Synonym
54

I could sense the tension in the room like it was a neon sign. Elizabeth's scarily light green eyes landed on me with a look I couldn't pin point. It wasn't quite neutrality; there was something in her eyes that made me shift under the pressure. Ever the observer, Finn noticed but he didn't say anything. Instead, He shifted slightly closer to me in a protective manor. The small gesture warmed my heart but I still didn't feel like I was welcomed in the room at this point. "I'm going to get a glass of water." I muttered in an attempt to excuse myself from this increasingly cold conversation. My built legs lifted my body off the couch and away from Finn's warmth, only to take me across the dark wood floor and into the white kitchen.

My lungs expelled a deep breath as my hand wrapped around a cool glass from the white over head cabinets. I filled the glass with tap water before taking a sip. I wasn't feeling nervous or anxious, just awkward. Once I felt my throat was soothed, I carefully placed the cup on the marble island before listening carefully to hear the conversation on the other side of the wall in an attempt to see how it was progressing in my absence.

"How long have you two been dating?" The soft, feminine voice of Elizabeth Griffin asked.

"A year tomorrow, not that it's any of your business." Finn spoke like he was superior to her. I knew it was just a coping mechanism.

"Is it serious?"

My heart stopped. I knew he loved me. I knew he was dead serious about our relationship but somehow the inquisition from his mother when I wasn't in the room made me nervous.

"We live together; I'd say it's pretty serious," ouch. That hurt a little even if I was honest. I guess he didn't want to tell the person he resents the most, personal details of his life. "Again, not your place; but I'm going to marry her one day. It's her or no one. Hopefully it won't be no one."

My heart just melted. Of course he knew what to say even when he thought I wasn't listening. Granted, his certainty sounded stupid to a realist but it still made me happy. Finn was a realist too and if he would risk saying that out loud then I knew he had feelings stronger than any other for me. A stupid grin found its way onto my face like I had just won the lottery. God, I fucking love Griffin Marcus Riley.

"Are you sure?" And there goes my giddiness. "She's...well endowed in more ways than one. Maybe you want someone a little more feminine....delicate...someone who looks like a traditional woman, isn't surrounded by other men. Isn't damaged goods."

My jaw dropped and my fists clenched. Looks more like a woman? Isn't surrounded by other men? Who in the world does she think she is? What place is she in to say that?

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"Who the hell do you think you are?" Finn spat in a low voice that I had to strain to hear. Now he was making a conscious effort to make sure I didn't hear what was happening in the other room. "It's not your damn place to say something like that. What the hell do you think is wrong with her?"

"She's got curves but those muscles? Don't you want a delicate woman? And all those men? She isn't very lady like at all. You shouldn't trust her around all those males. Besides, she's damaged. Can she even love you right now outside of a hero complex?"

I didn't even have time to process that blow before Finn exploded on his mom in a harsher whisper than I had ever heard in my life. His words were sharper than a blade and his tone more explosive than a bomb.

"Her looks are nowhere near your concern but incase you were wondering, Sylvia is the most beautiful person in the world. If you don't think I know what I want, than I think the millions of people lusting after her is testament to how damn lucky I am. Not her, me. I'm the lucky one because she is so God damn out of my league."

"Excuse me for speaking about this with my mother, but frankly I don't consider you a mother anymore. Sylvia's muscles have nothing to do with how feminine she is. But, I replace them sexy as fuck. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't even matter how she looks because I'm in love with her personality."

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"And surrounded by men? What? You think she'll cheat on me? News flash, most people aren't like you. And the fact that you would even ask if she could love me after a trauma speaks volumes to the type of human being you are." Once again, I didn't even have time to process what was just said about me before I heard shuffling and Finn appeared in the doorway of the kitchen with a clenched jaw and a look of pure anger. "Let's go, babe." Finn said in a calm voice. I eyed his tense figure before walking to the door with him. My hand was on the cool, metal door handle when Elizabeth spoke. "Finn! Don't you want to meet your siblings? If not for me, for them?"

Whether she knew it or not, that struck a cord deep inside Finn. We hadn't even talked about the kids, but I knew children were his weakness.

"No. I don't. Perhaps when they're adults and don't need their fucked up parents, I'll consider seeing them." He fired back before turning away from his mother completely and facing the door. I took that as my cue to open it and walk out so I did.

Elizabeth was standing in the doorway in her designer shoes and pencil skirt, looking borderline distraught. I opened the passenger side car door and climbed into my seat when Finn opened his door and called out just before climbing in. "Do us both a favor and stay out of my fucking life."