Finished by Claire Kent Page A

He met her eyes and she knew—even before he spoke—that he wasn’t going to lie to her. “It was good for a while, but that doesn’t mean it will last.”
    She stayed with him all night. Occasionally, she’d doze off, when the strain of the day caught up to her. But when she woke in the middle of the night, surrounded by the silence of their expensive apartment and the gentle touch of Mike’s hands, even half-asleep as he was, she had to confront what she’d never been able to admit before.
    When daylight came and she could use the whole of her mind and her conscious will, she’d never believe she had made such an admission in the dark.
    But Mike’s final words might be the truth.

Four
    Two and a half months ago, both Mike and Julia had had a little too much to drink at her cousin’s wedding reception.
    They’d both been laughing in the elevator about nothing in particular on the way up to their hotel room, and Julia couldn’t seem to keep her hands off Mike as he unlocked the door.
    “I had such a good time,” she announced as she stepped inside, sliding her hands down his back until she could playfully squeeze his ass. “I don’t think I’ve ever had such a good time at a wedding reception before.”
    Mike grinned at her, looking rumpled and sexy in his dark suit and loosened tie. “Your good time—and also your gropiness—might have something to do with the amount of champagne you drank.”
    “Hey, I wasn’t groping,” she said, in an obvious lie. “And you drank a lot too.” She slid off her shoes and her jewelry and stared at herself in the mirror above the dresser. She looked prettier than normal. Also kind of flushed and mussed.
    “I never said I was sober. For what it’s worth, I had a really good time too.” He collapsed on the bed, sprawling out as he kicked off his shoes. “I’m just saying our mood might be elevated in proportion to the amount of champagne we drank.”
    “You’re pretty lucid for being inebriated.”
    “Alcohol brings out my verbal brilliance. But I don’t think inebriated is the word for my current state.”
    “Buzzed?”
    “Maybe a little.”
    She giggled, feeling strangely soft and affectionate. She sank down onto the bed beside him, reclining just like he was. “Thanks for coming with me this weekend.”
    “Sure. What else would I do?”
    “Well, you could have said no.” She turned her head to smile at him. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
    He smiled back. “Me too.”
    After smiling at each other for a while. Julia rolled onto her side so she was facing him. “It was funny to see all those people from high school. I feel so different from them now.”
    “I think everyone feels that way when they go back to their hometown.”
    “Yeah. I guess so.” She took a little breath and then admitted, “I guess I wanted everyone today to see me for who I am now, since I didn’t feel very special in high school. Is that silly and petty, do you think?”
    “Of course, it isn’t silly or petty.” He’d been staring up at the ceiling, but now he turned to gaze at her face. “I figured you’d have been popular in high school—since you’re so smart and pretty.”
    She felt a happy flush at the compliment but didn’t let it distract her. “I wasn’t particularly popular. I wasn’t really in a group at all. I had a few friends, and we were always on the fringes. Not the really popular kids. Not the really smart kids. Not the really artsy kids. Just boring. In the background. And, whenever I go to something like this, I can’t help but want everyone now to see me as…as significant. Even after all this time.”
    His gaze had turned strangely deep. She recognized it even through the haze of the alcohol. “I think you’re significant, Julia.”
    She smiled, rather sappily. “Thank you for that. But aside from my living situation—which is definitely unconventional—I’m about as average as a person can get.”
    “You are not.” He’d been