“What are you...”I started.Rethought the question.“Is everything okay?”
Flynn frowned.“Okay, how?”
I gestured in the direction of his parents’ place next door.“Your mom and dad?”
He was looking at me as though I was speaking a foreign language.“Uh, they’re fine?Unless you know something I don’t?”
Honestly, at this point, I was starting to suspect neither of us knew a damn thing.
“Why are you here, then?”
He raised an eyebrow.“Look, I’ll level with you.I was kinda hoping for a more enthusiastic welcome than that.”
I fixed on a rictus grin, ignoring his exasperation.“It’s good to see you.Why the fuck are you here?”
Flynn took a step closer.Narrowing the gap between us; slim enough, he’d not even have to extend his arm all the way, in order to graze his fingers down my chest.
“Am I not allowed to want to see you?”
I ignored the suggestive tone.“Seriously, Flynn.”
He sighed.“I didn’t like how we ended things the other day.On Sunday, I mean.”
It was a strange feeling, simultaneously being desperate for him to keep talking, keep explaining, while also wanting to clamp my hand across his mouth to stop any words that might be overheard.
“Oh, Flynn?”My mom looked, and sounded, surprised, at the end of the hallway.
Instinctively, I took a half-step back.Adding more distance between him and me.
“Hey, Mrs Carter,” he said, flashing her a smile.
She shook her head.“What did I tell you?”
“Not to stand on ceremony,” Flynn said, sheepishly.“It’s just a hard habit to break.”
My mom seemed amused at the idea.“To what do we owe the pleasure?Are your folks doing okay?”
Flynn glanced at me, as if to ask why my family’s first reaction to him visiting was to assume there was some fresh disaster next door.“They’re fine, thank you.I just came over to see Oli.”
“Well, you seem to have found him.Will you be staying for dinner?”
It was so much like the old days, like Flynn and I were still kids, I almost bit my tongue from the intensity of the memories.
“Uh, I think my mom would go ballistic if I didn’t eat with them,” Flynn said, tone apologetic.“But, thank you.”
My mom nodded.“Of course.Well, I’ll let you boys have your chat.”
It seemed the most opportune moment to grab him by the arm and drag him up the stairs.
#
“Seriously,” I hissed, as soon as the bedroom door was shut behind us, “why are you here?”
Flynn’s expression was something close to disappointment.“Don’t you want to see me?”
“You’re not answering the question,” I reminded him, still annoyed.
He sighed.“Am I not allowed to visit?”
