Page 31 of Flynn

“Good morning, sweetheart. Glad to see you two up and about,” Carol said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at us.

“I missed my run this morning, so I’m keen to get this day started. Do you know what we’re doing first?” I asked, trying to save Ara from further scrutiny.

“I’m sure you were otherwise occupied,” Trevor muttered. Carolslapped him in the chest and Ara ducked her head. I chuckled and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, letting her lean into me and hide her face. Fuck me, it felt good to touch her, to hold her close, to lay claim to her in front of everyone.

“Who else are we waiting for?” I asked, looking around.

Ellis was glaring at me from a few feet away, but Sofia was talking to a woman with a clipboard and a stack of paperwork. Kate and her boyfriend—one of the groomsmen—and Sofia’s parents were there as well, ready to head out.

“I think we’re all here. The first of the guests start arriving late this afternoon, so dinner tonight will be a bigger gathering,” Carol answered.

“Alright, whose ready for today’s activities?” Sofia asked excitedly, bounding up beside us.

“Hey there, love birds,” I greeted, giving Sophe a quick side hug.

“Hey, yourselves. If anyone looks like lovebirds this morning…” she began, waggling her eyebrows. Ara made a sound of embarrassment, and I hugged her tighter, grinning like the arrogant fuck I was that she was mine.

Even if it wasn’t real.

That last thought slid in before I could stop it, and I tried not to let my smile slip. Wewerereal… at least for the rest of this trip. My gaze met Kate’s across the group, and the look on her face told me she knewexactlywhat I was thinking, and was waiting for me to do something about it.

Christ.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Julie, and I’m going to be with you all today for your activities,” a the tall woman with the clipboard said. She was five-nine if I had to guess, but she was willowy and slim. Her soft blonde hair was cropped short, but the beachy waves suited her face.

“To start with, I am going to need you all to take a few minutes to fill out this questionnaire. I need everyone to be as honest aspossible as these questions and answers will come into play later in the day and used to win a prize between couples. As soon as you’re done and the forms are back to me, we’ll get started with our first activity,” she continued as she started handing out paper and pen.

I handed one of each to Chiara as she pulled away from me, and I hated the distance between us at once. Looking down at the questionnaire, I raised an eyebrow. Okay, this was going to be an interesting day.

Chapter Nine

Chiara

Pottery?

I grimaced as I triedagainto open the clay the way the instructor had shown us as it spun on the potter’s wheel. Using my thumbs, I pressed them into the center to create an opening and tried using my fingers to pull the walls up and shape my bowl, but I pressed too hard and sent my fingers through the clay wall… again.

I muttered under my breath as Flynn snickered beside me. Glancing up at him, I scowled and then mumbled at theperfect-looking bowl he’d made.

“What the hell?” I whispered angrily. “How did you do that?”

He grinned. “I’m good with my hands, always have been.”

The wink he sent my way had heat flooding my cheeks. I tried not to remember how it felt to have his hands on me this morning, the way he’d pressed my hands into the mattress beneath us, the way his weight pinning me down hadn’t made me feel trapped, but rather… desired.

Sighing, I tried once again, compounding the clay and placing it in the center of the spinning wheel, using my hands to keep it centered. Who the heck thought pottery would be a good idea? Scanning the room quickly, I noticed the other couples seated together were having better luck than I was, even Trevor!

Rolling my eyes, I focused my attention back on the wheel and let out a long breath, trying to center myself enough that I could focus. It couldn’t be this hard, surely.

As soon as we finished the somewhat invasive questionnaire this morning, Julie the coordinator had collected the papers and given them to her assistant before taking us on a short walk to a local pottery studio. I wasn’t sure what this was supposed to do with romance—it was messy—but here we were.

Hope built as I managed to open the clay better this time, and the walls of my crockery stretched higher. The clay stretched and thinned as the walls built, and I tried not to get overly excited and ruin it.

Maybe Julie was a fan of the movie,Ghost,but if Flynn tried to Patrick Swayze me, I’d laugh and ruin the progress I’d made on my… cup? Bowl? Maybe I’d make it a vase.

“Watch the rim. Don’t let it fold in,” Flynn instructed softly. I flicked a glance his way to see he’d stopped his wheel—his bowl perfectly shaped—and caught him watching my progress. I focused again on my… cup? No, it was going to be a mug. He was right; the top was heavier than the bottom and risked folding in and destroying the whole thing.

Biting my lower lip, I gentled my touch and ran my fingers up, trying to carefully angle is so the top would thin. It wobbled slightly and I sucked in a panicked breath. Flynn quickly moved behind me, and I stiffened.

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