Unexpected (Winchester Wyverns #1)

Chapter 23

Finley

"Finley." His mother's voice brought him out of his daydream.

"Mum?"

"You didn't hear anything I said did you?"

"I'm sorry. What were you asking?"

"How is Christina doing?"

He sighed. It was the same question she'd asked every Sunday for the past month. "I don't know, mum."

"You still haven't contacted her."

"Mum, it isn't that easy." Finley picked up his plate and the other empty dishes to wash for his mother.

"What is the real problem, son?"

Finley stilled at the sound of his father's voice. His da was never a talkative man. His time in the army gave him a haunted look in his eyes. When he did ask a question, you felt the need to answer. "I don't know."

His father eyed him as he scrubbed the plate in his hand. "I don't know who you think you're talking to but I don't stand for lying. Your mother and sister have tried to talk to you and you give them the same bullshit answer. Tell me, Finley."

Finley dropped the plate into the sink splashing water on himself. He turned and crossed his arms over his wet shirt. "What do you want me to say? That I'm scared. That I feel like I failed her. That we will never be the same. Every time I see her all I see is that monster trying to hurt her and I was too late. Is that what you wanted to know?" Finley sobbed.

His father pulled him into a hug and let his son, who now towered over him, cry on his shoulder. Standing with his father, crying made Finley feel like he was a kid all over again. He finally pulled away from his father and wiped his face with the back of his hand. "Better?"

Finley nodded. "I'm sorry, da."

"It's alright, son. I understand how you feel though."

"You do?"

His father sat down at the small kitchen table. "When I was overseas fighting, I had all of those feelings. Your mother would call and talk about her struggles. Everything from you and your sister causing trouble, her losing her job, her getting mugged and your aunt dying." Finley blinked at some of the revelations he didn't know happened. "I couldn't be there with her. But, because I loved her I felt like I was constantly letting her down by not being there. I wasn't there to help her, hug her or protect her."

"I didn't even know about her job or her getting mugged."

"That's because your mum is one strong lady. She'd never let you know what happened."

"How did you deal with all of that?"

"I had to accept that things were out of my control sometimes. What mattered was I was there when I was around."

Finley nodded. "You are around now, Finley. Stop dwelling on what happened. It will be hard enough for that girl to get over it. You need to show her that not all men are like that. Show her the love you feel."

Finley bulked. "I'm not in love with her, da."

"Aren't you? You sure act like a man in love."

"How could I be in love? We barely know each other. We haven't even officially dated."

His dad laughed. "I knew I loved your mother the first time I talked to her. It only takes a moment to lose your heart, son."

"Did you finally get him to tell the truth?" His mother strolled into the kitchen with the remaining dishes.

"Of course, darling." He smiled and swatted his mum on her bum.

"Ew, da. Save that for when your impressionable children aren't around." His sister, Kate, said walking in with her glass of wine.

His mum smiled and mouthed to his da, "I love you" and winked.

Finley thought about what his da said during his drive back to his flat. Replaying every moment with Christina had his heart beating fast. He knew he still wanted her. Love was always a curse word for him. Women used that to get what they wanted. He never used it. So, why did he want to use it with her. Pulling into the carpark outside of Christina's flat, he couldn't remember making the decision to go there. Taking a deep breath, he got out of his car and walked to her flat.

When he approached her door, he heard yelling. His adrenaline spiked, and he knocked hard on the door. The yelling stopped, and the door swung open. Ruby looked flushed. "Oh, look who it is. Come in. Anyone is better than that prick." Ruby pointed to Dex standing against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Uh...um...hi, Ruby. Is Christina here?"

"Where the hell else would she be?" She said.

"Finley don't mind Ruby. She is having a hard time realizing she loves me." Dex said with a smirk.

"I don't love you. Why can't you get that through your head?" She yelled and poked at Dex's chest.

Dex grabbed Ruby's hand and pulled her to him. He kissed her before she could say anything else. Keeping her hand in his he led the now speechless Ruby down the hall. Ruby called down the hall, "Christina is on the couch with headphones on." A door slammed followed by giggles.

Finley saw Christina sitting on the couch with her back to the door. Her laptop lay open on her lap. Typing furiously, Christina didn't know he approached. She wore a tie-dyed bandana on her head. A Wyvern shirt with the logo and OY! OY! OY! written across it. Black yoga pants showed off her shapely legs leading down to her brightly painted toes.

Christina looked up and jumped when she saw him standing there. "Holy Shit! You scared me to death."

"I'm sorry."

She looked around and furrowed her brow. "Where are Dex and Ruby?"

"Well, I'd say having either angry sex or make-up sex. I couldn't tell with their argument."

Rolling her eyes, she turned and patted the couch. "Come sit down."

"What is going on with those two?" Finley leaned back and turned toward her.

"Dex proclaims to love Ruby, now. Ruby doesn't accept it. Between you and me, I think they both love the chase. Dex likes chasing and Ruby likes to be chased. If they ever really stopped running, I don't know what would happen. I just know that when they are in the same room, I have to have headphones on to drown them out."

Laughing, Finley stared at Christina. Like this they seemed like nothing had happened. "How are you?"

Christina swallowed. "I'm ok. Just taking things one day at a time."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?"

Finley started at her question. "I didn't protect you. You suffered because of me."

"You're wrong. I hurt because of Garrett. You didn't do anything."

Finley shook his head. "If only I'd been here on time. This wouldn't have happened." He reached up and cradled her head were he knew her bandage was.

Christina leaned into his touch. "If we want to go down this road, I have a lot of them. If only I'd looked out the peephole first. If only I'd called the police when he first started texting me. If only, I'd turned him in when he tried something in Chicago. Clearly, I am more to blame than you."

"How can you say that?"

"The same way you can." Christina reached up and caressed his cheek. "I've decided that I am not going to let Garrett ruin my life. I can't forgive him, but he won't hurt me any more by ruining the good things in my life. I think you should do the same."

Finley looked at Christina for a long moment. The strength she had amazed him. She wasn't going to let one moment dictate her life. Finley knew what he had to do. "Christina, will you go out with me?"

She smiled. "I thought you'd never ask again. Of course, I will."