Flint’s in the kitchen, sleeves rolled to his elbows, dark jeans and a navy button-down that fits just a little too well. Casual, but smart, like I’m not the only one who's made an effort. His salt-and-pepper beard is trimmed, his hair damp as though he showered just before we arrived.
“Hey,” he says, glancing up with a grin. “You’re early.”
“Seraphina drove,” I say. “She couldn’t wait to get here for some reason.” I turn back to Sera with a quirk of my lips, still wondering what her little secret is.
“Just don’t like being late, that’s all,” Seraphina chirps,already hopping onto a stool at the counter. Her purple tights cross at the ankles as she sets her bag down.
“Drink?” Flint asks her, grabbing two glasses. His voice softens in a way I haven’t heard in years—not since before his divorce.
“Sure,” she says, her grin cheeky. “Got any more of that cider?”
He smirks, pours her a Coke, and pushes it across the counter. “You’re never drinking again. Not until you’re twenty-one at least.” Their eyes meet, something sparking in the air, and suddenly I feel like an intruder in my own brother’s kitchen.
I clear my throat, desperate to cut the moment. “Need a hand with dinner?”
“You can set the table,” he says, pulling a pot from the oven.
I busy myself with plates and cutlery while Seraphina leans over the counter, chin in hand, watching Flint move about the kitchen as if she’s watching some kind of cooking show.
“So,” Flint says later, nudging me with his elbow as I line up the cutlery. “Dragon boy, huh? I’d never have put you two together in a million years.”
My cheeks heat. “It’s complicated. I teach his daughter. I shouldn’t really be dating him.”
Flint snorts. “Everyone in this town wants to see you happy, Em. Nobody’s going to care that you’re dating a student’s dad. It’s about time you let someone in again.”
I swallow hard, fiddling with a fork. “I could say the same about you.”
His eyes flick towards Seraphina. She’s still perched at the counter, laughing at something on her phone, unaware—or maybe not—that my brother just gave himself away.
But when I glance back, his jaw is already tight. “I’mtoo busy at work for relationships,” he mutters, turning back to the oven.
I smile faintly because I know a deflection when I hear one.
When Flint’s attention shifts back to me, his expression softens. “You know, Em… we’ve both been burned. I know what it’s like to be cautious.” A smile curves his lips. “As much as I enjoy grilling him at work, I kinda like the dragon boy.”
“Why do you all call him that, anyway?”
“Have you not seen his tattoo?” He chuckles as he slices the roast joint.
“Oh right. I’ve only seen the tail wrapped around his arm.”
He furrows his brow. “I thought you two were an item?”
“We’re taking things slow. He’s respectful.”
Flint quirks a brow. “Well, that’s good to know, but I thought from what I saw the other night?—”
I put my hand over his mouth. “Let’s not talk about the other night.”
“What happened the other night?” Sera adds, looking up from her phone.
“Nothing,” we both say in unison, my voice a lot higher than Flint’s.
I sigh and lean against the counter. “I’m already the town’s laughingstock. I’m just scared this is going to end the same way.”
“Nobody’s laughing at you, Em.”
I stare at him with a knowing look. “I know everyone thinks I’m the crazy cat lady who can’t have kids, so I baby my cats. Everyone knows Richard left me because he wanted a family. It still hurts every time I have to teach his son, but I do it because that’s my job and it’s not his faulthis dad’s a prick. What if it happens again? What if Drake wants more than I can give? I don’t think I could take another heartbreak or another cheater.”
