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Flynn laughs without smiling and pulls a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe off the bottom of his shoe. If I didn’t think Flynn was an east coast WASP before, the handkerchief really pushed him over the edge.
“To what do I owe the… I’d say pleasure, but I’m not sure that’s why you’re here,” I say, quirking my eyebrows at my brother.
“Can’t a guy come to play with some dogs?” Colin tries to smile.
“A guy,” I gesture to Colin, “can. But that guy –” I then gesture to Flynn. “He doesn’t seem like the playing-with-dogs type.”
Colin looks back at Flynn who is now holding out the handkerchief, unsure what to do with it. He sighs heavily. “Just know that this wasn’t my idea, okay?”
I reposition Snap and Crackle again. “Why are you being so cryptic?”
“What do I do with this?” Flynn asks, desperation in his blue eyes.
“I’ll take it. You talk to her,” Colin says. He snatches the handkerchief from Flynn, holding it a foot away, and goes to dispose of it. A few of the dogs follow at his heels and Colin starts to make a game of it.
This leaves me with Flynn. He stares down at the box of puppies. “That’s quite a contraption.”
“Easier than doing it one at a time.”
“I can imagine. How old are they?”
I don’t know why he’s trying to be pleasant or why he’s feigning curiosity about my work, an interest he’s never really had before. I’ve always been a do-gooder in his eyes, sacrificing my education and potential to spend my day petting animals. If only he knew how complicated this job really was. “From the looks of it, about eight weeks. Hard to be sure. Someone found them in a box on the side of the road and brought them in last night.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
This is extremely awkward. I can’t help but shake what Colin said:This wasn’t my idea. What the hell am I in for? “What are you doing here, Flynn? Interested in adopting?”
Flynn laughs. “No. No, animals aren’t my thing.”
“Hm, would have never guessed,” I say sarcastically. Once again, I have to move Snap off of Crackle’s bottle. “Seriously, dude…”
To my surprise, Flynn hikes up the fronts of his slacks and plops himself on the ground across from me. “I actually came to talk to you.”
I don’t take my eyes off the dogs. “About what?”
“Um…well…” He half-laughs to himself. I remain stoic. “It’s a funny story, actually.”
“Is it?”
Flynn’s blue eyes flick to mine and for a brief second, my heart leaps into my throat. I’ve never been able to ignore that he’s an attractive man. He just lacks a personality to match. Always chasing after model types and making his work his personality. “I… you remember Adelaide, right?”
“How could I forget?” Adelaide Frazer, supermodel ex-girlfriend. Never met the woman, thank God, but spent plenty of time hearing Colin complain about her.
“Well, she’s getting married, and she’s invited me to her engagement party.”
I feel myself soften. Flynn’s expression is full of… shame. I might not like him, but as my brother’s best friend, I hated to see what Adelaide did to him. “God, she’s such a narcissist.”
“Well –”
“Like she still wants your attention after all this time. That’s so lame.”
Flynn chuckles. “It is lame, I guess.” He looks down at his shoes, a lock of black hair falling out of place.
“Don’t tell me you’re going…” I say even though I know the answer.
He sighs. “Yeah, I am.”
