Page 64 of Coming Up Roses
Flynn.
The dates and height marks for Hunter and Flynn continue down the doorframe, one for each of them every year.
I’m stunned, my breath trapped in my chest, my heart pounding. “This was your house?”
“It still is,” he says. He taps his finger against his name. “A few months after this I finally outgrew Mum, but we never got to record it.” He sighs, then steps away from me, out of the tiny cupboard we’d wedged ourselves into. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. That this place was mine, I mean.”
“You didn’t have to tell me. But now that morning you dropped me off here makes more sense.” I close the cupboard and lean against the wall. He mirrors my pose opposite me. “I thought you were freaking out about what happened the night before.”
He grins bashfully. “There was a little bit of freaking out about the night before. But mostly I was just shocked that you lived here, of all places.”
“Why don’t you live here? Or your brother?”
Flynn shrugs. “I wanted to be closer to the farm, to Olivia and Violet. It doesn’t make sense for me to live here when I have everything I need out there. As for Hunter, who the fuck knows.”
“You don’t have to stay,” I say. “Tonight, I mean. This has got to be weird for you.”
“It is, but I also kind of love that you’ve made this your home. Want to give me the tour?”
I laugh. “I think you should be giving me the tour.”
“Okay, no tour.” He steps across the hall, right into myspace. I could get used to being pressed between Flynn’s hot, hard body and whatever wall is close by. “What happens next?”
I’m about to toss back a flippant ‘whatever you want’, when I realise Flynn isn’t asking to be flirty, he’s asking because he really doesn’t know.
“Let’s get a drink,” I say. “We’ll take it from there.”
34
FLYNN
Abi slipsout from where I have her boxed in against the wall—again.
She slides her hand into mine, and by this point I feel like I shouldn’t be so affected every time she touches me.
But I am.
Maybe it’s just what the touch from a gorgeous woman does to me.
Maybe it’s only Abi’s touch.
Maybe it’s nerves because I have no idea what’s going to happen tonight. As much as I try to fake confidence, tonight I’m struggling.
Especially being back in my childhood home. I hope that tiny factor isn’t going to make this extreme levels of awkward. It’s already bad enough.
Abi leads me into the open plan kitchen, dining and living area. “I don’t have a lot of options sorry. Some Coke, white wine or gin.”
I shake my head. “I don’t need a drink,” I say.
I step towards the doors that open out onto the back deck. My parents spent most of my childhood renovating this place. I love that pretty much everything is exactly the same as it was when I moved out six years ago, right after I turned eighteen and finished high school. By then I was legally no longer Hunter’s responsibility, and I had my job at Wildflower Ridge to fall into.
I stare out into the night and exhale a long breath, then spin around to find Abi standing directly behind me. We both startle and a giggle slips from her lips. A moment later, we’re both laughing and the tension that was curling up my spine releases.
“You’re nervous,” Abi says and it’s not a question.
“Little bit,” I say, pinching my fingers together. “I don’t know the protocol here.”
“Protocol might be a bit formal,” she says, a smile curving her lips.
