Page 19 of Catching Flynn

The door swung open and Colton strolled in. He scanned the room once, spotted them, and headed over. On the way, Zack nearly collided with him.

“Whoa, easy there,” Colton said, catching the edge of one plate before it tipped. His eyes dropped to Zack’s face, and everything turned visibly warmer. “You okay?”

Zack blew out a breath and shoved damp hair off his forehead. “I’ve delivered the wrong breakfasts to the same table. Twice.”

Colton’s mouth curved. “Never change, Blue.”

With a groan, Zack hurried off.

Hooking a wooden chair with one hand, Colton spun it around, then dropped onto it backward, forearms folding over the top rail. The movement looked loose, almost lazy, but Zavier knew better. Colton never stopped assessing a room.

“What’d it say?”

Keeping the evidence bag low, Zavier slid it across the table but caught Colton’s gaze first and tipped his chin a fraction toward Flynn. Colton gave a single nod, easy as breathing, then took the bag by one corner and angled it toward himself.

Zavier wrapped his hand around his mug, feeling the heat bite into his palm. “It was taped to the bookstore door when we got there this morning, paper flapping in the breeze. No sign of forced entry anywhere. I swept the building inside and out. Nothing obvious. I called Sheriff Owen. He’s sending someone to collect it.”

Across from him, Flynn traced the rim of his coffee cup with one fingertip. “And because my life can’t just be normal for five consecutive minutes, they mentioned Zavier in the note.”

Zavier cursed. Flynn must’ve picked it up and read it when he was outside. Rookie fucking move.

Colton’s jaw tightened for half a second before smoothing out. He looked over the bag once more, then folded it shut against his thigh. “So, they’re watching close enough to notice the change.”

“Yeah.” Zavier leaned back, though every part of him stayed keyed up. “They obviously saw us together.”

Zavier hadn’t left his mate’s side in two weeks.

Flynn blew across his coffee and eyed Colton. “You’re weirdly relaxed.”

That earned him a glance. Colton rested his chin on his crossed arms. “Compared to when?”

“When we first met.” Flynn tore off a piece of biscuit, then stopped, looked down at the plate in front of him like he’d forgotten it wasn’t pancakes, and popped the bite into his mouth anyway. “You looked constipated, and scary.”

A rough huff of amusement left Colton. “Protective of Zack. Also feeling you out.”

Flynn chewed, swallowed, and tipped his head. “Makes sense. If some random guy showed up claiming to be my half-brother, I’d probably assume organ theft.”

At that, Zavier’s mouth twitched despite the knot still sitting behind his ribs. Flynn had a talent for stepping sideways into humor so cleanly it took the edge off a room.

He might’ve thought his mate was deflecting, but after spending time with Flynn, he’d learned not everything was a shield. Sometimes humor was just humor.

Colton rubbed a thumb over the edge of the evidence bag. “Meeting a new half-brother was insane for both of you.”

“Yeah.” Flynn took another drink, shoulders loosening by degrees. “It’s always insane for me. Just different levels of it. Honestly, if Zack had thrown a breadbasket at my head and told me to leave, I would’ve understood.”

“He adores you,” Colton said.

“Flynn’s brows jumped. “He does?”

Colton grinned. “You’re kinda hard not to like, brother-in-law.”

“Half,” Flynn replied.

“Not in this family. Peace.”

Colton pushed to his feet, chair legs scraping over the floor. He tucked the note bag carefully under one arm, put the chair back, then braced a hand on the table. “I’m heading out. Sorry about your wrong orders. It’s my mate’s special talent.”

“Tell him he’s thriving in chaos,” Flynn said.