Chloe: Fine. Come to the second window at the back of the house and I'll let you in. Two minutes and then you're out. I don't have anything to say to you.

I turned the truck off and got out, jogging to the back and finding her window open. I felt all of sixteen again. It was humorous and nerve-wracking all the same.

"Hurry up and get in here." She helped me in and moved back, putting her hands on her hips. She had on a tiny tank top and a pair of boy shorts.

"Fuck," I whispered and let my eyes drag down her. Now wasn't the time, and yet she was the hottest thing I'd ever laid eyes on.

I moved toward her before I realized what I was doing.

"Finn. No." She put her hands out, but I moved past them, wrapping my arms around her and pressing her against the wall behind her roughly. She groaned, but it wasn't a scared sound. She still wanted me. I could sense it all over her.

"I'm sorry." I leaned in and drug my lips up her neck, breathing her in. "I was told you had a man, Chloe. By my best friend and your brother."

"I know," she whispered roughly as her hand ran up the back of my hair.

"I was hurt and so far beyond pissed. You can't have another man." I licked at her ear and pressed my lips to it as I ground against her. "That leaves no room for me."

She cried out again and whimpered. "I need time. I can't do this right now."

I shifted my upper body back and brushed her hair back before pressing my forehead to hers. "Time is all yours. Take as much as you need, but I don't want a friendship. I want you. All of you."

She whimpered again and closed her eyes, rolling her hips and stroking my body with hers.

I clinched my teeth, respecting the fact that her father was down the hall. If we'd have been alone that night, I would have already had her stretched out on her bed, my face between her pretty taunt thighs.

She opened her beautiful green eyes and nodded as she bit her lip.

"Tell me we're okay and I'll go." I brushed my lips by hers and slid my hand down her side, over the curve of her breast and around her hip, my fingers tracing the outside of her panties.

"We're okay. I'm sorry for overreacting, but you hurt me today."

I could smell the liquor on her breath and I wanted to share in her sadness, her pain.

"I'm sorry for that. I hurt you out of my own pain. It won't ever happen again. I promise." I pressed my lips to her and snaked my fingers into her panties, rubbing over the curve of her ass as I kissed her long and passionately. She had my heart. I didn't know how, but she did.

She pushed at me and I moved back, panting just as she was. "I need time to think through this."

"I understand. I'll wait as long as I can for you to come find me. If you don't...I'll come find you. Be ready to accept me or not, but know that I want you. More than I've ever wanted anyone, Chloe."

I moved back and she clung to me, her fingers wrapped around my t-shirt that was bunched at my shoulders.

"Tell me to stay and I will." I licked at my lips and took one more look at her, which left me overwhelmed.

"Soon." She released me and backed up, hugging herself and watching me intently.

I stood there a minute longer, needing her to change her mind, but wanting to give her time to want me the way I wanted her. The sound of her father coming down the hall almost caused my heart to stop and I moved through the window and chuckled at the sound of her laughing softly out of her window.

Things weren't perfect, but maybe they were at least getting back on track.

Chapter 19

Three Days Later

Chloe

It had been three days since I'd spoke to Finn, since the night he came through my bedroom window. I hadn't thought of too much other than him, but I wanted to make sure I was ready for a relationship before approaching him. He was as fragile as I was. No reason to start something that I couldn't finish.

The meeting with my Dad a few days back went relatively well. He liked my designs and even allowed me access to one of his manufactures to start working on a prototype for the women's wind-breaker I designed. It wasn't what I wanted to do with my life, but it was a first step in helping him see me for the professional I was becoming.

With only ten days until Christmas, I had a list of gifts I needed to get, mostly for my brother, but I was running out of time. I had a piece of toast and then headed out for the morning and made sure Parker was still planning on taking me snowboarding for the afternoon. I'd decided over the last three days that I wanted to learn how to do it. I would have asked Finn, but we had some damage repair to get through.

After talking about everything with Parker, he confessed to lying about me still being with Seth simply because it seemed to be in my best interest to steer clear of Finn. I was pissed, but I understood where my brother was coming from too. He was all for me calling Finn, but I needed to make sure I was completely for it too.

I picked up my purse and paused by the door as my brother called for me.

"Chloe. Wait. I wanna go."

"Shopping? Have you lost your mind? You're the worst shopper in the universe."

"Come on. I don't want to stay cooped up here. Let's go shop, eat lunch and then we'll go hit the slopes and I'll teach you some tricks."

"Yeah, let's start with the one where I stay vertical on the board."

We laughed and I moved out into the garage. I got into the Cherokee and buckled up as he got into the other side.

"I invited a friend to go boarding with us. Hope that's okay." He turned toward me.

"Yeah, sure. Just show me the ropes and then you and your friend can go get lost." I winked and pulled the car out. "I'm glad the roads haven't been too bad this Christmas. Sometimes they are so bad here. I remember as a kid having to help Dad put those track thingies on the wheels."

"Chains?" He snorted.

I popped his arm. "Hush or I'll take you into every pantie store I see."

"Please?" He growled and I rolled my eyes.

I'd forgotten I was dealing with a sixteen year old boy. He wasn't a kid anymore, oddly enough. Neither was I, and I needed to stop acting like it in several areas of my life.

"I think I'm going to call Finn today." I turned on the heater and waited for my brother's reaction.

"I think that's a great idea, actually. He's the only thing that can keep you here, so I'm all for him."

I glanced over at my brother. "Keep me here?"

"Yeah. I don't want you to go back to Cali. Neither does Dad. We were talking about it last night when you conked out on the movie." He smiled and leaned back in his seat. "It's fantastic having a woman around the house. We get to eat, have clean clothes... and feel loved."

"Awww, you feel loved by me?" I teased him, reaching over to pinch at his chest and ears.

"Alright. Never mind. Get your ass back on a plane." He pulled from me and laughed. "Stop. I'm ticklish."

"Finn's not the only one that could keep me here, Parker. I would consider it for you and Dad."

"Right, but he'd be enough to sway the vote." Parker shrugged. "And honestly, after thinking about everything, I think maybe I misjudged him. He didn't seem like a playboy asshole the other day. He seemed like a normal guy to me."

"He is. I think we've all done a lot of misjudging each other." I turned into the large shopping mall and parked. "You ready for this fun day?"