Free Walk Me Down by HJ Bellus

like a warrior; I’ll give it my all.
    “Let’s go out on the boat,” Finn whispers down into my neck.
    Turning around, I fling my arms around his neck and kiss him. Finn nearly pulls back from shock, but quickly recovers with one swipe of his tongue along my lips.
    “Jump up into my arms,” he whispers into my mouth.
    “I can’t,” I say, pulling slightly away from him.
    “You can. I’ll catch you. I promise, Tessa.”
    “Finn, my leg. I can’t do it.”
    “Tessa, jump.”
    His words, his presence and the promise I just made him all swirl around inside until my legs steady just enough under me that I take the leap and jump up into his arms. A scream escapes my lips when my feet leave the ground. My common sense kicks in and is shocked by my actions. I feel Finn’s arms wrap around my back while my arms fly around his neck.
     
    “Finn,” I squeal.
    “See, I told you that I’d catch you.”
    “I can’t believe I just did that.”
    “Let’s go for a ride. I want to take you to a special place.”
    “Kiss me again,” I whisper.
    Finn doesn’t ask questions, rather just gets right down to business. My fingers run through his shaggy hair while my tongue dances in his mouth.
    Pulling back from his lips, I whisper, “I need you again.”
    “Me too, baby.”
    “No, I need you right now.”
    Finn swings us around and heads straight for his boat.
    “Hey, we are you two going?” I hear Will ask.
    Neither of us answers him as we both giggle like two giddy teenagers.
    “I’m starting to think this is going to be the best summer of my life,” I say as Finn sets us down in the driver’s seat.
    “Oh baby, in about thirty minutes, you’ll be screaming my name and have no doubt about this summer being the best ever.”
    Finn flips his cap backwards, starts the boats engine and takes off with me still on his lap.
    “Isn’t this dangerous?” I ask.
    “I’ve been driving a boat since I was seven,” he replies.
    “What?” I yell over the engine.
    “My granddaddy always took me fishing and would let me drive. We’ll pass the backside of our farm in a bit. I’ll point it out.”
    I desperately want to keep both of my hands on Finn, but my hair keeps whipping in every freaking direction making it hard to talk to Finn. He finally picks up on my problem and plops his hat on me.
    Finally, with my hair out of the way and both hands where they want to be I can ask questions.
    “So, your granddaddy is a farmer?”
    “Yep,” he answers kissing me.
    “Do you farm with him?”
    “Yep,” he answers again with another kiss.
    “And you love farming?”
    “Yep,” he replies again with a kiss.
    “I know all this because Will told me.”
    “Yep,” he replies with a kiss.
    “You jerk! Are you even listening to me?”
    “Yep,” he says and doesn’t forget the kiss.
    “Finn, I don’t understand because the day in the office it seemed like you and your dad were best friends.”
    Finn goes to answer my question, and I immediately feel bad for prying into such rough issues when we just barely figured everything out.
    “Wait,” I interrupt him, “kiss me first.”
     
    I feel the boat slow down and then the motor dies. Finn stands up, walking us towards the back of the boat and lays me down on a long bench. His body covers mine and when we are nose to nose, he begins to talk.
    “My dad is pissed that I never went to college. He’s pissed I want to farm with my granddaddy. My family owns this town and he’s dead set on me owning my own business. He wants nothing to do with my mom’s side of the family and it kills him that I do. Farming is in my blood. My momma loved that farm and so do I. Dad makes it all look great for the community, but yeah, someone like Will, whose lived here forever and rents office space from him, would know the whole story.”
    “He wants you with Kara,” the words leave my mouth before I even realize.
    They are the cold hard truth and the thought that makes seeing Kara even