Free Skin (McCullough Mountain 2) by Lydia Michaels

been there.”
    “How come you’re not drunk?”
    “Someone has to look out for the rest of
them.”
    She peeked through the curtain of her hair
and smirked. “You’re a nice guy, Finnegan McCullough. I’m glad
you’re my friend.”
    “Me too.”
    Her hand swatted at her hair, pushing it
over her shoulder. “I really should—” her shoulders jerked and she
swallowed. Her face paled and then she fell forward and gripped the
toilet.
    “Fuck.” He went to her side and gathered her
hair as she emptied her stomach. Once he had her hair wrapped
around his fingers and out of the way, he ran a hand over her
back.
    She whined and gripped the bowl. “Get
out…”
    “It’s fine. I’ve been there. Just get it all
out.”
    “I can’t puke in front of you!” Her next
sentence was cut off as her body proved her mouth a liar.
    He waited there, rubbing her back and
offering her tissues until the worst of it seemed to pass. “I’ll be
right back.” He went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. He
looked in her cabinets for crackers, but found none.
    When he returned to the bathroom she was
sprawled over the toilet, her face pressing into the cool lid.
“Here, drink this.”
    She took the water and guzzled it down. “I
can’t believe you just heard me puke.”
    “Saw you puke too.”
    She shot him a mutinous glare and finished
her water.
    “Do you have crackers?”
    “No crackers. Carbs are the devil.”
    “I thought whiskey was the devil?”
    “They’re both evil.”
    He lowered himself to the floor, figuring he
should wait a few minutes before moving her. “Did you have fun
tonight?”
    “Yes. You’re family’s really cool. I like
Samantha a lot.”
    “Sammy’s great. You’ll have fun working with
her.”
    “We’re gonna have lunch together on
Monday.”
    “That’s good.”
    She sighed and snuggled into the toilet as
if it were a down pillow. “Hey, what happened to Erin?”
    Finn sighed. He stretched his legs over the
narrow space of tile. “We had a fight and sort of broke up
again.”
    “What did you fight about?”
    “The same old bullshit. Me not giving her
enough attention. Her wanting me to move out of my parents’
house.”
    “To live with her?”
    “To buy my own place.”
    She frowned. Her lashes drooped over her
eyes and he knew she wasn’t at her cognitive best at the moment.
“How does you moving out of your parents’ house affect her?”
    “Because I think she assumes my house will
eventually be hers.”
    “Does she live with her parents too?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well then why doesn’t she move
out?”
    “Exactly.”
    She rolled her eyes and mumbled something he
didn’t catch.
    “What?”
    “Nothing. If you ask me…”
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Never mind. It’s not my
place.”
    “Say it. We’re friends. I want to know what
you think.”
    She seemed to hesitate. “I think you can do
way better than her.”
    He frowned. “You don’t really know her.”
    “I know the kind of girl she is.”
    Erin was someone he cared about on some
level. It was hard not to come to her defense. On the other hand,
Mallory had never been anything but honest with him and she wasn’t
the type to put people down for no reason. In truth, he’d never
heard her say a bad thing about anyone aside from herself. “What
kind of girl is she?”
    “The kind who is always looking for a
better, faster solution.”
    “What do you mean?” For not truly knowing
Erin, she seemed awfully insightful.
    “I saw her talking to some guy before you
got there tonight.”
    He stiffened. “Who?”
    “The guy who came out of the bathrooms after
me. Should I be telling you this?”
    “Yes. What was she saying to him?”
    “I don’t know. I wasn’t close enough to
hear, but they were real cozy and she kept checking the door. The
minute your family showed up they acted like perfect strangers and
she sat alone for a while. Then when I went to use the
bathroom…”
    He forced himself to breathe