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“Whatdidyou tell him?”
I hesitated. I could barely even remember all the details anymore. So much had happened in so little time, and I’d offered up more than my fair share of excuses. “I just told him I was seeing someone—not you. But he must have made the assumption after seeing us together all those times.”
Flynn swore under his breath. “Lynds. You’ve got to stop dragging me into stuff like this.”
“I told him you and I weren’t an item.”
“But youaresleeping together?”
Only once. And hopefully many, many times in the future.“Why does that matter?”
“Oh my god.” Flynn’s lip curled at one end. His eyes sparked of something mischievous and dangerous all bundled into one. “You like him?”
“What?”
“Your face gets all red, and you keep looking around for an exit.” Flynn’s brow furrowed deeper, as if he didn’t even believe the accuracy of his own assessment. “You actually like him. This isn’t just some little boy toy you’re messing with.”
“That’s a horrible thing to say.”
“Oh, come on, Lynds. Do you know how many guys’ hearts you’ve broken in the past ten years? You’re going to grow a conscience about it now?”
The accusation struck a nerve. Of all the things to say. I never intentionally hurt anyone. “I have not—”
“Billy Jones was so in love with you, he stole his parent's credit card to buy you a limo to the senior prom when you were just a freshman,” Flynn explained. “Then you spent the entire evening making out with his friend Mark because you thought Billy understood the two of you were just friends.”
My stomach did a tiny somersault. I didn’t do that. Did I? I was just a kid back then. How could I have known what Billy was thinking? “That wasn’t my fault, Billy never said—”
“That’s my point. You never realize how deep attachments go because you never look for the signs,” Flynn explained. “Every one of our friends knew how much Billy liked you. I even said something about it, but you blew it off saying I didn’t know what I was talking about.”
“I-I….” Ugh. This was hard. What did he want from me? “I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“I don’t expect you to say anything,” Flynn said. “I just don’t want you to screw this up because you’re too afraid to open your eyes up to something real.”
“You’re one to talk to me about pursuing something real.”
“Lynds, if a woman and I exchanged a stare like the two of you just did, I guarantee you there would be no hope for me at that point. You like him. And he obviously likes you.” Flynn tugged on his coat sleeves to briefly reveal his gun in its holster. “Dude was ready to take me out, and I’m clearly armed.”
I laughed lightly.
“Look, I know your family has this crazy thing going on right now,” he said. “But I know you will figure something out. Especially for something important like this.”
The room spun around my head. All this stress, all these emotions, it was too much too soon. I needed fresh air. “I’m going to take a quick step out back.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, no.” I stopped Flynn in his tracks. “I need to be alone for a minute.”
“I don’t know…”
I pressed a hand against his arm. “I’ll be fine. I’ll go through the door in the kitchen. The catering staff is there. So, I won’t really be alone.”
He only nodded muttering something about coming to get me if I didn’t show back in a few minutes.
The night breeze cooled my skin the instant I stepped outside, despite the warm summer air. All those people indoors accounted for very sparse air and a sweltering heat. I made a note to turn the A/C down even further when I went back inside.
I wrapped my arms around myself and contemplated how I ever got myself into this mess.
Oh, right. I came home.
