Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 98023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98023 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 490(@200wpm)___ 392(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Finn’s transformation over the past few months has been incredible. From crude, guarded, gruff fighter to someone at peace, his shift has a lot to do with Uncle Ty’s patience and the rest of our family rallying around him and his siblings and his mom. For years, their lives were anything but easy. Their dad—the same man who walked out on my mom and uncles and left my grandma to raise five young kids by herself—put simply, is a piece of shit.
But now, the Hayes family is safe and happy, and it’s clear in the way Finn carries himself.
Ironically, his story is not far off from the rest of us, taken under the wing of a loving sector of our family to guide us through a hard time at one point or another. I, myself, wouldn’t be flourishing the way I am now without my mom, grandmother, all four of my uncles—especially Remy—and Wes Lancaster, who stepped up to be a better stepdad than any girl could dream of.
I was never like the other kids. But with my family, that didn’t matter.
“It’s a phenomenon of theoretical physics how Uncle Brad and Aunt Paula managed to cram so many bedrooms into that lake house,” I tease, shaking my head. “Are the walls portals to other dimensions? I’ve been trying to figure it out for years.”
Both Scottie and Finn laugh, Finn leaning down right after to whisper something in Scottie’s ear that makes her both blush and smile. If this weren’t a regular occurrence for them, I might be tempted to spill into the thoughts of a third wheel. Given the circumstances of Scottie’s injury, and the trials of their whole relationship, though, I’m just glad to see them both so happy.
It makes me wonder if I’ll ever have it—the thing my parents and my aunts and uncles and Finn and Scottie and even Ace and Julia, no matter how much they don’t realize it yet, have with each other. It’s a level of closeness with another person I’ve often mused if I’m actually capable of having, or if the attempt would be like fitting a square peg in a smaller, rounder hole.
I know I’m not a freak of nature or anything, but my brain does work differently. Relationship-wise, it’s a challenge.
“Incoming!” Jude yells, razor-knifing into the water with one knee tucked to his chest and splashing all of us once again. Scottie struggles to push herself all the way back up to sitting after startling, and Finn lifts from under her armpits to help her.
“How’s physical therapy going, Scottie?” I ask, steering the conversation away from my swirling thoughts and onto a different track. “Do you feel like you’re making any progress?”
“It’s going well…when I don’t get frustrated,” Scottie hedges. “Adam, the one PT at the Hodge Clinic, says he thinks I’m only a few months away from finding some really solid independence.”
“That’s great,” I reply warmly, pushing up off my elbows and leaning my chest into my knees as a possibility hits me. “My dad, Nick, is a neurosurgeon, you know? World-renowned, actually. And he’s supposed to be back from Germany this summer. I know the teams you’ve been working with from St. Luke’s and Daytona were top-notch, but maybe you should do a consult with him, just for kicks.”
“Really?” Scottie asks. Her voice is both excited and hesitant, and I instantly know why. I’m not great at reading people, but it’s a no-brainer why someone in Scottie’s circumstances would be reticent with their hope. Going from a cheerleader in the prime of her career to paralyzed from the waist down is something no one expects or accepts easily. It took a lot of work to get as comfortable as she is, and any kind of false anticipation of a different outcome could really cause a setback.
“Of course.” I nod. “Next time I talk to my dad, I’ll mention it.”
“Thanks, Lex.” Finn’s deep voice has an extra edge of emotion I’m not sure anyone but I would pick up on, but I notice it all the same. Part of my brain’s chemical makeup is analysis. Every sound. Every face. Every facet. I can’t help but study them all. “We appreciate it.”
I shrug. For as weird as it may be, given how I met Fighting Finn Hayes for the first time—in the middle of a Double C event before he went toe-to-toe with ex-UFC fighter Donnie Marks—we’re family. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him.
Internal laughter plagues me as I realize Blake’s stupid nickname for Finn has rooted inside my brain. I knew I’d remember it, but I never dreamed I’d find myself using it.
“What are your friends up to this weekend?” I ask, the niggling—and lately constant—curiosity I have about Blake rearing its ugly head. Ever since we kissed over a week ago, I’ve been mentally analyzing his charismatic superpowers at every available opportunity. And after my interaction with him on campus last Monday, I might’ve taken my research a step further.