Contronym

Chapter 10

The look on my face must have screamed 'stay the fuck away from me' because when I walked out of the principles office, even Finn seemed hesitant. He had just gotten a slap on the wrist for swearing at people in the hallway and missing period one. Lucky son of a bitch.

I, on the other hand, got a lecture about how pictures and the internet work. I told them I didn't take the pictures but then they basically threw it back in my face that I shouldn't hang out with people that weren't trustworthy. Coach jumped in and saved my ass from getting in too much trouble. I'm only 17 so whoever put those pictures up could get arrested. Sadly, their faces just happened to not be on the security cameras.

Stupid school.

I ended up just having to leave early today. It wouldn't go on my record or anything which I was thankful for. It was week two of school and I did not need a record this early in the game. That would ruin my future.

I was in the office for almost an hour but Finn must have waited for me because he was still leaning against the wall outside of the office when I came out.

I walked past him and towards the doors of the school but he pushed off the wall and fell instep with me. The walk to my car was silent. I got in the drivers seat and Finn wordlessly got in the passenger, throwing our bags in the back seats.

"You okay?" He finally asked after a moment of silence.

I blew out a puff of air before leaning back in my seat and responding. "I guess. I'm being sent home fore the day. Nothing else happened except for getting fucking reprimanded about trusting certain people. Assholes." I muttered.

"Yeah." Finn agreed. It would be hard not to hate the principal after seeing what just happened. "If I knew this would happen I wouldn't have agreed to that bet." He said referring to last week at the beach. I smirked a little at the memory.

"Well, you never really 'agreed'. Although pissing you off was worth it." I laughed. At least I could distract myself from the rumors probably swirling around school. My phone had texts from Sam and Al. Even a few from Chris but I was too agitated to look at them. At least with Finn, he could make me forget.

"Oh please. You just wanted to feel me up." He scoffed and crossed his arms, his muscles straining against his T-shirt.

"Mhm. That's why you were the one who wrapped your arms around my waist. I totally saw you checking me out, by the way." I teased him.

"Okay; Next time there's a half naked man feeling you up, you try and maintain eye contact." He said defensively. "Don't think I don't catch you eyeing me when we work out."

I ignored his comment because it was true. You can't put dessert in front of me and expect me not to taste. That's what Finn was. He was something I knew was bad for me yet it was something that had appeal on the outside. And you only feel like shit after you have it. I wouldn't have Finn. He had a nice body but his personality was shit. The risk wasn't worth the reward and once the adrenaline wore off, it would only get worse.

"You basically just admitted that I was hot. Don't deny it, Riley. We both know it's true." I laughed. I didn't think I would be laughing today, let alone with Finn Riley, but here I am. Today is full of surprises.

"I'll give you that if you admit that you can barely keep your eyes off me at practice." He smirked teasingly. My face was set in stone and that only encouraged him even more. "Say it and I might even admit which one of those pictures was a total turn on."

My face probably went red for a second biased on the heat I felt on my face but I brushed it off. "Oh really? Are you an ass man or a tits man, Finn?" My voice was flirty and playful all of the sudden. I guess for today I could forget that we were supposed to hate each other.

"Guess you'll never now." He said cryptically and plugged his phone into my aux cord.

"Guess not." I replied with a smirk.

****

"Is your dad ever home?" Finn asked as we entered my kitchen. He was probably asking because last time it was late on a friday and he still wasn't home.

"Nope. Life of a CFO I guess. Besides, it's a new job. He's got to kiss ass with the other big wigs. It's kind of my fault he had to get a new job in the first place." I said nonchalantly. "You want food?"

"Nah, I'm good." He shrugged and typed something on his phone. "Sam says you need to answer your damn phone because he thought you died or something."

I rolled my eyes and pulled a yogurt out of my fridge. "Tell him to stop being a drama queen."

"Already did." He replied with that devilish smirk. "So what's our plan for today?"

I raised an eyebrow and took a spoon out of my kitchen drawer. "Who said anything about 'our'?"

"Well, I figure as soon as I leave, you're about to crawl under a blanket and binge watch tv and food which isn't exactly going to help you. Besides, wallowing is a turn off." He added a little extra bite so I would get fired up. It worked.

"Good. Because I'm not trying to turn you on." I took a spoon full of yogurt and thought about it for a moment. I leaned against my counter and crossed my ankles. "We could go to the gym like we were going to do or..... we could go make fun of the tourists in the park looking at fall trees." I smirked. Groton has beaches and autumn leaves. That's a recipe for southern tourists. Honestly, I'm sure that's the only reason Connecticut has tourists at all.

"You really are a vindictive person, aren't you?" His lips tipped up and he crossed his arms while leaning back against the back of the bar stool chair. I would be lying if I said I didn't glance over his muscular arms again. The look on his face told me that he knew it too.

"Vindictive is my middle name."

"I think you just want an excuse to see the leaves and you don't want to admit it." He replied cockily, thinking he could see right through me.

"If I wanted to look at stupid colored leaves I could look out the window." I gestured to the bay window behind me in a 'duh' tone. I did kind of want to go to the park. I wouldn't admit that though.

"That's a maple tree dumb ass."

"You know I lived in New York until I was ten." I retorted. "I haven't lived in California my whole life."

"The city?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow. The frown on my face seemed to answer the question for him because he smiled. "You haven't seen the fucking leaves you liar. The leaves in the city are nothing compared to this. You know the New Yorkers come here for this right? That's why all the state parks are packed."

I ignored him and continued to eat my raspberry yogurt. He didn't drop it though. Finn was almost as stubborn as me. "Oh come on. Admit it. You want to see the leaves."

We wouldn't get anything done today if I didn't say it, so I relented. "Fine. I want to see the leaves. But I also want to make fun of tourists."

A slow smile worked its way onto his tanned face. He had dimples when he smiled. Urgh. This boy made my hormones hate my brain. "Now we can go to the park. Was that hard?" His tone told me that he wouldn't let this go. Finn would tease me about this for weeks.

"Very. We're going to the gym after."

"Fine with me, sweetheart."

Fuck him.