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He snorted. “Haven’t we all.”
“Not that. I’ve actually given up that practice.”
“Right.”
“No, I have. I’ve decided I need the increased clarity that comes with abstinence.”
“You got dumped, huh?”
I nodded. No point in denying it. I was pretty much wearing my woe as a T-shirt these days. A deserved one.
She’d been right to walk away. She was so much stronger than I was. But I was determined to get there. Even if she wouldn’t have me, I needed to be a man worthy of my own respect at the very least. I’d already spent far too many years being ashamed.
The first few days after that last time with Zoe, I’d spent in bed. I hadn’t bothered to shower or shave or do anything but rinse my mouth out with vodka when I was thirsty. It would have been easy to just stay in that small, dank room and throw the rest of my life away.
Then her words had replayed in my head.
I couldn’t waste this chance. She’d given it to me. If this was the last gift I would receive from her, I would cherish it.
Would honor it as I should have honored her.
Instead, I’d lied and denied and made things so much worse than if I’d just taken a chance and trusted her with the wretched truth of my life.
Too late now, but I’d learned.
“The girl from the beach?”
I looked up from my now empty plate. “Yes. I thought you weren’t a media hound.”
“News finds me whether or not I want it to. And I did some looking into you.”
“Did you come across my rap sheet?” I was only half joking.
“I found out enough.”
Hmm. The situation with Simon and Margo had been kept out of the news, but that didn’t mean there weren’t plenty of other things for Flynn to discover. “And you still let me stay with you?”
“Did I not look in the right place or something?” He sat opposite me at the counter and pulled off a hunk of bread, slapping butter on it in a way that horrified me—and made my mouth water.
I was still hungry. Evidently, years of deep-seated deprivation couldn’t be sated that easily.
In so many ways.
“I’m not a good man, Flynn. You should know that out of the gate.”
“Have you murdered anyone?”
I jerked up my chin. “Of course not.”
“Have you ever physically harmed a woman, a child, or an animal?”
I shuddered. “Dear God, no.”
“Have you ever hurt a man who didn’t have it coming?”
I had to think about that one. “I don’t think so. But some of my youth is a bit hazy, so I can’t say for certain.”
“Sound okay to me.” Flynn shrugged
