I gently poked his flat belly over his sweaty T-shirt. “You could have avoided the posers by calling me.”

“Pfft,” he said, with the matching face. “What kind of grand gesture would that be? I had to live up to hero standards.”

A twinge of guilt stole my bliss. “About that. I loved my grand gesture…so much. But I’m sorry I made you feel like you had an impossible standard to live up to.” I touched a finger to his lips. “My ideal man is you, and I would absolutely give you the final rose on The Bachelorette. Who your father is changes nothing.”

Finn frowned against my finger. “We fought.”

I dropped my hand. “You and your dad?”

“It wasn’t only my behavior that was unacceptable that night. He can’t treat the people I care about like shit. And he needs to stop using my mother’s death to justify his actions. That excuse expired a decade ago.”

“You didn’t…” My skin felt itchy with guilt. “I don’t expect or want you to desert your dad because of me. He’s your family. Family is important.” I studied him with unease. “How’d you leave things?”

“He promised to be better. Said he’d go back to meetings and get clean.”

I clapped. “That’s amazing!”

Finn smiled tightly. “I’d hold my applause if I were you. He’s made these promises before. But I’m cautiously optimistic this time will be different, because I’m different.”

“I’ll support you every step of the way if you’ll let me.” I reached for his hand.

He raised it to his lips. “Yes. Unequivocally, yes. You, Adina Gellar, bring me joy. I want more of it…more of you. More of the girl who mistook me for a small-town boy, will stop at nothing to get her story, even singlehandedly trying to cozy up a cold-as-winter town, steals bacon off my plate, calls me out on my bullshit, and kicks my ass in the game of the same name.” His voice grew quiet. “You light me up from within, Adi. Please never give up on me.” He studied me pleadingly, as if there was even a possibility I was going anywhere without him.

My heart swelled large enough to house a small child. It was the most romantic monologue I’d ever heard, and it was for me. Finn was talking about me. I brought him joy. I lit him up from within. And I could say all the same things about him. We’d hit our first round of conflict and emerged to kiss and make up. The story wasn’t over, but we were both prepared to fight another day.

Speaking of kisses. “Now that we’ve made up, can we get to the kissing part?”

“You read my mind.” He stepped closer.