Craft Beer & Roses

Chapter 25

Aviva adjusted the bag of ice resting over her eyes. Icy drops of water trickled down her temples, finding their way to the crevices of her neck. Her pounding headache had finally settled to a dull throbbing, though her ears were still ringing from Kat's screaming. Was it even possible to break the sound barrier? Kat may very well have defied the odds with her rage. Perfectly justifiable rage. Kat's feelings for Finn were real. She obviously wanted him; hearing what Aviva and Finn had done must've burned her. It was a pain Aviva was intimately familiar with, and she was horrified that she'd participated in its infliction so selfishly. The guilt alone threatened to shake her apart. But the hardwood floor against her back was the thing keeping Aviva together. That, and the man coming up beside her.

Finn stood above her, a blanket tucked under his arm while his hands held a cup of water and two tablets of aspirin. He lifted his elbow to let the blanket plop onto the ground before bending low to transfer the simple remedy to her hands. Aviva hadn't even asked him to take care of her; he chose to do so all on his own. Finn was the one who suggested heading to the roof terrace after Kat's verbal lashing, figuring Aviva would need some quiet. He brought her ice after noticing her swollen eyes when she'd finished crying. And when she started rubbing at her temples, he rushed to get her some medicine. The blanket was just a bonus. She'd never had someone so in tune with her needs. Even Suresh had never paid attention to her that closely.

Finn lowered himself to the floor, unfurling the bundled blanket and throwing it over his legs and hers. He wiggled down further beneath the cottony sheet, rolling over onto his side to watch her attentively. Yet as she laid back down next to him, Aviva maintained a somewhat respectable distance. Things felt different now. No more will they, won't they. They did. And they did it very well, Aviva thought. So well that she'd surely feel it in the morning. But their actions still had consequences. People were hurt, and questions were still unanswered. Uncertainty constricted her insides. There was an awkwardness between them, something Finn was quick to do away with. He slid his hand up her thigh, laying his arm fully across her hip to bring her gently toward him. She couldn't find it in herself to object, closing the space between them with zero resistance.

Eventually, he broke the silence, "You're so tense."

"What? No I'm not." Aviva refuted.

Finn laughed heartily, "Your face is saying otherwise, but it's cute to see you try to deny it."

Aviva pouted, curling into herself. He chuckled at her childishness, pulling back slightly, "Look, if you're feeling uncomfortable, you will have all the space you need. I don't want things to be weird between us."

She tentatively pressed her hands against his hard chest, crumpling the fabric in her fingers as she nuzzled deeper into him, inhaling his heat and cologne. She didn't want him to leave, not when she finally had him where she'd wanted him. "No, stay here...I want you to..." She mumbled, words garbled by their closeness.

He moved his hand from her hip to take her by her chin, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Finn narrowed his eyes.

Aviva sighed, shifting her gaze away from his, "I...I just feel horrible. What I've done...Alfie was right."

His fingers caressed the side of her face, removing her anxiety with each stroke, "We. What we've done. I was there, too. I know it seems wrong but...it feels right...right?"

She couldn't argue with that. His body next to hers. The devotion in his eyes. How could it feel anything but right? Aviva reached up, mirroring his gesture as her hand found his cheek. She dragged her touch down to his neck, fingers lingering on the prominent mark she'd left from suckling on his skin earlier. She abruptly pulled away, guilt plaguing her conscience again.