Page 48 of A Poisonous Plot

He pursed his lips. “I’m not sure which group he wrote in.”

“How many groups are there?”

“Far too many,” Jago said, drawing his phone from his pocket. His eyes roamed the screen. “It was the one with just my brothers in it. But it doesn’t make much difference. Everyone will have told their significant others.” His features were filled with mirth. “There’s a small chance Mum doesn’t know. Assuming she hasn’t seen any of the family this morning.”

“And this is the sort of stuff you chat about in your WhatsApp groups?”

“Yeah. It’s very sad, I know. But it’s a small island. Not much going on.”

Flynn tipped his head back and stared up at the darkening sky as he laughed. “This place is ridiculous.”

“It really is,” Jago agreed. “What’s more ridiculous is how quickly you get caught up in the small-town gossip.” He took another swig of his beer. “Was it a one-off then? The kiss?”

“I guess so. Like I said, I leave in a few months.”

“You wouldn’t consider staying longer?”

The question took Flynn by surprise. What was more surprising was that he didn’t immediately baulk at the idea. He shook his head. “It’s only a temporary position. I don’t think I could extend even if I wanted to.”

“Do you want to?”

“No,” he said, but he didn’t sound convincing even to himself. “I have my flat in London and my job, my friends. I’m looking forward to getting back to it.”

“A fling then?”

He screwed his face up. “What?”

“Would you have a fling with Lily?”

“No.” He shook his head. “She’s my friend.”

“You keep saying that,” Jago pointed out, amusement clear in his features.

“Yeah, but I mean, she’s really my friend. How would I go from being friends with her to something else?”

Jago frowned. “Kissing her in the sand dunes seems like a pretty good first step. How were things afterwards?”

“I carried on as normal. I didn’t want things to be awkward.”

“Bad move,” Jago said. “Things are supposed to be awkward while you transition out of friendship.”

“It turns out things are awkward, anyway. But I just told you I can only be friends with her.”

“You’re givingmemixed signals, so I imagine she’s very confused. But if you’re friends and you’re attracted to her, I don’t see why you wouldn’t go for it.”

“Because I’d like to stay friends with her.”

“When I said have a fling, I didn’t mean like a one-night stand. I just meant keep things casual and then see how things are when it gets closer to you leaving.”

“It’ll mess everything up,” he said idly. “If I sleep with her, that’s the friendship over.”

Jago squinted. “When was the last time you were in a relationship?”

“I don’t really do relationships.” Flynn picked at the label on his beer. “Nothing long term, anyway.”

“And by long term, you mean?”

“More than a few weeks.”

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