Zach smiled. “I was just about to ask you how she was. And Lily.”
“They’re both good,” Flynn said. “Lily’s growing up so fast. I’m glad I get to be part of their lives. I’ve known Callie forever and I’ve never seen her happier.”
“Well, tell her I’m good, too. Because I am, mostly. I’m even starting to think you’re right about me being lucky I didn’t end up married to Aiden.”
“Iamright about that,” Flynn said. “But I also get that it stillhurts. I can see one or two charming qualities in him.”
“Only to someone who hadn’t met you first,” Zach responded, wondering instantly if he’d said too much, if maybe that would make Flynn uncomfortable.
Luckily, Flynn chuckled again. Zach was coming to love the way he laughed, warm and rich and just deep enough for the sound to vibrate in Zach’s chest.
“So are you all set for school?” Flynn asked, setting his coffee cup down on the table and playing with it again. Zach was distracted for a moment by the way his fingers ran up and down the shape, pausing to circle the place where the glaze ended and the bare stoneware began.
The tips of his ears burned at the thought of Flynn touching… other things, like that. With his strong, careful fingers that were thicker than Zach’s own, but almost certainly less rough.
“Uh,” he said as he forced his attention back to Flynn’s face. “Yeah, umm… I’m mostly ready? The only thing I’m worried about is that I’ve got this one eight a.m. class and I’m not sure how to get to it, because I live across town and the earliest bus won’t get me there until eight fifteen. Which is maybe not a huge deal for a three-hour class, and I guess I could speak to the lecturer about it, but…”
“Or I’ve got a pull-out couch,” Flynn said. “And you’re welcome to it.”
Zach stared at him, his mouth hanging open. After all Flynn had done for him, he still wasn’tfinisheddoing things?
Whatever he’d done to deserve having this man in his life, he was really glad he’d done it.
“I couldn’t… that’s…”
“Gives me a chance to check in with you regularly.” Flynn shrugged. “I mean, no pressure, but I’ll text you my address later and you can drop in anytime. I mostly work from this café or home, so… I’m pretty easy to track down.”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re an angel?” Zach asked, floored by how damnedgoodFlynn was being to him.
“You’re my husband,” Flynn said, blushing the tiniest bit and still playing with his coffee cup. “I gotta take care of you. Besides, like I said, I’m invested in you passing this course. So if you need an easy way to get to your eight a.m. class… I live a five minute walk from your school. You’re welcome at my place.”
“I’ll think about it,” Zach promised, and he alreadywasthinking about it, and he already liked the idea.
On the one hand, he didn’t want to be like Aiden. He didn’t want to take Flynn for granted, or take too much from him, or… anything like that.
But he did want to be around him more often, and this was a good excuse. Besides, he knew how to pull his weight in a relationship.
Afriendship, he reminded himself. Flynn was his friend, but he wasn’t interested, and that was fine. Zach could have used a few more friends like Flynn.
“Like I said, offer’s open,” Flynn said, draining the rest of his coffee. “This cup is really nice to drink out of, by the way. And beautiful.”
“Form and function,” Zach said, grinning at him. Hedidlike to have his work praised. Maybe he’d have to show Flynn his studio someday after all.
“And you’ve mastered both,” he said. “I’m glad things worked out the way they did. This way I’ll get to say I knew you before you were famous.”
Zach blushed all over again, squirming in his seat. It really was a shame that Flynn was straight.
