“I don’t want you to stop talking to me because I hear everything you say. And I like sleeping next to you and holding your hand. It makes my heart beat fast when I touch you. I’ve only ever felt that way with you, Ellie.”
I pushed my plate away and leaned across the table. “I like all those things too and I hate how I’ve been. But I’m messed up, Flynn. I have a lot of issues. And those issues hurt. Not only me but you too. I don’t know how to stop it, but I do know that I want to be with you.”
I pulled out the letter from the College of Baltimore. I laid it on the table and put my hand on top. “I got this in the mail today. I was accepted to a school in Maryland. They say I can start in the fall. I want to do it,” I said, watching him the whole time.
I moved my hand and let him pull the paper towards him. He was silent while he read it but the smile on his face filled me with an immeasurable joy.
“You’re going to college,” he said, still not looking up.
“I’m going to college,” I repeated.
“To Maryland. That’s a long way away,” he murmured.
“Not if you go with me,” I said quietly, giving voice to my deepest hope. I didn’t want to take this step without him. I wasn’t sure I could do it if Flynn wasn’t there beside me. I needed him. I wanted him with me.
Flynn was quiet, still looking at the letter. But finally he looked up and met my eyes and I saw how happy he was. He got to his feet and stood over me. He reached down and held out his hands. I carefully put mine in his and he pulled me to my feet.
“I like hearing you talk, Ellie. But not now.” Flynn’s eyes were hard and serious.
I opened my mouth to ask him what he was talking about. I had a sick sense of dread that he was throwing me out of his house. And his life.
And then what would I do?
Before I could say anything, Flynn’s mouth came down on mine. Hard lips and desperate tongue as he fought his way passed my teeth. I gasped in surprise and pulled away slightly.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Flynn shook his head. “Don’t talk,” he whispered and kissed me again.
My mind was spinning on overload. I had come to Flynn house expecting to hash things out. To either give us closure or to start again.
What I hadn’t anticipated was to have my clothes ripped off by a frantic Flynn. He pulled me into the living room. We couldn’t even make it upstairs to his bedroom. He savagely ripped his shirt as he tried to undo the buttons.
His violence shocked me but I didn’t have time to think about it because he was pulling my shirt over my head. His hands were everywhere. My body arched into him, craving what he was giving me.
“I love you, Flynn,” I whispered in his ear as we came together again after so many months apart. The words flew out of me, desperate for him to know. That I always had. I would never stop.
“I hear you,” Flynn said, his eyes closed as he pressed into me.
He placed his lips on my temple, breathing me in. His hands were splayed along my back, his fingers holding me together. I shattered beneath him.
Our roles in each other’s lives had been to every extreme.
Bully and victim.
Friend.
Champion.
Lover.
When I had met Flynn Hendrick as an angry and bitter fifteen-year-old girl, I hadn’t been ready for the emotions he caused me to feel. I had fought against them even as I ran straight towards him.
I had never been a believer of fate. I was of the mindset that I was in charge of my destiny, however crappy it was. Not some faceless void that threw things in your way just to mess with you.
But staring up at Flynn, his face open and happy, how could Inotbelieve in a force that brought him into my world?
I had been slowly dying for all these years and he brought me back to life.
