Finn couldn’t say he hadn’t participated in some ground-shaking kisses in his time, but he could say, unequivocally, he’d never experienced one like he’d just had with Willow. At least, not in the time since he’d left her.
As he headed back to his temporary apartment, his lips still tingled from touching hers, her taste still lingering on his tongue. Jesus, the things he’d wanted to do to her. So much more than just kiss that tempting mouth of hers. He’d wanted to spin her around to the empty bed in the room, press her into the mattress and lay himself on top of her. Grind his cock into all that welcoming heat between her legs. Trail his mouth down every inch of her and find out if she tasted as good as he remembered.
But instead, he’d left. He’d had to. Kissing her had been about showing her there was something to them. That her removing the tattoo on her hip, removing a part of their history, would be a mistake.
And, shit, hearing her saying she’d wanted that part of herself changed? Erased? As if it’d never happened? It’d nearly wrecked him, especially considering the tattoo he bore of hers was as much a part of him as his fucking heart.
The willow tree she’d drawn for him—the one she’d sat by him for hours as it’d been inked on his skin—was the only thing he’d had tethering him to her for all those years he’d been away. And he’d made sure it’d done its job, not allowing himself to forget about her, even when she’d probably thought he hadn’t given her a second thought after he’d left.
Truth was, he’d thought about her every damn day.
And every year on her birthday—the same day they’d gotten tattoos in the first place—he went and got another root added at the bottom of the tree. He might’ve spent years being thousands of miles away from her, but she’d been stamped on his heart—and his body—forever, her very essence permeating down to his bones.
After that kiss in Ty’s house, after how she’d responded to it, melting into him, her tongue meeting his stroke for stroke, there was no doubt left in Finn’s mind that Willow knew what still crackled between them. And didn’t just know it, but felt it, same as he did.
He’d be damned if he wasn’t going to push her to explore it with him.
He walked up the stairs to his and Drew’s apartment, unlocking the door and walking into their temporary home. Nola had been right—it was in okay shape, all things considered. It was smaller than their place in California, but it worked for now. It had the same hardwood floors that ran through the main floor, though these weren’t nearly as worn as the ones downstairs. They’d needed to give it a good scrubbing and vacuum a few thousand dust bunnies, but it was in working order now.
And thanks to their handful of friends who still lived in the area, they’d been able to fill it with castoffs. Someone’s cousin/momma/friend had had what they’d needed sitting in unused guest rooms. Southern hospitality at its finest.
Finn tossed his keys on the counter in the small kitchen as he strolled into the living area and found Drew on the phone. He tipped his chin in Finn’s direction before speaking to whoever was on the other line. “Yeah, we got the box. We’re doin’ all right otherwise. Ty’s momma spotted us a few things, and we got most of the rest from Nola’s cousins.”
If Finn had to guess, he’d place bets it was their momma, calling to check in on them, same as she’d done every day since they’d been gone. The separation was getting to her, that much was clear. It was the longest the three of them had been apart in…well, ever. If that made him and Drew momma’s boys, so be it. But the three of them were all they had, so they stuck together, through thick and thin. And there’d been a lot of both over the past twenty-nine years.
“He’s fine. Just walked in,” Drew said, glancing Finn’s way, his eyes doing a quick sweep over his brother. Even though Finn was certain nothing in his body language said anything about what had happened with Willow, he also knew his brother would know something was up. Same way Finn had known when Drew’d lost his virginity to Lexie May sophomore year of high school. Sometimes it was awesome being a twin; sometimes it was a little awkward and damn inconvenient.
Finn fell into the corner of the couch, throwing an arm across the back as he waited for the phone.
“All right, Momma. I’ll let y’all talk. Love you.” Drew tossed the phone in Finn’s direction before getting up and strolling into the kitchen.
Finn brought the phone to his ear. “Hey, Momma.”
“Hey, sweetheart. Y’all gettin’ on okay there?”
With one hundred percent certainty, Finn knew she’d asked Drew the same thing. But every time she asked, she did so with such sincerity, he couldn’t fault her for it. He wasn’t sure if the concern was because she wasn’t used to being away from them, or if it was because she was worried about the reception they’d receive in Havenbrook. When they’d left, he and Drew were only a year or so out of their rebellious teen years where they’d gotten up to everything from petty vandalism to property damage. Add that in with being from the wrong side of the tracks, born to a teenage single momma, and they’d had outcasts and troublemakers branded on them from birth.
“Doin’ fine here. Spent today doin’ demo and working on some repairs on the plaster. Things are movin’ along.”
“So y’all think you’ll be comin’ back soon, then?”
“I’m not sure.” The thought of leaving now, before he’d had a chance to explore whatever this was between him and Willow, left him with a rock in the pit of his stomach. “We haven’t even begun to pick out the finishes for the space yet. And Nola can’t be dealin’ with all that while she’s still workin’ at the auto shop. She didn’t have as much money put away as we did.”
“How’s that sweet girl doin’? Haven’t talked to her in ages. You tell her to give me a call, would you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Now what’s this I hear about you talkin’ to Willow Haven?” she asked.
Finn blew out a breath and shot a glare at his brother who’d taken a seat on the other end of the couch. Drew’s only response was to shrug as he took a swig from his beer.
“I’ve gotta talk to her, Momma. She’s in charge of things at town hall now.”
“Mm-hmm,” she said, her displeasure hitting him like a ton of bricks, even through the phone line. “What exactly do you think’s gonna happen between y’all, with your history?”
Honestly? He had no fucking idea, but he sure as hell wasn’t gonna tell his momma that. He knew what he wanted to happen. Could finally admit to himself he didn’t just want to see Willow happy, but he wanted to see her happy with him. A connection like theirs was once in a lifetime, and he’d be damned if he let her pretend it wasn’t there. He just had no idea how to go about getting her on board with it.
“I know what I’m doin’,” he said.
She tutted. “From where I’m sittin’, you don’t know much of anything. Honestly, Griffin… Stringin’ that poor girl along. I raised you better than that.” Silence hung from her side of the line for a moment. “Unless…unless you’re thinkin’ about stayin’?” she asked, her voice tinged with something that sounded an awful lot like hope. But that couldn’t be right. Why would him moving back to Havenbrook make her happy?
She’d wrung her hands when he and Drew had told her of their plans, so worked up over the two of them going back to a place that’d done nothing but try to force the three of them out. A place that’d never, ever welcomed them into its fold, despite years of trying. Despite their momma being an active part of the community. True, she hadn’t been a doctor or a lawyer, hadn’t been on the school board or the PTA. But she’d paid her bills, had tried her damnedest to keep her boys out of trouble—though it’d been hard as a young, single mom, working two or three jobs to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.
Even if she’d been home more, Finn and Drew would’ve found trouble anyhow. It was in their blood. But it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. They could’ve followed every ridiculous law in Havenbrook, could’ve played along with the do-gooders of the town, and it still would’ve done fuck-all to change the minds of many of the residents of Havenbrook. The Thomases, along with their friends, had been branded wrong simply because they couldn’t afford a lot of their own or a house with a foundation instead of a single wide trailer.
Which was why opening up this business with their own money, no help at all from the Bank of Havenbrook, felt so damn good.
“I already called Sammy and let him know what was goin’ on. Right now, the plan is to stay for a couple weeks,” he said, hating how the words lit a fire in his gut, burning all the way up to his chest. He couldn’t imagine leaving so soon. Not now…not after having Willow under his hands again. Not since having her taste on his tongue after ten long years without it.
“Mmm…plans change,” his momma said.
They did. Situations changed…people changed. He could only hope he could get Willow to see that.
After a few more minutes of conversation and a promise to call tomorrow, Finn hung up and dropped his head back on the couch as he scrubbed a hand down his face.
“You wanna tell me why you came in practically whistling before talkin’ to Momma?” Drew asked.
“Not really.”
“Sounds like I’m shit outta luck, then. I’ll never be able to crack the unbreakable code that is Griffin Thomas,” Drew said, his voice ringing with sarcasm.
Finn rolled his eyes, standing to grab himself a beer. “If you already know, why’d you ask?”
Drew didn’t say anything. Not until Finn sat back on the couch, beer in his hand. “You start somethin’ with her?”
Finn thought back to the kiss, to her hips under his fingers, the lush curves of her pressed up against every inch of him. Lord had he wanted to. He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Well, somethin’ happened.”
“You didn’t ask if somethin’ happened. You asked if I started somethin’ with her. And I haven’t.”
“Yet.”
“Yet,” Finn confirmed with a nod.
Drew just stared at him before shaking his head. “She’s got you all kinds of fucked up, you know that, right?”
He did, but what the hell was he supposed to do? He’d walked away from her once, and it’d been the single greatest mistake of his entire life. He’d be damned if he made the same one again, if he walked away without giving this thing between them a chance to actually become something. Not now that he was older, wiser… Now that he wouldn’t allow her asshole of a father to stand between them as he had back then.
“Nothin’ I can do about that,” he said.
“So, what’s your plan? We stayin’ here indefinitely, or what?”
Drew had exactly as many ties to California as Finn did. Namely, zero. As long as they got their momma back to Havenbrook, they’d be fine. And whether or not Drew agreed with what Finn was doing where Willow was concerned, he’d stand behind his brother, have his back every step of the way. Where Finn went, Drew followed, and vice versa.
Knowing that made it easier to move forward, since Finn didn’t know what the hell was coming. If he’d be in Havenbrook or California…New York or Nashville. Right now, he had one goal, and that was to get in the good graces of one Willow Haven.
“My plan is to find out if I can make her see me as more than just the asshole who left. Everything else will come after.”
Drew snorted, shaking his head. “Man, you’re a damn idiot. That girl does nothin’ but spit fire when you’re around.”
“She wasn’t spittin’ fire when she let me kiss her tonight.”
Raising an eyebrow, Drew said, “Maybe not. Doesn’t mean you don’t have a shit-ton of work ahead of you.”
Didn’t he know it. But that was all right. Finn hadn’t fought hard enough for her in the first place. Hadn’t stuck it out when he was pressed between a rock and a hard place. So if that meant he had to work harder now, so be it. Willow deserved every bit of sweat on his part, and he was trying hard to be worthy of her.