Anything Goes on a Friday Night (15 page)

He chuckled.

“What?” I asked.

“I do the same thing,” he answered, his baby blues eyeing me in the mirror. He looked back at the road, and I cursed myself for wishing he’d look at me again. What was wrong with me? Why the hell did I have those thoughts? I facepalmed and groaned.
This is exactly why I didn’t want to do this.
My emotions and reactions to things were all out of whack. I couldn’t be trusted with my own decisions.

“Are you okay back there?” Finn asked.

“Just peachy,” I mumbled.

I looked out the window. What was it with Finn Kerr that had me so intrigued? I couldn’t stand to be near him, yet I wanted him around. I didn’t get it. I was worried that my feelings were coming from the weird vibes Finn was sending. He said he just wanted to be my friend, but he acted like he was expecting more. No guy in the history of ever had made this big of an attempt to just be friends with a girl. It made me nervous. I wasn’t ready for this. Whatever
this
was.

WE SAW 21 JUMP
Street
. It was hilarious. I don’t think I had laughed that hard in a long time, and I actually had fun. I sat between Jane and Tryston. Finn respectfully kept his distance and didn’t try to make any moves. Maybe his intentions were good, and he did just want to be friends.

We went to the 24-hour Taco Bell and sat down after we ordered our food. Finn insisted that he pay for mine, so I let him. It was a kind gesture, and after paying Dad my car payment and insurance, I was broke. Finn sat across from me. We both listened to Jane and Tryston reenact parts of the movie, and we all cracked up.

“So, what do you boys do for fun when it gets too cold for bonfires?” I asked, taking a drink.

Tryston looked at Finn to answer that. Finn shrugged. “It’s never too cold for bonfires. But we spend a lot of time in the woods hunting. We’re what you city people call rednecks.”

I laughed. “Oh. Isn’t hunting cruel?”

He and Tryston burst into laughter. I narrowed my eyes at Jane when she did too.

“Not when you eat your kill. It’s how people back in the day survived. And it’s fun.”

I scrunched my nose. “Fun?”

“Yeah,” Finn chuckled. “Have you ever shot a gun?”

I shook my head.

His eyes widened. “What! Oh, Ellie, you have to shoot a gun at least once in your life. I can teach you sometime.”

I looked at Jane, Tryston, and then at Finn. “I don’t know. That could be scary. Me with a gun?” I shuddered.

“That’s it. It’s decided. I’m taking you hunting, but before I do, you’re learning to shoot a gun.”

“Finn, I don’t—”

He cut me off. “You have no choice. I will drag you kicking and screaming if I have to.”

Jane nudged me. “It’s actually fun. I go with my dad sometimes. You should try it.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Okay, fine. I guess it doesn’t hurt to at least try it. But I can’t promise I won’t cry if I end up killing something.”

Everyone laughed. Our order number was called out, and Finn and Tryston went to go get it. I looked at Jane, taking advantage of the few seconds I had her alone.

“I hope he doesn’t get the wrong idea about us. I like him, but I just like the idea of a new friend. No relationship.”

She smiled and patted my shoulder. “Calm down, Ellie. I talked to him, and he’s only looking for a friend too. He said he doesn’t see you in a girlfriend kind of way but that he wants to be your friend. Don’t think too much into this, okay?”

I nodded, but then my mouth fell into a frown.
Friends.
That’s all I wanted to be with him and maybe not even that. We were in a trial period. So, why was I sad that Finn didn’t think we could ever be more? That should make me happy. Instead, it crushed me a little.

I
F YOU HAD ASKED
me whether Finn and I would become good friends that first day of school, I would have laughed in your face. But we were. He admitted that he did kind of hate me at first when he found out I was from Fredericksburg, but the more he watched me, the more he saw that I wasn’t like the snotty girls from there. I didn’t tell him that before I gave up my pom-poms, I had been.

I looked over at Finn who was sitting next to me on the fence post at Tryston’s house. Tryston lived in the woods. Literally. He was countrier than country and proud of it.

“You ready to shoot?” Finn asked while we watched Tryston set up the cans on the tailgate of his truck.

“Should he really be putting them on there like that? I mean, what if I miss? I will shoot up his truck.”

“Look at his truck, Ellie. If you miss, it won’t matter.”

I burst into laughter as I looked at the rusty old thing. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

We hopped off the fence, and I didn’t know if there was anything more attractive than Finn in his jeans, hoodie, and ball cap, with his shotgun slung over his shoulder. I followed him to the spot he drew in the dirt marking where he wanted me to stand. I looked at him while he dug in his pockets for something.

He pulled out bright orange ear plugs and handed them to me. “You’ll want those. Trust me.”

I took them and listened while he explained the scope.

“You match up the cross arrows on the center of what you want to shoot. My gun shoots a little high, so you’ll want to make your center a bit lower. When you’re ready to shoot, click off the safety and pull the trigger. Make sense?”

I nodded. “I think so,” I said with little confidence. This was going to end badly.

He smiled. “When you’re done, put the safety back on,” he said, demonstrating how the safety button worked. “Then lower the gun and give it back to me. Whatever you do, don’t point it at anyone.”

“Awww, why not?” I asked in a teasing pout.

He shook his head and laughed. He handed me the gun after I put the earplugs in. Tryston and Finn both stepped back. I put the gun to my right shoulder and looked through the scope. I placed the cross arrows close to the bottom of the soda can and clicked off the safety. I took a deep breath, and when I exhaled, I pulled the trigger. It kicked so hard that it shoved my shoulder back a little, but I didn’t care when I saw that I’d hit the can, and it fell to the ground. It felt so good to have accomplished it, even if it really wasn’t a big deal. I put the gun back to my shoulder and proceeded to shoot all seven cans off his truck. After clicking the safety on and lowering the gun so that it was pointed at the ground, I turned and smiled proudly at Tryston and Finn.

“Holy shit, Ellie! You actually did it!” Finn was in shock. I think he was more excited than I was. “Were you shittin’ with us about never shooting a gun?”

“No! I swear!”

“Damn! Then that’s kind of amazing, Ellie!”

“I know, right? I can’t believe it, but it was actually easy! And fun!”

Finn came over and took the gun from me. “With more practice, you’ll be ready to try your hand at hunting.”

I shook my head. “No, I really don’t think I could shoot an innocent animal.”

“Why not? Do you eat meat?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, what’s the big deal? How do you think they get hamburger meat, chicken, pork chops, bacon, and—”

“Okay, geez.” I laughed. “I don’t want to be the one to kill an animal, though.”

“You’re being dramatic. Promise me you’ll just try?”

“Maybe.” I laughed.

Finn’s eyes lingered on mine too long. The space between us grew thick with yearning, and my insides felt uneasy. My palms started sweating, and my cheeks flushed.
Oh my God.
My eyes fluttered away from his, and I looked at my feet.
What the hell just happened?
Why did he look at me like that?
Friends.
We were friends, dammit.

“Breakfast?” Finn offered, breaking the silence.

I tucked my hair behind my ears and nodded, barely looking at him. “Yeah. That sounds great. McDonald’s?”

“Yeah, I’ll go tell Tryston.” He bolted as fast as I had been about to if he hadn’t.

I made my way to his truck and waited.

That was so weird.

So damn weird.

THE PAIN OF LOSING
Channing and Katie was getting better. I still had moments where I got angry, but I refused to let myself be hurt by it anymore. If I allowed myself to wallow in self-pity, I was letting them win. I was making friends in my new town, and they were making moving on a whole hell of a lot easier.

But I had a new problem. I was starting to have feelings for Finn Kerr. As hard as I tried to avoid the new feelings, I was majorly failing. At first, it was just a physical attraction, but then it became more. The snarky attitude I had once despised was now what I loved about him and what made Finn who he was. The little things he did to make sure I’m happy or having a good time when we hung out showed me how compassionate and caring he was.

I hadn’t told Finn or Tryston about my family issues or anything that had gone wrong in the past few months. They didn’t need to know. However, Finn did ask me why I wasn’t bringing Channing around or hanging out in Fredericksburg as much anymore. I gave him a vague reply about how Channing and I broke up and my friends there weren’t as cool as my new ones in Kerrville.

I looked over at Finn while he washed my car. My teeth were chattering, and I had my hood pulled tightly over my head. Texas didn’t get too cold around this time of the year, but today it was definitely too cold to be washing a car. He insisted, though, since he was the one who got it dirty.

“You kn-n-now, F-inn, you c-c-could just w-w-ash it later.”

He burst into laughter at my attempt to talk and came across my driveway with a playful grin. My eyes went to the hose he was holding. I immediately jumped up, but before I could make a run for it, I was drenched in ice cold water.

I screamed.

“Stop!” I pleaded as I ran. I made it to the carport and pointed a shaky finger at him. “D-d-don’t you dare!”

He was doubled over laughing.

I huffed and glared at him. “I’m going inside.” My skin tingled with warmth when I walked into the house.

Once I made it to my room, I stripped out of my drenched clothes and changed into some sweats and another hoodie. After I brushed my hair, I headed back outside but stopped when I saw Finn sitting on my couch. He had his feet propped up on the recliner and his arms folded behind his head. I’d be freaking out if I thought my dad or Nancy would come home right now, but Dad was out of town, and Nancy was working nights as a nurse at an out-of-town hospital.