Page 28 of Flynn

Through the bathroom door, I heard her say Sofia’s name andanother bout of regret hit me. I’d called Sofia last night after Ara had gone to bed. I felt bad about what went down at dinner, and it wasn’t fair to her that Ellis and I had a pissing match that went on since the beginning of our relationship. This was her wedding. Even though I had serious reservations about her choice in groom, she looked happy. Thankfully, she seemed to accept my apology and assurances that I wouldn’t let it happen again. When I offered to leave, she shut it down at once.

“You’re my friend, Flynn. I want you at my wedding.”

Hearing those words had gone a long way to soothing my guilty conscience, and I promised myself I’d do better staying in touch with her from now on.

I glowered at the idea of her marrying Ellis and him ruining her happiness. I didn’t like my cousin for good reason, and I didn’t trust him to look after her at all. He was selfish and always had been. His needs would always come first, and he compromised for no one.

But my personal feelings aside, I needed to do better when it came to my reactions to Ellis. I had been in literal war zones and been trained extensively in situations that tested every one of my limits. I couldn’t let Ellis have any power over me or my reactions. I’d gone up against men a hell of a lot worse than him. Ellis was nothing in comparison.

I could do better than this, and I would.

“Flynn?”

I wiped my face with a cloth and moved to the door only to find Ara on the other side, her phone in hand. “Do you want to explain?”

I frowned. “Explain what?”

She sighed and showed me the photo I’d posted this morning, and I grinned. “What? We’re in love, remember? I’d want to show my woman off if this were real,” I defended, moving farther into the room.

“A heads up would have been nice!” She cried and pressed her hands onto her waist, her tone scolding. “I have bed hair in that photo.”

I couldn’t have stopped the grin that split over my face had I tried. She rolled her eyes and turned away, but not before I saw the smile tug at her lips.

“You look beautiful, like always. Besides, how many comments and reactions are on there already?”

She frowned and at first, I thought she wasn’t going to answer.

“Fine, there’s a lot. But can we just...lean away from photos that seem so...private?”

I nodded. “Sorry. I thought it was a good photo.”

She kept her eyes averted, but I heard her quiet words as she turned away. “It is.”

Swallowing another smile, I set about getting a fresh change of clothes and checking out what we had on the schedule for today.

My mind kept tracking back to our kiss in bed, and I bit back a groan. Apparently, we weren’t going to talk about what happened this morning, and honestly, I was a little relieved. I had no idea how to explain myself in a way that didn’t make me come off as a completely insensitive asshole. I wanted it to happen again, and I knew if given the chance, I’d likely to try to find a way to orchestrate another moment together. I knew I was no good for her, that this was all for show, but I couldn’t keep my mind on the task and my hands to myself.

If she’d just push me away and tell me it wasn’t going to happen, it would help so fucking much. Because I knew I’d back off then. But she didn’t, and every time we did something that crossed a line, and she didn’t put me in my place, my need for her grew.

Fuck, this could get messy.

Shaking my head, I continued to get ready and took a moment to look over the itinerary for today.

We were supposed to be meeting with the resort eventcoordinator who had put together some activities for the wedding party, but I’d already been informed that I was also expected to join in. While I didn’t relish the idea of being in Ellis’s company for the day, the idea of being with Ara helped ease any discomfort.

When Ara stepped out of the bathroom a few minutes later, I almost swallowed my tongue. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants that might as well have been painted on, a pair of slip-on flats, and a shirt with sleeves that rested off her shoulders and did everything to bring out her every fine asset. She had a lot of fine assets.

Her hair was pulled back, the top half twisted back in a tie while the rest flowed freely down her back.

She was dressed casually, I knew that, but she still managed to leave me tongue-tied.

Yup. This was already messy, and was bound to be a goddamn clusterfuck by the end of the weekend.

“Flynn?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I ask what happened between you and Ellis?”

---