Darker The Forbidden Berry

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“Oh yeah! Just a little distracted.” She could not stop her gaze from wandering back towards Finn.

Killian followed her line of sight and a soft smile tugged at his lips.

“Ah…You got a thing for him, hmm?”

Aja stiffened but did not reply. Killian was a nice guy, and he was certainly attractive. If she had not met Finn, she might be swooning over him, but that just was not the case. Finn occupied her mind completely and she just could not shake it off.

“If you’re feeling things for him, I’d let him know. He’s always been a hot commodity in his circles,” he chuckled, nodding towards Finn. “Go get him. Don’t let yourself regret waiting.”

 The words of encouragement were all she needed. Aja hopped up from her stool and held her arms out, balancing herself for a moment. Her world spun but she did not care. She turned to look at Killian and took his hands.

“You’re really cool! And I’m sorry about this! I have a really pretty friend who would fall head over heels for you!” The words just tumbled out without much thought, but she knew Jaleeyah wouldn’t mind.

He laughed and waved his hand a little. “Great. Introduce me to your friend and we’ll call it even. Now, get going before Allison makes her move!”

Aja turned and sprinted down the beach, ignoring the way her stomach did flips the whole way. She was not going to barf. Not right now. She had business to take care of. She slowed her run as she approached and reached out, grabbing Finn’s arm and interrupting him without much tact or grace. She did not have time for that.

“I need to talk to you.”

Finn’s brows furrowed and he turned to look at Aja. “Are you okay?”

Aja opened her mouth to talk, but Allison cut her off.

“He’s busy sweetheart. I’ll send him over when I’m done talking, okay?” Her voice was pleasant but the tone was unbearably condescending.

It was off-putting enough that Aja did not even have to say anything. Finn turned to her, face pulled into a look of disgust.

“She was not talking to you, and neither was I. She’s a guest here too and you don’t get to talk to her like that. She isn’t a child.”

“Come on Finn! She works for you! It was very charitable for you to bring her along, but you can stop acting like she’s your friend.”

The words could have cut Aja deep, but Finn cut Allison off. He stepped forward, his face mere inches from hers.

“Watch your mouth, Allison. Don’t go talking about things you don’t understand. Backup and remember who cut your daddy the check that made him rich.” The words came out like steel. Cold, hard and unflinching.

Allison was clearly shocked by the statement, but quickly cleared her throat and rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she grunted, turning her back to Finn.

Aja felt a little bad for the grin that had spread across her face, but not bad enough to try and hide that.

“That…Was impressive,” she murmured, her words slurred just a bit as Finn led her away from the fire.

“Are you okay?” He asked again, completely ignoring what had just happened.

Aja was still watching Allison snarl but pulled her gaze away to focus on Finn. Her head was spinning and when she started to fall to one side, Finn managed to catch her, propping her up, his brows drawn together.

“I need to tell you something,” Aja said quickly, clinging to him.

“What?”

“I-I think I like you! Like really like you. I think I want to go on dates with you.”

Finn was clearly surprised by her words. She watched his face go from shocked to accepting as he put his hand on her shoulder.

“You need to lie down.”

“What? No! I need to talk to you!”

“I don’t feel comfortable having this conversation with you right now. Let’s go back up to the room and get some rest.”

She opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it when she realized she had nothing to say. He led her up the stairs, her head hung just a bit and her lip trembling. She did not know what ‘we’ll talk tomorrow’ really meant, but it could not be good.

They got back to the room and he helped her change into a nightshirt and put her bonnet on before kissing the tip of her nose and easing her into the bed. Finn settled in beside her but still had his clothes on. She curled around him, her eyes squeezed closed as she willed sleep to take over. Before she finally drifted off into sleep, a few desperate words fell from her lips.

“Please…Don’t leave.”