AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Seventeen
Flynn
ThreeWeeksLater
“I’m coming, I’m coming. Hold on!”
I imagined my door shaking with the impact of whoever was on the other side, the knocks like booms of thunder. In an attempt to ride out the wave of chaos I’d caused at the end of the show, I’d rented an entire townhome nestled away off the beaten path under a fake name. Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long since the show operated on a quick turnaround, but I had to be under lock and key until the last show aired. That or I faced swift legal action, and I didn’t want to make them any madder than they already were.
Bracing myself, I swung open the door and froze. “Steven? How did you figure out where I was?”
“Because you’re the only person I know that would rent a house in this small town under the name Bucky Barnes. On to more important things: I have a bone to pick with you.” He shoved past me, his face red with either anger or exertion.To my surprise, Madison was hot on his heels.
“Sure, guys. Come on in.”
“Who do you think you are?” he shouted as I closed my door.
“Is this a trick question?”
“Come on, Flynn. You’re my best friend. How could you?”
“I’d like to know the answer to this too,” Madison replied, shoving a finger in my direction for emphasis.
I’d wondered how long it would take him to come and let me have it, and he’d lasted longer than I thought. That, or Harper kept it from him for longer than I’d given her credit for.But I’d never expected Madison. I should have.
Her troops had rallied, and they’d come for a fight.
“I’ll deal with him first,” I replied, nodding a head in Steven’s direction. “You don’t get to be angry with me for something you said eight years ago, Steven. I stayed away from her, kept the bro code intact.”
Madison coughed from a few feet away, and I frowned at her. I didn’t want to add our kiss from three years ago to this fun soiree.
“Besides, I had no idea she’d be a contestant on the show. You knew, and you didn’t tell me.”
“No, I didn’t. I knew she was supposed to be the florist, and the site of a one-on-one date. But it doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t want you to hurt my sister, and you did it anyway.”
Emotionally and mentally drained, I scrubbed my hands down my face. “I never meant to hurt her, Steve. You have to know that.”
His face softened at the use of his nickname, though his posture remained stiff.
“How could you send her home? Was she not good enough for you?”
I tipped my head in confusion. “Wait. Which is it? You didn’t want me to hurt her. So you wanted me to stay away, or you’re angry that I sent her home?”
“I’m angry about all of it,” he replied, pacing my floor. “I told you to leave her alone so she wouldn’t get hurt, and she somehow ends up on the show with you and gets hurt anyway. I guess it’s better this way. You were just a couple of weeks shy of making her notebooks a reality.”
“Steve, what notebooks?”
“The ones with Mrs. Flynn Jackson scrawled all over ’em. You know, you’re a real—” His face paled as he realized I was clueless.
“She did what now?”
“Oh, give me a break, Flynn. You can’t be that dense.She’s been in love with you for ages.” He slowly shook his head as he searched my face, trying to determine if I was lying or not.
Harper Evans had been in love with me for… ages?
“How long?”
“How long what?” His face reddened as he shifted his eyes away from me.
