Chapter One
Flynn tapped his fingers on his thigh as he waited for Callie to pick up the phone, suddenly nervous about what he was about to ask. He had no reason to be—if Callie said no, it wasn’t the end of the world, and it wasn’t like their friendship was at risk over this or anything.
All the same, he jumped as the call connected. “Hey, Flynn.”
“Uh…” Flynn began, words escaping him for a moment. “Hey, umm. What’re my chances of getting to borrow you from your girlfriend next weekend? We’re going to Vegas, on me.”
“We’re going to Vegas?” Callie asked, her voice suspicious.
“Aiden’s getting married,” Flynn explained.
“Aww, your baby brother all grown up,” she said, and then sighed. “So I guess if you’re asking me, you broke up with Stacy, huh?”
“Yeah.” Flynn swallowed. That was still a little raw two weeks later, but he’d get over it. A break was exactly what he needed, so Aiden’s timing couldn’t have been better.
“I liked her,” Callie said. “She was so pretty.”
Flynn snorted. “You’re such a lesbian,” he said fondly. “I don’t really wanna talk about it. I guess we just… weren’t in love, so it’s good that we broke up now instead of just sticking to routine, you know?”
“Do you not want to talk about it, or do youwantto talk about it?” Callie asked.
She’d listen, Flynn knew. She’d listen to whatever he had to say, because they’d been best friends since middle school and she loved him more than anyone else did, probably, and he felt the same way about her. Except that Alexis probably loved her just as much as he did, and Flynn had never quite found anyone to feel that way about him.
But Flynn wasn’t ready totalk. There’d been a lot of things happening that Callie didn’t know about, and aside from feeling guilty about not telling her, he still wasn’treadyto tell her. Maybe someday, but not right now.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Flynn confirmed. “But, uh. I need a wedding date, obviously, because I’d rather not face this guy’s entire family all by myself and I’m pretty sure I’m the only person Aiden’s inviting.”
“I think it’ll probably be fine if you borrow me,” Callie said. “So he’s really getting married, huh?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I guess he is. He’s only been dating this guy for like six months, and it’s not really a surprise that I haven’t met him, I guess, but it seems a little…”
“Sudden? Impulsive? Oh, I know: Aiden-like.”
Flynn snorted. Callie wasn’twrong, this was the kind of thing Aiden tended to do. He wasn’t the kind of person who spent a lot of time thinking about a course of action. Which wasn’t a bad thing, necessarily, though in Aiden’s case it had a tendency to backfire.
At least it wasn’t as though he had a fortune to lose in the almost inevitable divorce.
Not that FlynnwantedAiden to get divorced, and some part of him was hoping that this guy, whoever he was, would be a grounding influence for his little brother, give him something to cling to, someone tolistento every now and again.
And he wanted Aiden to be happy. One of them deserved to be.
“I guess it’s love,” Flynn said, trying to convince himself more than Callie. “Maybe this’ll be good for him. I don’t know. But he’s my brother, I have to be there.”
Callie hummed. “He ever pay back that ten thousand dollar loan?”
Flynn laughed, but he couldn’t help a note of bitterness sneaking into it. “You’re funny. No, of course not. I wrote that money off the moment I agreed to give it to him. But he’s my little brother,” he argued.
“Could you afford that, though? I know you’re not in trouble financially, but that’s a big hit for anyone.”
“Cost me a couple of vacations and a new phone,” Flynn said. “But it’s okay. He’s all I’ve got.”
“You’ve got me. And Alexis, and the baby. You’re always welcome here.”
“I know, but…”
“But you’ve been sweeping up after him since your parents died and it’s a hard habit to break, and you love him, anyway, and it’s only a wedding. That about sum it up?”
Flynn swallowed. It did, and he knew Callie wasn’t actually judging him for it, but… well, he hated when she just laid his thoughts out like that. Especially when she was right.
