Skin (McCullough Mountain 2) (11 page)

“Finn is probably the least judgmental of
his whole family. And none of them are really judgmental to begin
with. He wouldn’t have batted an eye at your size,” Sam had
said.

“I know, but I’m a private person. I hate
drawing any attention to my weight.”

Sam scrunched up her face. “I get that. I
put on almost fifty pounds when I was pregnant with Lula, fifteen
of which I’m still trying to get off. Colin swears it makes no
difference, but I see it every time I look in the mirror.”

Mallory narrowed her eyes at the other
woman. She couldn’t weigh more than a hundred and twenty pounds
soaking wet. She decided she was preaching to the wrong choir and
let the topic drop.

After work she raced home and changed into
her running clothes. She was tired and had to drag her ass all the
way to the park. She planned on using the McCullough field, but
after yesterday she didn’t know if the invitation still stood.

She cranked up her iPod and took twice as
long as she usually did, as her heart was just not in it. When she
was finished, it was nearly dark. She pulled up outside of her
apartment and stilled when she saw Finn’s truck.

Her heart stuttered when she found him
waiting on her steps by her front door. He was dressed in sweats
and sneakers. “You weren’t at the field,” he said by way of
greeting.

“I went to the park.”

His eyes bore into her, but he didn’t say a
word. She shifted, unable to make it to her door with him in the
way.

“How was your first day?” he asked.

“Fine. Good.”

“Good.”

“What are you doing here, Finn?”

“I felt bad about yesterday.”

“It was my fault. Sometimes I’m overly
sensitive—”

“I should have listened the first time you
told me no. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She smiled, but his apology made her feel
ashamed. Deep down she knew he was only trying to be nice and now
he was apologizing for it. “You don’t have to apologize. Let’s just
drop it. Do you want to stay for dinner? I’m making fish.”

“Sure.” His legs unfolded and he stood.

They went into her apartment and she pulled
out the ingredients for dinner. “I need to shower before I can eat.
Can you give me ten minutes?”

“Sure.”

She grabbed her pajamas and went to the
bathroom. Ten minutes later she returned, hair tied back in a bun,
skin freshly cleaned. She threw together some fresh salsa while the
Tilapia baked. It was an easy meal and they were sitting down at
the table in no time.

“There’s a girl at my work you might be
interested in,” she said as they started to eat.

His fork stilled halfway to his mouth.
“Oh?”

She took a bite and nodded. “Her name’s
Kelsey Stevens. She teaches intermediate math.”

“Sounds right up my alley.”

She frowned at his tone. “She’s single. I
told her about you and she seemed interested. She knows of your
family and I think Sam’s had her to the house. You probably saw her
before at your niece’s birthday.”

He scraped up another bite and made a
noncommittal sound.

“She’s cute. Slim, short, dark hair, pretty
smile. You think you’d want to go out with her?”

His fork clattered to his plate. “What are
you doing, Mallory?”

“What?” she asked innocently. “I just
figured since you and Erin—”

“Since we broke up you just figured you’d
fix me up with the next best thing?”

“I don’t want you to go back to her, Finn.
She doesn’t appreciate the good catch you are.”

His brow arched. “You think I’m a good
catch?”

Duh.
“You’re a great catch.”

“And this Kelly is good enough for me, but
Erin’s not?”

She cleared her throat and wiped her mouth
on her napkin. “Kelsey,” she corrected. “And yes, I think she’d be
more your type than Erin.”

“And what’s my type?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. She’s
nice.”

“There are lots of nice girls in Center
County. What makes this one right for me?”

“She’s pretty.”

“Lots of pretty girls too. I want to know
what—specifically—made you see this girl and think, oh, she’d be
perfect for Finn.”

She frowned. “I don’t know. Forget I said
anything.”

“I don’t want to forget about it. I’m
curious. Is it because I’m a charity case?”

“No! Of course not! I just thought you might
want to take her out.”

“I don’t.” He eased back in his chair and
crossed his arms.

“You haven’t even met her. How do you
know?”

“Because I already have my eye on someone
else.”

Her nose crinkled. “Who?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Her mouth opened and closed. “Okay.
Fine.”

She stood and collected their plates. At the
sink she turned on the faucet and began scrubbing the remnants of
dinner down the drain. She jumped when Finn stepped behind her.
Close. Very close.

“You forgot my fork,” he said, voice husky
as he leaned around her shoulder and dropped it in the sink.

Her body tightened and her eyes widened as
she stared at the water rushing over her soapy hands frozen in
place. Her breath quickened as he seemed to lean into her a moment
longer than necessary.

When he pulled back, she let out a breath
and needed a moment to find her bearings. She was overreacting. She
was totally overreacting. All he did was bring her a utensil and
her whole body was on fire.

Maybe she needed to masturbate. That was it.
She just needed sex. It had been a long, long time since she’d had
any action and she was being overly sensitive. He probably didn’t
even realize she’d had that reaction.

You’re pathetic.

After the dishes were done she sat on the
couch and watched the news with Finn. He wasn’t sitting on the side
like he usually did. He was hogging the middle and she remained
stiff so as not to inadvertently touch him.

When the news was over she stood.

“Where you going?”

“I have to get my clothes ready for
tomorrow.”

“You spend an abnormal amount of time
thinking of things to wear.” He lounged over the other two
cushions, making himself at home.

She really wanted to see if she had
batteries, but she couldn’t tell him that. “I’ll just be a
minute.”

A minute turned into twenty. She was
debating over a pair of shoes when Finn walked into her room. She
jumped as he approached her.

“Minute’s up,” he said and she blinked up at
him. He was acting strange.

“Sorry. Which shoes do you like better?”

He stepped close and removed the shoes from
her hands, glancing briefly at each one. “The gray ones.” He tossed
both shoes on the floor.

“Wh—what are you doing?”

“You’re making me crazy, Philly.”

She shook her head. “What…what do you
mean?”

“Stop talking.” His head lowered and his
mouth found hers.

She jerked back, her fingers trembling over
her lips
. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to kiss you?”

Oh my God he’s horny and Erin isn’t
around.
She stepped back. “Don’t.”

He frowned. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not Erin.”

His head drew back. “Oh, I’m quite aware
you’re not Erin.”

Yes, it wasn’t likely he’d confuse the two
of them. That would be like mixing up a penguin with a water
buffalo. Suddenly something deep in her chest began to ache. She
stepped back again and her knees met the bed. He caught her elbow
and she quickly tugged her arm free. “Why are you doing this?”

He frowned. “Because I want to and I thought
you might’ve wanted me to.”

Her head shook like an imbecile. “I don’t.”
If they crossed that line, their friendship would be over and it
would only be a matter of minutes before he realized she wasn’t at
all what he was used to.

His lips parted and his expression
shuttered. He stepped back and dropped his hand. “Oh. Then I’m
sorry.” He turned and grabbed the back of his neck, which was
flushed. “I should probably get going.”

He wouldn’t look at her. No! This couldn’t
happen. She said no, so nothing should change, but her stomach
knotted as she realized it was too late. Her lashes fluttered as
her vision blurred.

Should she call him back? Maybe she should
just let him use her. She’d enjoy it.
Have some self-respect,
woman!
“Finn, don’t go…”

He held up his hand, much like he did at the
mall when she’d offended him. It must not make any sense for a man
like that to be rejected by a girl like her.

“I gotta go,” he said and the next thing she
knew her front door was shutting.

* * * *

Finn drove until he reached his property
then he pulled over to the side of the road and punched the
steering wheel. “
Fuck!”

Why did he do that? He was so damn stupid.
Of course she wasn’t into him. He wasn’t any prize. He’d just
thought he’d seen something in the way she looked at him. No one
had looked at him like that in a long time. But he was wrong.

She thought of him as just a friend. He’d
thought of her as the same, but sometime over the last few days
that changed. Erin disappeared from his life like she’d never
existed. He’d barely given her absence a moment’s thought. Yet,
when he’d upset Mallory at the mall, he could think of little else.
He rushed through his workday just to run with her at the field.
When he arrived and waited for her, only to have her never show, he
suffered the terrible fear that he’d ruined their friendship.

But it was more than that. When she showed
up after her run at the park, she looked beautiful. Her hair was a
mess, her cheeks flushed, her breasts pressed against her fitted
tank top. His eyes had roamed over her shapely thighs and he had to
fight the entire way through dinner not to kiss her.

Listening to the water run while she’d
showered was pure torture. He’d imagined her naked and wasted at
least six minutes debating if her nipples would be soft pink like
her lips or tan. But none of that mattered.

Yes, she was a beautiful woman, but she was
so much more than that. Finn didn’t have
girl
friends. He
got along with his sisters, but other than that, they were it. The
way he was around Mallory was a totally novel experience. He liked
her, really liked her. And now he was thinking like a fifth
grader.

“Gah, no wonder she shot you down.”

The worst part was he might have seriously
fucked up their friendship. He glanced at the clock on the dash and
considered going back and asking her to forget the whole thing, but
it was late and she had work in the morning.

He threw the truck into gear and barreled
over the road, heading home. When he went to sleep that night his
bed seemed a little colder, a little less comforting, and lot
lonelier. Maybe he wasn’t meant to have a partner in this life.
Maybe he should go back to Erin.

His mind immediately rejected that idea.
Erin’s long legs and trim hips were no longer what he wanted. After
seeing how Mallory actually listened to him when he spoke, he had
no desire to return to a girl who had mastered ignoring him. Erin
never cared about what he thought or what motivated him.

Mallory cared. Or she did. His last hope
before sleep took him was that he hadn’t ruined what friendship
they’d had together.

The first week of work did wonders for
Mallory’s spirit. Everyone was nice to her and she was glad she
talked herself into moving. The weather this far west of
Philadelphia was preferable as well. It was still sweltering, but
she took pleasure in the bursts of fall she caught here and there.
Such things only presented themselves in temperature drops in the
city, but here there were bursts of color in the foliage and cool
breezes that snuck in.

That was the crap she forced herself to
focus on every time she missed Finn. The day after he’d kissed her,
she was confused. Then she was angry. How could he do that? There
was no question in her mind that he was using her. He was horny,
lonely, or looking for an escape to forget Erin. No way would she
believe this actually had anything to do with her. Mallory was
simply convenient and, maybe in Finn’s eyes, desperate enough to
agree to a meaningless fling. That thought hurt, because it was
clear how little he valued their new friendship.

When Thursday came she was sad. He hadn’t
stopped by and no matter how much she
didn’t
expect him to,
each day when she came home there was a sting of disappointment
that he hadn’t been there waiting for her like he had the time
after the mall fight.

Saturday morning it was gloomy. Rain softly
pelted the windows of her apartment as she stared mindlessly at the
Morning Show on the television. Some skinny blonde was being gifted
with a dream wedding and her sweet, emotional story made Mallory
want to fling her yogurt at the screen.

Her phone rang and her heart pinched,
letting go with a sad little exhale as she realized Finn didn’t
have her number. She picked it up and saw Ally’s number on the
screen. Smiling, she slid her thumb over the face and brought it to
her ear.

“Hey, girl.”

“Hey! How’s bumblefuck?”

Mallory laughed. “It’s good.”

“Did you start your job?”

Mallory poked her spoon through her yogurt,
no longer enjoying it. “Yeah. I love it. Everyone is so nice.”

“Do they have all their teeth?”

She snorted. “How deep in the boonies do you
think I am? Yes, they all have teeth.” Ally giggled and Mallory
heard Savannah, her friend’s newborn, coo in the background. “How’s
the baby?”

“She’s…” Ally sighed. “Perfect.”

“Good. Getting big?”

“Yes. She’s a little piglet.”

Mallory fought the envy tightening her
stomach. “How’s Joe?”