I Never Let You Go (I Never 3)

I relaxed into his touch and hoped that my heart rate began to slow. I wanted to ask him why he hadn’t started with that when we got here, but I chose not to.

As we approached the gate, I noticed the lights on the field were on. Finn led us through the gate and out to the fifty-yard line. He set his backpack down and pulled a blanket out of it, laying it in front of us. He took a seat, spread his legs, and patted the spot in front of him for me to take a seat too.

Even with the Coach’s permission, I wearily looked around one last time before settling between his legs. He pulled me closer so that my back was flush against his front and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

I looked around and took in the peacefulness that the stadium held right now surrounding us. “Wow, this seriously is breathtaking out here.”

Finn ran his nose along my neck, breathing me in. “Yeah, it is.” The heaviness of his voice led me to believe he wasn’t talking about the scene around us. He placed a small kiss against my pulse point before resting his cheek against the top of my head. “You know, this may be where I come to life each week, but you make me feel more alive than I ever did on the football field.”

My breath stopped, and I gulped loudly. That might have just been the most romantic thing Finn had ever said to me. I was at a loss for words. I pulled back, resting the back of my head against his shoulder, and looked up at him the same time he looked down at me. Closing the distance, I locked my lips against his. The swipe of his tongue against the seam of my lips made me forget the world around us. I opened and lost myself in the kiss. I spun in his arms and linked my fingers around the back of his neck.

After a few more moments, he broke the kiss, both of us breathing heavily.

“As much as I want to continue doing that, I’m not sure I can keep my promise to Coach if we do. I might just take you right here.”

My cheeks warmed and my panties dampened at his words, but he was right. The last thing we needed was getting caught out here doing something we weren’t supposed to be doing. I settled back into his lap, and he leaned back on his hands. I rested my head against his chest and allowed the silence to take over.

It was a comfortable silence though, unlike the silence we felt at home since my dad left a few months ago. I stared up at the stars when Finn brushed a stray hair behind my ear.

“So how’s your mom holding up,” Finn asked as he continued to play with my hair.

My body tensed, but the feeling of having Finn this close eased me. “She’s okay. She’s getting by, I guess. It’s been tough.”

Finn sat up, wrapped his arm around me, and placed a kiss to my temple. My grip on his arms tightened. I looked up at him. “Promise me you won’t ever hurt me like that. If there’s a time when I’m not enough…”

Finn cut me off by placing his forefinger against my lips, stopping me from continuing. The tears blurred my vision.

“There will never be a time when you aren’t enough, Lo. Do you hear me? It’s you and me. We have our entire future ahead of us.” He linked our fingers together and pulled our joined hands to his lips.

I settled back into him. “I don’t care what the future holds as long as it’s with you.”

We stayed there a little longer, wrapped in each other’s arms, talking about our future—together.

Th

e sound of the front door slamming jolts me awake. I grab my head as I sit up groaning. When I finally open my eyes, my sister is standing there, arms crossed and a stern expression on her face. I sit up and place my head in my hands.

“And here I thought our brother’s wedding was the big party last night.”

“What are you doing here?” I groan at my sister while praying for the world to stop spinning.

I hear Kate walk toward the couch, and it dips beside me. “Well, when you disappeared, after that hot as hell dance with Finn, I was worried, but I figured I would find you here. What I didn’t expect to see was this pity party for one.”

“You saw that?” I peek through my fingers at her.

“Lauren.” I feel the weight of her hand on my shoulder. “The entire reception could feel the tension coming off of you two, especially with the way you ran out of there, leaving him alone on the dance floor. Even I felt bad for the guy.”

I sag back into the couch with guilt in hopes that it will just swallow me whole. I look up, meeting my sister’s eyes, “Are Dani and Kyler mad?”

Kate twists her mouth as if she’s searching for the right words. “Mad? No. Concerned? Yes. We all are actually. If it makes you feel better, he left not long after you disappeared.”

I let out a loud sigh because as much as I thought it would make me feel better, it doesn’t. “Did you know he was coming?”

She shakes her head. “Honestly, none of us did. Trust me, we would have warned you. From what Mom said, Mrs. Reynolds didn’t want to show up alone, so he agreed to be her plus one. We were all as shocked as you were to see him.”

It is still way too bright in here. I cover my eyes with my forearm not only to cover the bright lights but also because I can feel the tears coming on. Kate smacks my thigh, bringing my attention back to her.

“How about I go make you some coffee.” She rises from the couch and heads into the kitchen.