That would have been a littletoofast, even for Zach’s affection-starved soul.
“Can I show these to Callie?” he asked.
Callie, who had been absorbed in her own phone, looked up. “What am I being shown?”
“Oh, uh… sure,” Zach said, having almost forgotten that Flynn was both taken and straight. Despite the fact that Callie was sitting close enough to him that he could smell her pretty, feminine perfume, and that he evenlikedher.
The fact that he was clinging to Flynn was just because he’d had his heart broken and he suddenly felt hopelessly undesirable and needy. Flynn was just the nearest attractive man.
That was it.
Callie made similar appreciative noises as she scrolled through the photos of Zach’s work, and Zach blushed all over again. Maybe they were just trying to make him feel better, but if thatwasit, it was working.
“So, uh. There’s no easy way to segue into this, but if it’s just a matter of getting married, umm… I can do that. You know. So you get your tuition money,” Flynn said, scratching the back of his neck nervously.
The entire room seemed to spin around Zach’s head for a moment, his brain struggling to catch up with what he was hearing.
“I… but… what about Callie?” he asked, looking over at her in shock.
“Callie’s a lesbian. She’s just here as my date to the wedding because my girlfriend broke up with me a few weeks back.”
Zach blinked. Nowonderhe’d been so instantly comfortable around Callie.
Although that didn’t explain why he was so instantly comfortable around Flynn. That was probably just because he was a good person. Callie seemed like a good person, too.
“Oh,” Zach said, turning his head to look between the two of them. “I just assumed… I guess… you make such a gorgeous couple, I just thought…”
“Yeah, well, I guess if Callie ever needs a husband for some reason I’d volunteer for that, too.” Flynn shrugged.
“I can’t ask you to do that for me. We just met,” Zach said, his heart sinking all over again. It was a kind offer, and it would at least solve the immediate problem that he’d started planning his future around going back to school, but it was too much to ask.
“You’re not asking. I’m offering,” Flynn said, gentle and patient as ever, his voice low and soothing. Zach knew he was about five years older than Aiden, which wasn’t a lot in the grand scheme of things, but obviously made a huge difference to his maturity.
He definitely wasn’t old enough to be a hot older man, but he had that vibe to him anyway. Probably because of all the crap he’d been through with Aiden.
“Listen,” Flynn continued. “I’m in the habit of picking up after Aiden anyway. And I get that maybe youdon’twant to marry a total stranger, and that’s okay, but I want you to know that I’m serious about this, and I won’t flake out or disappear or anything. You had this wedding planned tomorrow for a reason. We’re in Vegas. We can just… get married to keep your grandma happy and then get divorced later.”
Zach turned his head to look Flynn directly his gorgeous deep blue eyes, and saw nothing but sincerity there.
Was he going to do this?
He was going to do this. The offer was too good to pass up, and if he couldn’t have his happily-ever-after with Aiden, he could at least still have his dream of going back to school.
And Flynn was sweet, and kind, and his grandma would be really impressed.
“Are you sure?” Zach asked.
“I’m sure.” Flynn nodded. “It’s the least I can do.”
Zach wanted to argue that he’d already done a lot more than theleasthe could do, but he wanted this. He wanted to walk away from this weekend with a little sliver of hope, and Flynn was offering to help him salvage that.
He was the good brother. Zach haddefinitelypicked the wrong one to marry the first time around, and he knew that Flynn wasn’t really on offer, and he knew that Flynn wasstraight, but still.
Flynn would have been a dangerously easy man to fall in love with. It was just as well they weren’t about to be brothers-in-law, or every Thanksgiving and Christmas would have been torture.
“Then I guess I can accept your proposal,” Zach said, the faintest ghost of a smile playing around his lips.
“Good,” Flynn said, grabbing another slice of pizza. “It’s nice to see you smile,” he added in a softer, warmer tone.
Yeah. Zach wasdefinitelyin danger of falling in love with him if he kept this up.
