Page 32 of Catching Flynn

He glanced up like he was addressing his complaint to the real Flynn. “I can forgive the insanity, but trapping your mind with a stalker and someone easily distracted by a laser light is just foul. You could’ve least made us filthy rich, asshole.”

Another unhinged laugh escaped. Flynn didn’t bother covering it this time.

“Kitten.”

Flynn could not stop the bursts of hysterical laughter that kept erupting. The stress had finally broken him.

“Kitten. How fitting.” Another quick burst. “Oh no. No, no, no, honey. Be as delusional as you want—hiss at dogs, knock things off my dresser, and get stuck in a tree, but you are not involving me into your crazy.”

“Flynn.”

“Say you were joking. Screwing with me. I’ll believe anything you tell me, except that. My life’s already a mess. You’re the only steadiness I have, Zavier.” Swallowing, Flynn glanced down and wished he hadn’t. Zavier was lying there, an arm tucked under his head, gazing at Flynn with so much tenderness it never broke him.

“Come here, kitten.” He eased Flynn onto his chest, caressing his back in gentle strokes. “I need you to relax.” He held up his hand when Flynn parted his lips. “I’m know it’s pretty rich of me to ask when I’m the reason you’re spiraling. Just focus on one thing.”

Flynn listened to Zavier’s steady heartbeat thumping in his ear.

“How we doing, sweetheart?”

The timbre in his voice reverberated through Flynn. He rested his hand on Zavier’s stomach, watching it rise and fall with every breath.

“Yesterday, at the shooting place. I didn’t see you move when you took the shotgun. One second, I was holding it, then I was holding air. It wasn’t humanly possible to move so fast, but I didn’t push for answers.”

“Why not?”

The vibration tickled a little.

“I was happy in our private little bubble. I didn’t want anything to pop it.”

“Neither did I.” Zavier gently squeezed him. “Can’t ever remember feeling that content.”

“You were?”

“I had to bite back so many purrs my teeth were aching.” Zavier resumed rubbing Flynn’s back. “I have heightened senses and reflex. The shotgun was waving too freely, and my instinct took over. My only thought was to protect you, not ruin your fun.”

“I know.” Headlight beams briefly lit the room then faded. “I saw something flash in your eyes, but eyes don’t flash. They sparkle, shimmer, or brighten, but they don’t flash.”

Zavier tensed, his hand stilling once more.

“I don’t want lies,” Flynn said. “The conversation up to this point has felt genuine. If you start bullshitting me, conversation ends.”

Flynn wasn’t the assertive type, but Zavier had become important to him. His words mattered.

From conception Flynn’s father rejected him, his mom when she’d chosen alcohol over her own son, dying when Flynn was only nineteen from liver damage.

His grandmother’s death was just a part of life, but Flynn still felt the loss deeply.

Andrew left town without a single word. Flynn hadn’t seen Josh in close to a decade. That one hurt the most. His cousin had issues. Broken home, abusive father, always feeling on edge.

Expect when Josh was with him. His cousin hard edges softened when they hung out, becoming the real version of himself.

Zavier would leave once this assignment was over, then Flynn would be nothing more than a case number.

After Colton dropped that truth bomb, Flynn was pissed. Nobody wanted the curtain pulled back, for others to see the damage, or to realize Flynn had purposely shrunk his world. It wasn’t until he’d thought long and hard about his past that the truth struck him. He couldn’t be rejected if his world was a population of one.

Honestly, Zavier not being human mind-blowing, but wasn’t as important as it should’ve been. Flynn just wanted him to stay. Pathetic as hell, but Flynn didn’t care. Zavier could’ve been a blue Martian and it still wouldn’t have mattered.

Great, now Flynn was imagining Zavier in an Avatar body, silky black hair pulled back, and wearing just enough loin cloth to be legal.