Free Bet in the Dark by Rachel Higginson Page B

I’ve heard you were a man-whore, packaged with all kinds of fun diseases but,” I squinted at the screen, “Laney Brennan seems willing to take a chance. Which good for you, I mean as long as you’re safe and all.”
    “What?” Fin asked in a panicked kind of way that made me certain he understood.
    “Or, um Sophia Kesslar? She is also interested in all those acquired man-whore skills. Careful though, she might come with her own set of diseases based on this picture she just sent you.”
    Fin sprinted across the room and dove in front of me. With a couple quick clicks of the mouse he shut off the messenger completely and finally removed his body from lying on top of my lap. He stared down at me, face red with either embarrassment or anger, I couldn’t tell.
    “Listen, before you give me the you’re-that-kind-of-guy speech, let’s come to the agreement that I can’t stop them from messaging me. I didn’t ask for either of their…. propositions,” he winced on the word and gave a nervous glance back at the computer. “That was all them.”
    “Fin, honestly,” I sighed. “I don’t care whether you propositioned them, or they propositioned you or whatever. It’s none of my business. Plus, I had class last semester with Sophia Kesslar and I knew she wore spanx under everything, I knew it. She should really cut back on the party-girl-lifestyle. That beer gut is not doing anything for her.”
    Fin stared down at me, his eyes narrowed, arms crossed. “That doesn’t bother you? Really?” He jutted his chin at his Facebook account and I had to stifle the urge to roll my eyes.
    “Like I said, you’re after school activities are your business, not mine. I’m just here to pay off someone else’s debt so you can go back to running your drug cartel.”
    “Are you always this feisty?”
    “Actually no,” I said around a bite of pizza. “Never.”
    “So you didn’t give Colton any attitude?” he walked back over to the counter, retrieved his pizza and then settled in next to me as if we were really about to discuss my ex-boyfriend.
    “No,” I grunted. “For Colton, I was the perfect girlfriend. Well, I thought I was the perfect girlfriend, he thought I was the boring girlfriend.”
    “What an asshole,” Fin growled.
    “Mmm-hmmm,” I agreed.
    “So, I’m assuming you were pretty heartbroken then?” Fin set his plate down and leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. His dark brown eyes were open and gentle. He really wanted to hear this.
    Except this was way too reminiscent of how I got myself into the mess with Colton to begin with.
    “I guess,” I replied casually. I set my pizza down next to Fin’s but sat up straight. I could feel a wall clicking into place over my heart and careful tension return to my shoulders. I was so not falling for the white knight thing again.
    “You were in love with him?” Fin pressed, obviously prying.
    I let out an unexpected laugh. “No, oh god, no.” I shook my head, and laughed some more. Fin’s expression had gone from gentle to challenging, and his jaw ticked with tension. Suddenly I felt the need to explain myself completely. Gone was the careful protection of my emotions. If he wanted the truth, I was going to give it to him. “There was an attachment. I cared for Colton. I still do to some degree. But I didn’t love him.”
    “Then why did you stay with him for three years?” Fin demanded, leaning closer to me.
    “I didn’t say I could never love him, just that I didn’t yet. Maybe you fall in love every night Fin
    Hunter, but for me that is a huge deal.”
                  “So you’ve never been in love?” he asked almost eagerly. I kind of hated that his expression softened with his question, as if he already knew the answer. Shoot, his entire body relaxed.
                  What was I supposed to do with that? Why did he seem relieved that I had never been in love?
                  He was so