Page 15 of Late Night Talking
Ethan seems to notice at the same time I do, and his eyes go wide. He didn’t care before, but now that he has a gun to his head, he does. Finn’s jaw tightens, but he lowers the gun. Instead, he leans forward and says into Ethan’s ear, “You’re going to pay for that.” He takes a fistful of Ethan’s hair and slams his head into the floor.
Ethan rolls onto his back, groaning. He pulls his hands from his face and looks at the blood on them. I’m pretty sure that Finn broke his nose. Ethan sputters, blood spewing like a fountain, and says, “You fucking bastard. Why would you want a fucking whore anyway?”
It’s like someone has set Finn on fire. He crouches beside Ethan, pulls Ethan’s hands from his face, and punches him. When Finn pulls his fist back, it’s bloody.
“Finn!” I scream around the pain in my throat, trying to get up onto my feet. “Finn, no!”
But Finn can’t hear me. He leans in close to Ethan and growls, “She’s the only reason you don’t have a bullet between your eyes, you piece of shit,” and then he hits Ethan again and again.
I get onto my knees and crawl over to them. “Finn,” I whisper when I’m close enough. It’s all I can manage now. “Finn, stop.”
Finn punches Ethan again, but when he rears his arm back, I put my hands up, not even attempting to stop him physically because I know I won’t be able to. “Finn, please. Please, I need you.”
He freezes. He’s breathing hard, and there’s enough blood on his fist to be unsettling, but when he finally looks over at me, it’s like all the fight goes out of him. Ethan is still groaning, now with quite a few more facial injuries than before, but Finn doesn’t seem to hear him. His arm falls to his side, and he reaches for me, cupping my face in his hands. All the fear from moments ago has washed away from me like a dam being broken open.
“I need to get you to a hospital,” Finn says, thumbs brushing along my jaw, and I nod. There’s no way I’m going to argue with him, not if taking me to a hospital will get him away from Ethan and his desire to commit homicide.
He starts to stand, reaching out a hand to help me up with him, but a movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention. I turn my face toward Ethan just as he sits up and points the gun at Finn.
In a moment, everything seems to slow. Finn sees the gun, but he’s crouched, unsteady on his feet. Ethan’s arm flexes, ready to pull the trigger, and I lunge. Ethan’s gun hand is right in front of my face, and I throw myself at it. The sound of the shot is deafening as I shove his arm off its mark, the bullet flying through the room and embedding itself in my front door. The gun skitters to the floor, and Finn dives for it before Ethan can. But Ethan isn’t going anywhere near that gun because I’ve climbed on top of him.
“You fucking asshole!” I croak, tears streaming down my face. I’m throwing punches, but Ethan is blocking his face, so most of them aren’t doing any good. But I can’t stop because he almost killed Finn.He almost killed Finn.“You fucking piece of shit! You—”
Arms come around me from behind and lift me off of Ethan, but I keep lashing out with my feet, kicking him anywhere I can manage before Finn drags me away.
“Devin,” he says in my ear. “Devin, it’s okay. I’m okay.”
I’m sobbing now, all the adrenaline slamming through me too much for me to handle. Finn sets my feet on the ground and curls himself around me from behind just as the apartment door swings open.
Bonnie stands in the doorway, her eyes moving over Finn and me and then over to Ethan, bent into a fetal position on the floor. He doesn’t seem interested in fighting anymore, but part of me wishes Finn had just shot him when he had the chance. Bonnie’s eyes shoot back to me.
“Holy fuck, Devin. What’s going on?” She takes a step toward me but stops when Finn holds out the gun to her.
“Bonnie,” he says, his voice surprisingly calm. “Can you please take this? And can you please call the police?”
Chapter Eleven
Finn is watching me like I’m going to spontaneously combust any second. He holds my hand as we head out of the ER, walking slow, like I have a broken leg instead of a gash in my forehead.
When Finn opens the back door of his car for me, I roll my eyes. “Would you stop?”
“Stop what?” He makes a motion toward his driver, and I can only assume he’s communicated to him that we’re going back to Finn’s place.
I slide into the backseat and wait for Finn to climb in beside me before I snuggle up to him. He smells like hospital, but I’m sure I do, too. Thanks to the painkillers they gave me, very mild stuff, I actually feel pretty great. “Stop treating me like an invalid.”
Finn sighs, a decidedly exasperated sound, and puts his arm around me so that I can press my face into his chest. “You were bleeding like a stuck pig less than an hour ago.”
The car starts to move, and I close my eyes, suddenly feeling so very tired. “It was a head wound. They always bleed way more than they should.”
“Oh, yes. That’s reassuring,” he says sarcastically.
I tip my head back and look up at him. He looks back at me with that steady gaze of his, and I feel more anchored than I have since the moment I realized Ethan was in my apartment. He may be terrified for my safety, but he’s still wearing that face that gives away absolutely nothing, and the familiarity of it is comforting.
We head out of the city, toward Finn’s house, and by the time we get there, I’m half asleep. When the driver opens the door, I’m groggy and have to let Finn help me out of the back seat. Once my feet are on the concrete of his U-shaped driveway, Finn bends and lifts me into his arms. He carries me into the house, past the stairs and into the living room.
As soon as he sets me on my feet, I push up onto my toes, wrap my arms around his neck, and kiss him. His mouth is gentle on mine, pulling at my lips like he’s sucking nectar straight from the source, and it’s enough to make me melt into him.
I’m still in my work uniform, my dress for the party tonight still hanging in my bedroom back at my apartment. I unbutton my shirt and rip it off my shoulders before going to work on his.
