FinnsRedemption by Sierra Summers Page B

again and this time refused to let go.
“I want you to know that I never ever meant for anyone to find out what
happened that night. Believe it or not, I did like you. You were so different
from the other girls. You were smart and funny and didn’t demand every moment
of my attention. You gave me freedom to hang with my friends, or at least who I
thought were my friends. I didn’t have to pretend to be someone I wasn’t.
    “The rumors of my family being witches were difficult to
overcome. The teasing the boys and I took as young kids was so damn hard. By
the time high school came around, I could play ball. That saved me from getting
shit every day. I was part of the in crowd. Treated like everyone else and the
popularity followed.”
    “Was it worth it, being someone you weren’t?” It was a
legitimate question but the answer was a little more complicated.
    “No, it wasn’t worth it but I was a kid and I would probably
do the same thing again. Only this time I’d make sure no one followed us that
night.”
    He reached across the table and cupped her soft cheek. “I
don’t regret, I’ll never regret, what happened between us. Believe it or not it
was the first time for me as well. I wasn’t the stud everyone assumed I was.”
    Alli sucked in a breath. “But I thought you and Missy had—”
    He cut her off. “No, we didn’t.”
    “My god, Finn, I didn’t know.”
    “I know,” he whispered. “Things are different now. We’re
adults, we’re in full control of our lives now.”
    Her eyes lit as his words sank in. “I’m sorry for all that
happened to you. Sorry for what happened to both of us.”
    He needed to change the subject. He wanted to spend the rest
of the evening getting to know her without the specter of their shared past hanging
over them. “What’s done is done. We can’t go back and change anything. It’s
time to move forward, and you can start by telling me your favorite ice cream.”
    She blinked then smiled as she started talking about her
favorite things.
    They left the restaurant in good spirits, each laughing and
talking up a storm about what they enjoyed and what they hated most.
    As they started down the road, his thoughts flew back to how
she made him feel. Her mere presence was a soothing balm to his battered soul.
She was made for him and him alone. Finn knew she was the one woman he could
love.
    Love? Where the hell had that come from? He shook his head
as the word repeated in his mind. He’d never thought he’d be able to love a
woman. The punishment he received when he’d been sent away cured him of ever
being in love. The punishment the Goddess extracted from him for his sins
against Alli had been too high.
    Yet here he was, knowing without a doubt that he was falling
for this woman. Just as he’d fallen for her fifteen years ago. It felt natural,
it felt right. This time he wasn’t a stupid kid. He was a man now and Alli was
his woman. He would care for her, be a good husband, a good father to their
children. He would do everything in his power to prove to Alli that he was a worthy
man.
    Alli carried emotional scars from that night long ago but
Finn carried scars as well. He had thought his would never be healed. Every
time he looked in the mirror, he was reminded of his betrayal against Alli.
Scars left to remind him that pissing off the Goddess was the worst thing a man
could do.
    Finn had learned to hide the bitterness, tuck it away and
live his life, but he never forgot the years he spent on Avalon and the lessons
forced upon him there. He’d thought he would never allow a woman to have a hold
on him. That is what he told himself before seeing her again. Alli was his,
Fate had decided that already.
    Finn knew damn well how to make her happy, and after they
were joined, he would do his best to make her never regret having a life with
him. She would heal his bruised soul, he would heal her broken heart.
    “Finn, where are you taking me?” she asked, breaking