“Shit. I’m sorry. I’m a jerk. I shouldn’t have said that,” Jimmy says.
I press my lips together and shake my head. “He’s got every right to move on.”
“Do you want to come in for a coffee or a beer?”
I grimace. “No alcohol.”
He chuckles. “That’s a good call. Shit, Flynn, you look like a puppy that’s just been kicked in the teeth.”
Do I? Why am I letting Billy’s sex life bother me?
“Coffee? Or we can go to the cinema. I can check what’s on while we drive there. That’s if you don’t mind driving. I have my licence, but I don’t have a car.”
“Or we could do what I came here for.”
Jimmy’s eyes bug out of his head. “Are you serious?”
Am I? Sleeping with Jimmy while stone-cold sober would be a bad idea. I also can’t be sure I’m not suggesting it because I’m upset with Billy. Even though I have no reason to be upset, and I sure as hell shouldn’t be using Jimmy.
I wave my hand. “Forget it. I’ll see you around, okay?” I turn and stride to my car, putting my hand on the door handle.
Jimmy grips my shoulder. I hadn’t even heard him come after me. I’d been so consumed with getting the fuck out of here. “You’re not okay.”
No. I’m not. My head is all kinds of messed up. I don’t know what I want or how I should be feeling. Everything is chaos.
I hunch my shoulders. “I’m fine. Let me go.”
He does. “Come inside.”
“Why?” My voice is hoarse.
Jimmy is quiet for a moment, as if he’s trying to figure out why he asked me in. Eventually, he says, “So I can make sure you’re safe to drive.”
“I am.”
“Humour me.”
I look at him. He’s close. And I can’t deny his new-to-me physique makes my insides quiver with desire. I can’t help but imagine myself in his strong arms.
I shouldn’t. Sleeping with Jimmy will hurt him, Billy,andme. So why do I want to say fuck it all and get on my hands and knees for him?
“Come inside,” he repeats in a sinfully soft voice. “Just for a few minutes. I’ll get you a drink. Coffee. Water. Juice. Warm milk.”
I can’t help but smile. Warm milk has been my go-to bedtime drink since I was a kid. My eyes prickle with tears.
“Whatever you want. You can calm down, and then you can drive home, if that’s what you want to do.”
I shouldn’t. But Jimmy wants to take care of me, and I want to let him.
5
JIMMY
I am such a jerk. Why did I tell Flynn that Billy was ‘out there having fun’, or whatever the fuck I said? It wasn’t kind, and I need to make it right, although I’m not sure how. His suggestion of fucking is also buzzing through my head. Did he mean it, or did he suggest it because he was upset? Would I mind being used? Yes, if his gaze ends up full of regret after we've done the deed. If neither of us mentions it again, it won’t happen.
I lead him to the kitchen, grab milk from the fridge, measure some into two mugs and tip it into a saucepan.
Flynn sits at the breakfast bar, which is the only thing we have that resembles a table. There are two reception rooms, and if this were a family home, one would be earmarked as the dining room. But this is a student house, so the one at the front is a bedroominstead, which means there are four bedrooms instead of the intended three.
