CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

F inn

Madison looks amazing, and her floral scent wafts around me. Her dark hair bounces, and her black lashes swoop up and down. She has sexiness down. She flashes me a knowing look, and glossy coral lips swerve into a smirk.

We've been flirting for months. We've been building our tension, and now she wants sex. It would be easy to wrap my hands around her tiny waist, lift her onto the kitchen counter, and have the sort of wild sex she implied.

"I'll pour you a drink," she says, her voice husky.

It would be easy to go along with everything she says. It would be easy to whisper the secrets about what Noah and I truly are to her, so I have someone in the world who knows what I'm going through.

I would finally know if her nipples are tawny or pink peaks, and I would finally know what landing strip she has down there.

I would work off all the stress surging in my body and remind myself that I do not have a crush on a man.

She smirks, and I know she thinks I'm going to say yes. I know she thinks we're going to be kissing in about three seconds, and I'm going to be fucking her in the time it takes to remove her panties.

But I'm not going to sleep with her with Noah in the next room, and to be honest, I'm not sure I want to. Madison hasn't been on my mind .

If there had been something between us, we would have gotten together way before. No, Madison thinks it's hot to know secrets, and I'm not giving her this one to protect and keep safe. I'm not putting Noah's future in her hands, no matter how sexy her hands are.

I square my shoulders. "Madison."

"Babe?"

"You need to go. Now."

"But—"

"I'm a married man, Madison."

Her face reddens. "You're no fun, Finn. I thought we were friends!"

"We are."

"Then why..." She frowns. "Are you telling me you actually like him?"

"I married him."

"Fine." Madison saunters past me.

I don't turn to say goodbye again, and when the door clicks behind her, I lock it.

Shit.

I pour myself some water, then I think I hear footsteps in the hallway.

Did Noah overhear my conversation with Madison? When I pass by his room though, his door is closed.

NOAH

I don't ask Finn about his late-night visitor the next morning, and he doesn't bring her up. But he didn' t spend the night with her. A fact that makes me guilty, but sort of happy too. And then guilty again for thinking that.

"You've been quiet today," Finn says, as we drive toward the arena.

"Have I?"

"Is there something you want to ask me about?" Finn's voice fills with faux-casualness.

I stiffen. Does he wonder if I heard Madison last night?

My phone buzzes, and I gratefully take it out.

MOM: Your father and I will be in Boston at 4 PM. See you soon.

I blink at the screen.

"What's wrong?" Finn turns the wheel. Light gleams on his sun-kissed wrists, and I pull my gaze away.

"My parents are coming."

"That's great!" Finn flashes his shiny smile at me, and my heart does its ever increasingly normal wobble.

"They're coming today." I frown. "I should have been more specific when I invited them for the weekend."

Finn frowns. "Today is Friday. It's natural for them to come today. And then they won't be exhausted by my parents' bash." His eyes round. "It's cool, Noah. Really."

"But they'll sleep..."

He blinks, then leans back. "Oh."

Sounds from outside fill the car because we're not speaking. The car wheels swish over the pavement, and the right turn signal clicks as he turns toward Cambridge.

I don't squirm in the seat. I'm absolutely still, as the knowledge that I've inconvenienced Finn yet again slides over me as effectively as any compaction roller .

"Hey..." Finn ducks his head toward me. "It's totally cool, dude. No worries. You'll give your parents your room, and we'll bunk up."

"I don't want to take your room."

Hurt flickers over his face for a moment. I'm handling this all wrong.

"I mean, I don't want to be a bother."

"A bother? Are we talking like grannies now?"

I blink.

"We roomed together for away games. I'm sure we're going to keep on rooming together on away groups, because no one wants to separate the newlyweds."

"I don't want to encroach on your space."

There's a slight awkwardness. I walked in on him jerking off yesterday.

"It's going to be great," Finn promises. "Besides, I have a TV in my bedroom. We'll have a blast."

"So the TV can cover up the sounds of all the noisy sex we're not having?"

Finn's eyes dilate for a moment, and a car behind honks.

"Shit. Sorry." Finn tightens his grip on the wheel, and I decide not to distract him anymore.

There are other things to think about. Like what my parents will think about meeting my husband. And then I remember that they are coming to visit. Even though I'm married to a man. Even though I'm sure they don't know another gay couple in real life and have always been disapproving.

I find myself smiling into the wet, cloudy day.

Finn's lips twitch. "It's going to be awesome. You'll see."