Finn's Fantasy (Maine Men #1) - K.C. Wells Page 0,67
at the lack of sincerity in Joel’s voice. “Hey, you chose Portland. Did you figure the chances of running into your sister were slim?”
“What are you guys doing here?” Megan gave Finn a cheerful nod. “Is the deck finished?”
“Not yet. The base is down,” Finn told her.
“We came here for breakfast,” Joel added quickly.
Megan arched her eyebrows. “So you decided to call Finn and invite him to eat out?” Her lips twitched. “Or did you just roll over and suggest it?”
Joel narrowed his gaze. “In earlier times? They’ve have tried you as a witch.”
She cackled. “I knew it!”
“Knew what?” Lynne demanded. “What did I miss?”
“Oh, not much, just Joel and Finn playing Hide the Salami.” Megan’s eyes gleamed. “Which I predicted,” she added smugly.
Finn swore Joel was about to have a fit of apoplexy. “Will you keep your voice down?” Joel’s face was flushed.
Megan beamed. “Wow. You took my advice. I’m dumbfounded. I mean, since when do you listen to a word I say? Next thing you know, you’ll be busting pages of that novel you’re—”
“We have to get going now,” Joel interjected. “Finn has a deck to finish, remember?”
Finn wasn’t certain if their plans had changed or if Joel was making an excuse to get them the hell out of there. The way he pulled his car keys from his pocket indicated the latter.
“Don’t let us stop you. Good to see you again, Finn.” That gleam in Megan’s eyes hadn’t diminished.
“You too.” He gave Lynne a wave.
“See ya.” Joel was already moving quickly along the sidewalk, and Finn had to sprint to catch up.
He snorted. “You really didn’t want to talk to her, did you?”
“Are you kidding? I’m never going to hear the last of this.” They reached the car, and Joel got behind the wheel.
Finn got in and fastened his seatbelt, his stomach roiling. “Hey… you don’t regret…” He didn’t know what to think. Does he not want Megan to know about us?
Then a wave of cold reality crashed over him. What us? We’ve fucked twice. There is no us.
Jesus. Seb really had him nailed. One night with Joel, and Finn was—
No. No. I am not gonna fall for Joel like I fell for every other guy I had sex with. Except he knew such vehement decisions were a waste of time.
Finn had already been falling before he’d gotten as far as Joel’s bed.
Joel switched on the engine, but didn’t take the car out of Park. “I don’t regret a single second, okay? Last night was…” He swallowed. “Last night was amazing, and I don’t care if I wear that word out. It was, truly. And I don’t care if Megan knows things have changed between us.”
The iron band constricting Finn’s chest loosened a little.
“No, what pisses me off is that she’s going to be saying I told you so for weeks. Because believe me, she’s done it before.” Joel laid his hand on Finn’s thigh. “And by the way? You don’t have to work on the deck this afternoon.” He gave an adorable smile. “Not if there’s something else you’d rather be doing.”
Finn grinned. “I think I can come up with a few ideas.”
Joel laughed and pulled away from the curb. As they drove along Commercial Street, heading for the 295, Finn pondered something Megan had said. He figured it was none of his beeswax, but his curiosity got the better of him.
“What was Megan talking about? What novel?”
“It’s nothing.” Joel kept his eyes on the road ahead.
As if Finn was going to be deterred by that. “Sure didn’t sound like nothing.”
Joel said nothing for a moment, and Finn got the feeling he’d pushed when he should have backed off. Then Joel sighed. “It’s just that… I had an idea. I’ve always wanted to write a book.”
Finn gaped. “I think that sounds awesome. How much have you written?”
Joel laughed out loud. “I haven’t even started it. Every time I sit down to put my thoughts into words, the sight of that blank page terrifies me.”
“But why? You won’t know what you can accomplish till you try.”
Joel jerked his head briefly to stare at Finn. “What if I suck?”
“What if you don’t?” Finn retorted.
“Okay, fair enough. But I still don’t have a clue where to start.”
“The beginning sounds like a good idea.”
Joel rolled his eyes. “Yeah, big help.
Finn sighed. “No, I mean your beginning. Start with the moment you first knew you were gay, and take it from there.”
There was a pause. “Seriously? Who’d want to read that?”