“What the fuck do you know about it?” the man snapped, and Flynn let me go. All at once I recognized that stupid Van Dyke beard and those squinty eyes as being one and the same as the pic of the man I’d saved on my phone.
The fucker looked so self-righteous, as if he had a right to hurt Flynn, so I lunged and punched him again. I grabbed the ex by his longish brown hair, moving fast toward the bedroom door. He cursed and swore but followed after me, clutching at my hand on his head. “Let me go! You can’t do this. You can’t fucking do this!”
“Yeah, I am!” I dragged him right to the front door and shoved his ass outside, and with a grin, I slammed the door and turned the lock.
Flynn huddled behind me in his underwear with his arms crossed, gaping at me like he’d never seen me before.
“Did you invite him here?” I asked, mad as fuck with no way to calm down. I wasn’t sure what I would do if Flynn told me he’d wanted that man in his house. Probably go outside and kick the shit out of his ex—assuming he hadn’t already left.
“No! God, of course not.”
That had my rage at a whole new level, strangely. It would’ve been one thing if Flynn was going back to the guy, but he’d broken in here. What the fuck had he been planning to do to my boyfriend? I opened the door again, only to find the piece of shit sitting in a nice new Audi behind my Lexus with his phone pressed to his ear.
“Damn it.”
Flynn came up behind me and popped his chin onto my shoulder.
“Can’t even act like a fucking man, you prick.” I slammed the door again.
“No, he’s probably calling the cops.”
“Let him. This is your house and he broke in.” I turned to drag Flynn into my arms.
He cringed.
“What?”
“Technically his name is on the deed. We refinanced and.... I think.... Well, I think he can legally still come in here. He left and I pay the bills, but he’s not bound by landlord rules. He lived here. I didn’t think he would do anything like this, so I never bothered to change the locks. I’m not really sure I’m legally allowed to keep him out. I would need to research that.” He pursed his lips, staring at the door as if he could still see the man out there in the driveway.
“What?”
He flinched back. “Sorry.”
“I’m not mad at you for anything, but... why didn’t you at least change the fucking locks?”
His face bloomed a painful red and he hung his head. “Chris left me for someone better. Why in the hell would he ever come back?”
“No, he didn’t.” I kissed him and took the time to suck on his bottom lip until he rested most of his weight against me. “What a mess.”
He nodded and winced, gagging a little, and I rubbed his stomach when he rested his forehead on my shoulder. Maybe the hangover was hitting him already. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
A knock on the door startled us, and I was ready to punch the bastard again as I ripped it open. A tall, broad-shouldered cop with blond hair sticking out from under a navy-blue uniform hat stood on the other side with a pinched smile on his friendly face. He glanced at me, gaze dipping down my body to my boxers, then over my shoulder at Flynn. “Okay, so I’m not believing the story I heard just now. Chris is an arsehole. Hi, Flynn.” I was surprised by the lilting British accent. The cop dropped his chin and stared at me, then turned to the side and pointed. “Did you attack that man out in the car while he was in bed with his significant other?”
“Damn, I’m glad it’s you, Jayce. We’re still split up,” Flynn snapped. “And he moved out. Don’t believe a word Chris said. He snuck in here like a thief in the night, the same way he used to leave to go meet up with his guy on the side.”
The cop groaned pitifully and turned to glare back outside. “Chris says he’s going to rain all sorts of lawyer-related hell down on you and be a total arsehole if you don’t allow him in the house right now. He claims he can prove he is the owner?”
Flynn scrubbed at his face with both hands. “He is, but he moved out. He left. We hadn’t gotten around to taking care of the house yet. His housing problems shouldn’t be my issue.” Flynn sounded so miserable the cop winced.
“And then this is your new boyfriend?” he asked, nodding at me. “River mentioned maybe there was someone new?”
“Yes, that’s right,” I was quick to confirm. It seemed like this guy knew Flynn, and I wanted everyone to understand he was mine.
“I’m Officer Jayce Paxton,” he said to me, then closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Listen, I happened to be coming off another incident where I was backup when the call went out from dispatch for this shite. I was looking forward to going home to River. I have had a long night and I know this one’s type. Mate, I’m not running anyone in for anything, but if you don’t go, Chris is going to kick up a fuss until someone comes here who will toss you in the back of a cruiser.” He pointed at me. “You’re in for one hell of a shiner.”
Shrugging, I barely felt the pain in my eye because I was too fucking pissed off.
