The Player's Club: Finn by Cathy Yardley Read Free Book Online Page A

chuckle stopped, they resumed their kiss, and just like that, her mind switched off.
    She moaned softly at how amazingly good he felt. His hands circled around her waist as her fingers burrowed into the hair at the nape of his neck. His mouth was mobile and warm and oh, this man could kiss.
    There was a faint honk, then another, a more impatient one. If I don’t stop now, I won’t stop at all.
    Which meant she wouldn’t be doing her job.
    She always did her job.
    She halted their kiss immediately. “That’s your cab,” she told him.
    “Screw my cab,” he said, leaning into her, and she gently nudged him back.
    “I think I’ve proven that I’m safe from your charms, Finn,” she said, striving for as cool a tone as possible. “So run along, before you get addicted to me. ”
    Finn’s eyes were wild; he seemed untameable. She trembled, her body screaming in protest as he took a step back. “This isn’t over, Diana.”
    “Yes,” she said, ignoring her body’s reaction. “Yes, it is.”
    She shut the door in his face.
    It was over. Because it had to be.
    She found her cell phone, dialed Bob’s number. “I’m working as fast as I can, Diana,” he groused.
    “Pull the trigger,” she said.
    Bob paused. “What, exactly, are you okaying?”
    “I’ve got Finn’s cell phone number. Track him.” She closed her eyes. “Let’s finish this. I’m through playing games.”
     
     
    THE NEXT NIGHT—MORNING, technically, since it was 1:00 a.m.—Finn was still grinning as he arrived at the Player’s Club meeting. This time, it was at a bar down on the Lower Haight. It looked as if the decorator had been on an acid trip. There were weird sculptures from floor to ceiling, lava-lamp-style lights and trippy music, turned low to accommodate people talking. There were Club members showing pictures of their latest completed challenges—a few others in the planning stages for the next big Player’s Club trip to Machu Picchu, or the next organized skydiving event. Three pledges made it through their challenges recently and were admitted to the Club, and now they were talking about bringing others in. There had to be at least sixty people in the after-hours bar.
    “Glad you’re okay, man,” Ben, Finn’s surfing pledge, said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Jeez, thought you were gonna die in the water there!”
    He liked Ben, but he had to admit, the kid made him feel old sometimes.
    “So.” Ben rubbed his hands together. “The cannon shoot is in two weeks. Then…Everest!”
    “Everest is like six months off,” Finn pointed out. “Don’t worry, we’re okay stretching the deadline because it’s such a huge challenge, but…”
    Ben’s eyes were gleaming. “Actually, I think we can pull off Everest in four weeks,” he said, conspiratorially. “Six weeks, tops.”
    Finn blinked. “How the hell did you manage that? ”
    “Got some sherpas that are willing,” Ben said. “If you want it badly enough, you can do anything, you know?”
    “That’s great for your inspirational talk,” Finn teased, “but…I don’t know, maybe not for something like Everest.”
    “You’re not chickening out, are you?”
    Finn frowned. Any other time, he’d be right there with Ben. And while a part of him was clamoring, Hell, yeah! Sign me up! Do this now, before it’s too late.
    A new voice, surprisingly insistent, was asking, What would Diana think?
    How the hell had she gotten into his head?
    “Okay. Show me your plan, and if it looks all right, we’ll go,” Finn said.
    Ben whooped, drawing the attention of a few Club members. Finn sent him off to get a drink and promptly found himself flanked by Lincoln and Juliana, as well as new Player recruits Scott and his girlfriend Amanda, and one of Finn’s best friends, Tucker.
    “Hi, guys,” Finn said, then saw a matching look on all their faces. “Crap. What’d I do?”
    “Ben,” Lincoln said, nodding over at the kid who was now telling some enthusiastic