Love Between the Lines ✔️ DRAFT 1 COMPLETE

Chapter 7

I woke the following morning with a smile on my face. Fionn and I had spent dinner talking like two old friends. He was a lot calmer since we'd stopped talking about his father and his ex. Still, I still felt a sense of guilt for letting him pour out his past to me when my walls were still firmly in place.

Rubbing my eyes, I padded out of the bedroom and nearly ran face-first into Fionn. Shirtless. Wearing nothing but a towel.

"Wha—" My eyes landed on his glistening chest and heat rose to my cheeks.

Wow. He's...wow.

"Good morning," he greeted me, giving off a salute. The towel around his waist dipped dangerously low on his hips. "Last night was fun, aye?"

My gaze snapped back up quickly. "What are you doing here?" I racked my brain trying to figure out what he meant. Fun? What did we do? Last time I checked, I'd only had one beer. And I distinctly remembered Fionn saying his goodbyes at the front door.

"Hot water's off in my flat," he explained.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Oh."

Fionn chuckled as he moved past me. "Why, what did you think happened?"

"Nothing. But a little warning that you're going to be half-naked in my apartment next time." I waved to his general person.

"I'll keep that in mind." He started to walk away.

I stopped him, thrusting my arm out to block his path.

"Wait a minute. Were you really just going to walk around here in just a towel?" I asked. "I mean, considering there's just one bedroom and bathroom here. Where were you going to change?"

He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "In the bathroom. I was just coming out here to get some breakfast started."

In a towel? "So there's something wrong with the stove at your place too?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Nah. I just like cooking here sometimes." For a moment, his face changed. Blue eyes turned brown. Brown hair turned blonde. Infectious smile still the same. Except that now it was one I'd known for eight years instead of five days.

I blinked, and his face returned to normal. "Mmhm." I leaned against the doorframe, pretending that nothing had just happened. "Well, I would prefer if you could put some clothes on before cooking, okay?"

He nodded. "Absolutely."

I watched him walk away and shivered. In that moment, he reminded me too much of Kyle. Not the Kyle who I'd seen in states of undress with Deedee, but the Kyle I actually fell in love with. The Kyle who would cook me breakfast...in nothing but a towel. The Kyle who would then burn breakfast because the towel 'accidentally' fell onto the ground and I got wrapped up into his arms as we stumbled into the bedroom.

And it was too much. It didn't matter that Fionn was just my landlord at this time. I thought by going to Scotland I would be getting away from my past, but it seemed like it had the bad habit of following me wherever I went.

Hot tears dripped down my face and onto the linoleum floor.

"Em, are you okay?" Fionn asked.

I jumped at the sound of his voice, quickly swiping my cheeks with the back of my hand. "Yeah, fine. I'm, um, gonna go for a coffee run. Do you want anything?"

Fionn's eyebrows etched together. "No, that's okay. I'll get something later."

"Great." I slung my bag over my shoulder and brushed past him and down the stairs. Anything to get out of there. God, why was this so hard? I finally meet a half-decent guy and then all I can think about is Kyle? What was wrong with me?