We carry on out the front door and start down the street. I turn to Flynn. “Y’all?”
He brings his hand to his chest. “Oh, bless your heart, ain’t you never heard of good southern manners, little lady?”
I hold my laugh back, pressing my lips together and shaking my head at him.
Flynn nudges his elbow into my side. “What’s that look?”
I shake my head again and study the chewing gum on the sidewalk. “You’re just… funnier than I expected.”
Flynn shrugs. “Side effect of being a small kid.”
I glance back up at him. All six foot something of him. “I can’t imagine you ever being little.”
“Yeah, well, I drink the blood of my victims. Good nutrients.”
I stumble a step and Flynn squeezes my hand. “Kidding, Lilac. Kidding.”
“I know,” I mutter, my skin heating in the cold air.
We keep walking a little longer, my hand still tucked in Flynn’s. I lose track of time until he stops.
“What’s the matter?” I ask.
He nods at the high rise building ahead of us. The one housing the dispatch center where I work.
“Oh.” Far too late for my conscience, I extract my hand from his. At this point I’m beyond being surprised that he knows where I work but an awkwardness crawls into my bones. I take a sip of the hot chocolate.
Flynn catches his smile, his eyes twinkling.
“What?” I ask.
He just reaches out, holding his hand palm up for a second before slowly bringing it to my face. I hold dead still as he sweeps his thumb over the dip above my lips, coming away with a small blob of whipped cream.
“Oh,” I say again, because clearly my brain has stopped functioning.
Then Flynn brings his thumb to his mouth and licks off the cream and my body taps out too.
If it wasn’t thirty-five degrees out, I think I would be a puddle on the sidewalk right now.
“Have a good rest of your shift. Go straight home after.”
“Yeah, you too.” My face squirms. “I mean, thank you for the hot chocolate.”
“You’re welcome, Lilac.”
I nod at him, it’s all I can do because my body and brain are no longer connected.
Flynn lifts his chin towards the building, and my feet finally move.
I’m halfway to the revolving doors when I look back and find Flynn watching me. He tracks me all the way, not leaving until I’m safely inside. I know technically what he’s doing is stalking but I don’t feel violated. I feel cared for.
The elevator hums on the way up and I lean back against the mirrored walls trying to process everything that just happened. Flynn almost kissed me and I think I wanted him to.
My phone pings.
Wright
How’d it go?
