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“Willow.” Breathing deep, Aubrey stepped closer to her friend. Panic filled her, and she shoved it down deep. “Stop.”
Willow’s eyes went wide. “Stop what?”
“You know.” Aubrey narrowed her eyes as she watched Willow carefully. Whoops. Yep, there it was, that little flash of guilt in her friend’s eyes. “Giving me a hard time about my relationship with Flynn.”
“Fine.” Willow blew out a breath. “You two are so cute, and it’s fun to rile you up. I guess Nick’s influence on me is stronger than I realized.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Aubrey laughed, hating the unease that had settled over her. Now she was lying to Willow. Acting like she was bent and sensitive over Willow’s teasing, when really she couldn’t deal with the reality that her relationship with Flynn was phony.
Last night, this morning with Flynn, had been amazing. He’d confessed things to her, and she’d blown them off. She’d told him let’s have fun or something equally inane and then proceeded to jump him. He’d never protested, but how callous could she be?
You’re being callous to protect your fragile heart. You know you could fall for Flynn. Easily.
True, that.
“Okay, one more thing. Last night at dinner.” Willow paused, her expression going reflective. “I saw the way Flynn looked at you.”
Everything within her seized up. “How did he look at me?” She almost didn’t want to hear Willow’s answer.
“Like he was falling in love with you.”
Aubrey closed her eyes. Her heart hurt. That was the absolute last thing she wanted to hear. “He’s very sweet,” she said weakly.
“Uh huh. That’s one way to describe him,” Willow muttered.
Aubrey said nothing and kept her gaze locked on the field. Flynn was playing wonderfully. She needed to focus on that, not the conversation she was having with Willow.
“Do you like him?”
Damn it, she’d thought Willow would drop the subject. “Yes.” She said the word so softly she worried for a moment Willow hadn’t heard her. And yes, she liked him, but what good would that get her?
“Then maybe you shouldn’t let him go. Look, I was such a bitch to Nick when we were first getting together. I didn’t even realize I was doing it. I just… I didn’t know how to react to him actually wanting me, you know? I thought he was trying to trick me, just to get into my panties.”
Aubrey laughed, thankful for the light moment. She needed it. “He complained to me a few times about what a challenge you were.”
“Challenge? That’s a nice way of putting it. I was awful.” Willow sighed. “I finally realized that he actually meant all of those sweet words. The way he looked at me, touched me, kissed me… It was for real. So if what you and Flynn are experiencing is real, you’d better grab on and not let go. Something like that doesn’t come along every day, you know.” Willow screamed, startling Aubrey. “Did you see that play? Oh my God, Flynn is on fire!”
He was. He was doing great, but she could hardly focus. The idea of not letting Flynn go freaked her out. But so did the thought of losing him. “I know,” she admitted.
Aubrey turned her gaze back to the field, watching the Hawks play. They were driving the ball down with ease and were already on the twenty-yard line. She watched anxiously, not wanting to think about the relationship. Forget the relationship. She just wanted to focus on the man.
“You’re thinking too much,” Willow said, her soft voice breaking through the cloud of questions running through Aubrey’s mind. “Stop trying to overanalyze or figure out what’s going to happen next. Just go with the flow.”
Aubrey felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. You’re thinking too much. Flynn told her that all the time. “Just go with the flow,” she murmured. How she wished it were that easy.
Flynn threw the ball and—of course—Nick caught it, running into the end zone with ease. She and Willow leaped to their feet, cheering and screaming along with the rest of the crowd, Aubrey’s heart threatening to burst with happiness that Flynn had just put numbers on the board.
He was going to be so happy. So proud. And so was she.
“Amazing play!” Willow shouted as she grabbed Aubrey’s hands, the both of them hopping up and down.
“I know.” Aubrey nodded, her gaze snagged on Flynn as he jogged off the field with the rest of the team, yanked off his helmet as one of the field staff members ran toward him, offering him a drink. He took it, drained the plastic cup in one swallow, before handing it back to the kid. His hair was damp and standing on end, his expression determined, the black lines painted below his eyes smudged.
God, he looked hot. If he came striding into their hotel room looking exactly like that later tonight, she’d jump him in five seconds flat.
“You know, Nick said something about you two after dinner last night, and it shocked me. He loves to give Foley a bunch of shit—direct quote—but he really does like him. He thinks you’re good for each other.”
Having Nick and Willow’s approval only made her feel worse. Like she was the biggest liar in all of Liar Land. It also had her thinking crazy thoughts. Like maybe she and Flynn could make this work. What’s the worst that can happen? He’d leave her in the dust and never call her again when he found out she’d been faking it for a promotion while he might get traded?
