Page 59 of Flynn

Trevor hummed and then sighed. “Yes, I agree. But nothing will help a man feel less alone in the world than the love of a good woman. Trust me, I know that one from experience.”

I smiled softly, loving the way he talked about Carol and how much he loved her. I followed his gaze across the room to where Carol was speaking with Flynn. That was one thing he never tried to hide, ever. He showered his woman with love and praise, making sure she and everyone around them knew she was adored and treasured.

“Life is funny, isn’t it?” Trev asked softly, his gaze turning introspective as my smile slipped. “One minute you think you have a plan in place, you know how everything will pan out. Then one thing goes wrong, or an unexpected situation comes up, and you find the plan you created quickly unravelling.”

I didn’t bother to ask what he was talking about. I had a feeling he was getting around to a rather important point.

“It’s what happened to me, what led Carol and I to one another. I thought I knew what my life would be, what it would hold, and in one single moment the universe threw a wrench in the works—or a car, in my case—and it led me to my true destiny.”

I remained quiet as he shook his head as a soft smile curved his lips beneath his beard.

“Pretty quickly, you learn a lot about yourself and what you really want in life, and that maybe the universe has a way of getting it to you despite all the plans you’ve made.”

I shook my head. “I feel like you’re working your way up to a point, and I’m listening.”

His knowing blue eyes met mine and his lips crooked in a smile reminiscent of Flynn’s. “I’m saying that… if life throws your plans into the blender and gives you something else, go with it, trust it. The universe has a way of working out, and even things that start off… temporary can sometimes prove to be the most permanent thing in our lives.”

I had a crappy poker face, I knew that, and my ability to lie convincingly was poor at best. Trevor must know Flynn and I were lying to everyone. But the things he was saying got to me.

If he knew we were lying, why wasn’t he mad at us? Why wasn’t he demanding an apology for trying to fool them? Why did it seem as though he was trying to tell me to make it real?

And why did having his unexpected approval—despite our lies—make me want to cry?

“Umm,” I whispered, scrambling for something to say.

He took my arm and slowly pulled me back to the group before stopping.

“Just think about what I said, okay, sweetheart? Life’s too short to live withwhat if’s.”

I nodded, feeling as though I’d just had the rug ripped out from under me. I scrambled for the right thing to do or say. Trev smiled at me again and pressed a kiss to my forehead before he turned in time to wrap Carol under his arm. The two of them walked slowly away, and I turned back to look at Flynn.

His dark eyes were already on me with a storm of intensity I wasn’t prepared to get into.

Fast forward a few hours and here I was in a club with my best friends and bachelorette party attendees forcing myselfnotto drink myself into oblivion. I was also trying not to look at Flynn, but it was hard when I could feel his burning gaze on me from anywhere in the club.

I wanted Flynn. Kate said we were good together, and something Sofia said earlier made me think she’d clued in on our ruse too and was rooting for us to make it official. Now I had Trevor telling me I made his nephew happy, and he wanted me to keep it that way. But how the hell was any of that supposed to be true or meant to happen when Flynn himself refused to see the potential our relationship held?

Kate took my hand and spun me around, and I grinned, laughing as she pressed us together to dance all sexy. I wasn’t the outgoing extravert that Kate was. She never missed an opportunity to live her life. Unlike me, Kate lived wide, and she could dance like it was her only way to earn a living. Which explained why she was currently using me like a prop on a stage. All I could do was laugh. Her blue eyes sparkled drunkenly back at me and another of the wedding guests tugged on her arm to get her attention.

The two of them moved deeper into the crowd as my eyes found Flynn sitting on a chair in a shadowed part of the club. I knew where he was instinctually.

Something inside me heated and curled low in my abdomen. The need for him I had been trying to ignore all day seemed to be a part of me now. He was under my skin, in my blood, and I worried there’d be no getting rid of this desire.

His gaze was locked with mine, and something washed over me, a confidence only Flynn brought out in me. The song changed to something with a deeper base, something sexy, and flashes of our morning under the tree came back to me in vivid detail. I’d never been wild before, never been so daring, and never once in my life had I thought I’d find the risk of getting caught in public so exciting and erotic. But Flynn made it that way. More than that, he made me feel safe in doing it. I knew he’d do whatever he could to keep me from ever being caught out and embarrassed. He’d never put me in a situation where that wouldhappen, but still, the thrill was there.

That was Flynn for me. He was danger, safety, comfort, and thrill all wrapped in one, and he left me aching for more. He said he didn’t want more off the island, but the part of him that said it was small, but it was loud, and the roots of its cause buried deep. He wanted me, on and off the island, as badly as I wanted him. But something held him back. Whatever it was, it wasn’t my battle to fight. Only he could free himself from that baggage, and I hoped he found a way to do it.

But for now, we were still on the island.

Lifting my chin, decision made, I made my way over to him, determined to take what was still mine.

~

Flynn

Chiara was interesting to watch any day of the week.

But watching her after giving her the security she needed to cut loose was fuckingspectacular.

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