A few minutes passed before he replied.
Finn
Good or bad?
Groundbreaking
I hope I didn’t accidentally replace myself
You could never
I’m glad you think so. See you soon.
I put on the matching set and snapped a photo in the steamy mirror. It wasn’t anything indecent, but it was provocative. Thecurve of my breast encased in rich blue lace, the barest tease of my nipple, hard still from my orgasm. I almost sent it to Finn, but then I thought better of it. Daniel was the one who’d picked it out, after all. He was just as deserving of a tease, so I started a group chat with the both of them, then fired it off and walked away from my phone.
CHAPTER 20
DANIEL
Dinner was hell, knowing Sophie had on that matching set beneath her beige loungewear. I barely made it through the meal, cell phone burning a hole in my pocket with the photo she’d sent to meand Finnafter her shower. To pass the time, we talked about the wedding cake tasting, if she wanted to try another baker (she didn’t), if we were okay with not having a vanilla tier (we were), and what frosting colors would go best with the theme (we didn’t know).
There were so many things about the wedding we hadn’t discussed, mostly because for so many years it had seemed like an impossible thing. The distance had always existed between us, and I would have happily lived the rest of my life with Sophie a continent away if that was what worked best for us. Her moving to LA was icing on the cake, but wedding planning had proven to be a bit more than I’d bargained for. Put that on top of Finn, and sometimes I found myself feeling a little overwhelmed by how amazing my life had turned out to be.
After we finished eating, Sophie pulled out her laptop and her wedding mood board, both of us agreeing we needed to settle on colors for the wedding. We also needed to settle on a location.
“What about the big courtroom in Santa Ana?” Sophie’s nails clacked against the keyboard and she pulled up some images of the courthouse. I leaned over her shoulder and looked at the screen.
“It’s a vibe,” I agreed.
“And we’d just get married by a clerk, then?”
“Probably.” Sophie leaned her head back until I kissed her. “I don’t know.”
I reached past her and closed her laptop, and two seconds later, the doorbell chimed announcing Finn’s arrival. I gave Sophie one more kiss against her temple, then went to answer the door. I was nervous, palms sweaty when I unlocked the deadbolt and grabbed the doorknob. When I pulled the door open, Finn was there and instead of being dressed for work as I expected, he looked like he was fresh out of a shower. His brown hair darker than normal, slicked back with a few loose strands falling in front of his forehead. He had on a plain white t-shirt and light denim jeans, cuffed above his bare ankles and an expensive-looking pair of white sneakers. Finn also had a bag slung over his shoulder and an expression on his face that did nothing to hide his nervousness.
“Hey,” I greeted, stepping out of the way to let him in.
“Hey.”
This was different from our dinner date the night before, certainly different from his outing with Sophie. There was no hiding what the intent of our weekend was, and while we’d already explored various forms of intimacy together, all of us knew whatever happened next was going to be big.
“Do you want to put your bag in the bedroom?” I asked.
“Yours or the guest room?”
“Whatever feels best. Sophie’s in the dining room. Come find us after you decide.”
Finn eyed me warily before disappearing down the hallway. I didn’t wait to see which room he chose, knowing either would be fine. When I got back to the dining room, Sophie had poured herself a glass of wine and she stood in the middle of the kitchen frowning at the whiskey.
“What’s got you looking so out of sorts?” I asked.
“I don’t know how to make a Manhattan,” she said.
The quiet slap of Finn’s bare feet against the floor grew louder behind us, and he slid one arm around Sophie’s waist and propped his chin on her shoulder. “Do you want me to show you?”
Sophie made a demure little sound that had no place coming out of someone who had on such an indecent set of lingerie under their clothes. Finn skated his hands up her sides, taking her top with him until his fingers brushed against the dark lace of her bra. He kissed the side of her neck, baring his teeth against her skin.
“Very simple, alright? Cold glass with ice. Shaker.”