Page 11 of Kissing Flynn

Could I have been right? Is Milo jealous?

The mere idea of it is ludicrous. Flynn is his best friend. When the shit hit the fan back in college, I took myself out of the equation. It was awful, ostracizing myself when the two of them had been pretty much my whole world.

I could’ve pulled rank. Milo is my twin, and if I’d asked him to cut ties and make Flynn the outcast, he would’ve done it. But I couldn’t do that to him. I love him too much, and he and Flynn always had a sort of bromance for the ages. Milo would’ve been miserable without him.

So, I quietly saw myself out, and Milo split time between Flynn and me like some fucked up parental custody agreement. We never spoke of Flynn, and I can only assume the two of them never spoke of me. It worked for me.

And though it couldn’t have been easy, it seemed to work for Milo, too.

So why is he freaking out now? He knows Flynn and I haven’t spoken in years. To accuse me of sneaking off to…what? Have some kind of secret, torrid affair behind his back?

It’s absolutely ridiculous. And if that’s not the case, then what is really going on in Milo’s head?

I don’t know, and I honestly don’t have the time or the energy to worry about it right now. I have a job to score.

But the second I get home, Milo has some serious explaining to do.

Eight

Flynn

I’m still staring at the ocean, still obsessing over that awkward exchange with Max when my phone vibrates in my pocket. Pulling it free, I smile when I see Milo’s name scrolling across the top of the screen. We’ve been texting, so he knows I’m out of the country for a work thing and that I can’t really talk about it because of the nondisclosure agreement I signed.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” I ask when I answer the call and lift the phone to my ear.

“Bro. How’s it going? Is that the sound of waves crashing I hear in the background?”

“Yes,” I say on a sigh, “but I can’t tell you anything else. I told you, I signed an––”

“NDA. I know, I know,” he says. “Are you having fun, at least?”

“I wouldn’t really call it fun, exactly, but I’ve only been here for a few hours.”

“Cool. Cool,” he says, a dead giveaway that he has something on his mind.

“Alright, what is it?” I ask.

“What is what?”

“Milo.”

“Fine,” he says, blowing a harsh breath directly into his phone’s microphone. “I talked to Max. I know she’s there with you.”

My head jerks back a couple of inches. “She’s here, but not ‘with me,’ as you put it. It was a total surprise to us both. And why the hell is she telling you anything? She signed the NDA, too.”

Anger blossoms in my gut. What is Max trying to do, get herself evicted before the competition has even begun? She’s smarter than that.

And why am I so upset over the idea of her getting booted?

Damn it.

“She didn’t tell me. I guessed. You both fed me the same info about leaving the country and not being able to talk about it. I connected the dots.”

“Oh,” I say, some of the steam rolling out of me.

“So, you and Max on a work trip together…”

The statement is leading, and damn if I don’t fall for it.

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