Dangerous Play

38 » clearing the air

Finn's phone buzzed, startling him out of his afternoon nap. He fished around on the nightstand and answered with a groan. "What do you want?"

His sister's voice sounded across the line. "Can you get me chips from the kitchen?"

"Get them yourself," he snapped, still groggy and irritated at having been woken up.

She huffed so loudly he could hear it from his room and not just over the phone. "Are you serious?" His mind finally caught up and he remembered why she had to ask him instead of going to grab them on her own. Then he felt bad, but of course he couldn't let her know that.

He rubbed his eyes. "Fine, whatever." As he disconnected the call, he noticed a text from Eden that simply said, can we talk? Finn swiped the notification away, ignoring the twinge in his chest as he thought about the string of unopened messages from her.

He stomped down the stairs. Abby was sprawled on the couch in their living room, injured knee in a brace and crutches tossed haphazardly off to the side. When she spotted him, she said, "I want the cheddar Ruffles and the oven-baked barbecue chips."

"You woke me up from a nap," Finn grumbled. "Besides, didn't the doctors say you should keep walking so your muscles don't atrophy before your surgery?"

His sister shrugged. "I start physical therapy for that on Monday. I'm gonna enjoy being lazy before the hard stuff actually begins."

The full diagnosis of Abby's injury was a complete ACL tear, grade 2 partial LCL tear, and a small meniscus tear. The doctors had said the LCL and meniscus would likely heal on their own, but she would need surgery to repair her ACL. Before the procedure, though, she needed prehabilitation to help ensure a smooth recovery—hence the physical therapy.

Finn grabbed the chips out of the pantry and tossed both bags in Abby's direction. "Don't eat too many of those. You know Kieran and Eden's parents are coming over tonight for dinner."

"Yeah, I know," she mumbled through a mouthful of chip. "I'm surprised you remembered, considering you haven't been talking to Eden."

His eyes narrowed. "How do you know about that?"

"Because, believe it or not, we're actually friends now. Which means we talk." She leveled him with a gaze, the green eyes that they both shared piercing straight through him. "You know none of this was her fault. And it's pretty shitty of you to ghost her when she hasn't done anything wrong."

He wanted to protest, but deep down he knew Abby was right. "I'll talk to her tonight." At her deadpan look, he remedied his statement. "I'll apologize."

"That's better," she said, leaning back against the couch cushions. "Though you may want to figure out what you're going to say fast."

Before Finn could ask what she meant, the doorbell rang. He turned to his sister, jaw dropping. "Are you serious?"

Abby didn't look sorry at all. "What? I have no idea who that could be. You better answer it and find out."

Finn gave her one last look before heading for the front door. When he opened it, he was hardly surprised to find Eden standing on the other side. She was in a casual gray sweater and jeans, but even in that outfit she looked effortlessly beautiful.

"Uh... hi," he said dumbly. "You're early for dinner." The joke fell flat, and he almost physically cringed. Eden clearly felt it too, raising a single eyebrow as if to say, that's all you have to say to me?

He closed his eyes and took a breath, then opened the door wider, gesturing for her to come inside. "Sorry. Let me get my shoes and we can walk to the park and talk."