I Never Let You Go (I Never 3)

“Me too. Come on, I made breakfast.” Finn laces our fingers and pulls me to the kitchen. It smells incredible in here.

“Yep, a girl could definitely get used to this treatment.” I take a seat at the island, and Finn sets a coffee mug in front of me before he turns around to finish making breakfast. I stare at him over my coffee mug. The muscles rippling in his back. How right this feels for us. He peeks over his shoulder and catches me staring, and I don’t even try to deny it, so I just smile bigger and hold his gaze before he turns back around.

“Well, I could definitely get used to you wearing my clothes again. It’s a sexy look on you.”

He places a plate of french toast and bacon in front of me before pulling out the stool next to me and taking a seat. He lifts my feet into his lap.

“So, what was in Seattle?” I ask as Finn swipes a piece of bacon from the plate and feeds me the other half.

“Well, in order to keep up the workload and maintain the timeline of the project for Central, along with the other projects we have going on without running me into the ground, I need to bring someone else in. And there was only one person I wanted for the job, so I flew to Seattle to offer it to Jaxon.”

“Your best friend?” I’ve never met him, but when I do, I plan to thank him for being there for Finn all these years. Finn has told me briefly about him and his son, Andy. I will have to apologize to Courtney for this whole misunderstanding. Years of cursing at a woman who I thought had replaced me in Finn’s life, but really she was helping hold him together and pushing for us.

He nods. “It would be a good change for him and Andy to get away and start somewhere new.”

“What about Courtney? Will she not come out too? You never mention her when you talk about them.”

Finn’s face falls.

“Umm, Courtney passed away a few years ago giving birth to Andy.”

Before the words are even fully out of his mouth, I am off my chair and pulling him into my arms. Why hadn’t he told me this before?

“Lo, it’s okay. I mean, it was rough—she was so young, leaving behind Jax a new dad. Andy will grow up without his mom.”

I wrap my arms around him tighter and bury my head in the crook of his neck. “I’m so sorry. I should have been there for you for that, and for your dad.”

Finn’s arms tighten around my waist at the mention of his dad, and the dam breaks. It kills me knowing that I wasn’t there. I didn’t even go to Griffin’s funeral. It hurt too much. I’m not sure I have cried this much in years as much as I have the past few days. I pull back, and Finn laces his fingers behind my neck as I rest my forehead on his.

He presses a tender kiss to my forehead before placing his back against mine. “When my sister and Chase called with the news of my dad, I wished you had been there. I wanted to call you and hear your voice.” He shakes his head. “None of that matters now. From this day forward, it’s you and me. One hundred percent Lo and Finn with total honesty. I’ll tell you when you’re being stubborn, and you tell me when I’m being an ass. You’re it for me.”

Finn adjusts us, pulling me into his lap. I rest my head on his shoulder while we sit in silence eating breakfast.

“I meant what I said—I could get used to this. I like you here.” I lean in, closing the distance between us.

He takes another bite of french toast and feeds me the next bite. “There’s no other place I’d rather be.”

Spending the weekend curled up with Lauren in my arms was heavenly, especially when we spent most of it naked, making up for the lost time. We are currently sitting on her couch with her feet in my lap while she reads, and I have an episode of The X-Files on while I massage the balls of her feet. I teased her when I saw it under her “continue watching” cue on Netflix when she used to give me crap for being obsessed with it.

I stop, and she looks up over her Kindle. “What?”

The corner of my lips turns upward. “I realized that we hadn’t had a proper first date yet.”

Lauren scrunches her eyebrows and sets the Kindle down in her lap. “Umm, babe, we had our first date sixteen years ago.” Shit, has it really been that long?

I pull at her ankle, dragging her closer to me. Her Kindle falls to the carpet. “True, but we haven’t had our official second first date since you agreed to be mine.”

“Oh.” Her lips form the perfect O as she climbs into my lap and links her hands around my neck.

I settle my hands on her hips and run my thumbs along the exposed skin. “Tomorrow night, I’m taking you out.”

I kiss her passionately, pushing my tongue in her mouth and swallowing her moans.

I lift her off me and stand. I grab my keys and head toward the door.

“Where are you going?” She whines and pouts, and it’s adorable. I can’t help but smile at her.

I walk back to her and cup her cheek, rubbing my thumb over her soft skin. I realize I must be certifiable for leaving right now, but I’ve got my work cut out for me. “I’ve got some planning to do. And if I stay here, we both know you will find some way to distract me.”