandy.”

I snicker into Declan’s arms and feel him laughing against me. Robbie doesn’t hide his amusement either.

“Whatever, let’s go.” Finn takes her elbow and guides her to the door.

“Really? I thought we would hang out today.” she whines.

Ugh! She sounds like a baby.

“Finn, we’ll wait for you in the kitchen while you walk your friend out.” I tell him and lead Declan to the other room.

“Who are you?” Mandy says before I can get out of the room.

The room goes still. I’m pretty sure it’s not customary to carry on a conversation while doing the walk of shame. But the way she asked me has four very protective guys on alert.

I don’t get a chance to answer her. Finn walks to the door and opens it. “Time to go Mandy. I’ve already got plans today.”

“What the fuck, I thought you were a gentleman. Throwing me out–”