Page 5 of Kissing Flynn

Interesting. I’ve only ever seen these in hotels.

I start to close the door, but before I can move, the other door flies open…and I come face to face with Flynn Nightingale.

“Max?” he breathes.

I squeak something unintelligible as panic sears through me, and before my brain can catch up, my hand is slamming the door shut and twisting the lock. I stumble back a step, staring at the closed portal with wide eyes.

Great.

Not only am I stuck sharing a bedroom wall with Flynn all week, I just looked like a deranged lunatic in front of him.

That’s just awesome. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Four

Flynn

I stand there, unmoving, for a moment, staring at the door that was just slammed in my face. My eyes blink rapidly as my brain tries to process what just happened and what it means.

Not only is Max in the room next to mine, the rooms are connected.

Great.

Closing the door on my side softly, I turn the deadbolt to lock it before turning to lean back against it with a quiet sigh. It’s bad enough that she’s here, and I’ll be seeing her at meals and group events. But with her right next door? I’ll be seeing her in the hallway as we come and go. Hearing her as she tinkers around in her room.

Knowing she’s so close, yet completely out of reach.

I shake my head to clear that looney tunes thought and push myself away from the door. It doesn’t matter how close or far away she is. I couldn’t possibly care any less.

Max Nolan nearly cost me everything.

I attempt to push her out of my mind as I start to unpack, but memories flit in like flies through an open screen door. Annoying, yet inevitable.

Max, Milo, and I at our favorite bar, drinking beers and shooting darts while tossing playful insults at each other. We laughed until our sides hurt, drank until we were pleasantly tipsy, then walked back to campus, Max between Milo and me with our arms interlocked.

Late-night study sessions with greasy snacks and sugary sodas.

Scrabble tournaments.

Weekends at the beach.

Family dinners at the Nolan house every other Sunday. Max and Milo’s parents always insisted I come, that the invite was because they loved me and not because I had nowhere else to go.

They did consider me family. And it was for that reason I resisted my attraction to Max all those years. I didn’t want to mess it up. I didn’t want to lose what I’d found.

The night she kissed me, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. But it quickly turned to hell when Milo woke up from his little whiskey nap and lost his shit when he saw his twin sister straddling my lap on the couch next to him.

It was stupid, surrendering to the fantasy the way I did. I knew better, and I can’t even blame the alcohol in my system for the mistakes I made that night.

I never should’ve let that kiss happen in the first place. I knew Max had been drinking. That she wasn’t herself. I’d just wanted it so badly for so long, I couldn’t resist one little taste. In my defense, I did stop her. The streak of pain in her expression at that moment nearly killed me, but before I could explain, before I could tell her I only wanted to wait until she was completely sober and to make sure it was what she really wanted, Milo woke up and all hell broke loose.

He leapt to his feet and yanked his sister off my lap before dragging her out of the room. Once Max was out of sight, what I’d done hit home and the panic set in. I started pacing, my mind buzzing with alcohol and fear as I waited for Milo to return to our room.

And when he did? He cold-cocked me before I blurted out words that held no meaning or truth. I was drunk. It was a mistake. The biggest blunder of my life. I was sorry it happened. I’d never let it happen again. I promised it was a one-off. I swore I didn’t even find her attractive. I vowed, on everything I held dear, that I was only trying to let her down gently when she climbed on my lap and kissed me of her own volition.

I said whatever I could to erase the anger and disappointment from Milo’s eyes, because he and his family were my family, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing them.

Milo was angrier than I’ve ever seen him before or since, and I’ll never forget how his words stabbed into my chest when he told me what Max had said about the encounter.

---