“He’s easy to exist around,” Flynn responded. “I asked him to come with me to that networking thing I’ve been freaking out about for months.”
Callie raised an eyebrow all over again.
“He told me this story about telling a guy who was hitting on him in one of his classes that he was married and then said there were perks to it. So that got me thinking… I do him a favor, he does me one, maybe this whole thing isn’t the worst idea I’ve ever had?”
“You know,” Callie began. “Back in Vegas I thought it reallywasthe worst idea you’d ever had, but now… you seem better. Better than you have been in a while.”
Flynn wet his lips. This was where he could have the conversation he’d come heretohave, he just had to be brave enough to do it.
He cuddled Lily a little bit closer and took a deep breath.
“I know you liked Stacy, but she was a whole lot like Aiden, and I never said anything because I’m thirty-two and my life seems to be getting away from me and I’m scared of ending up alone. And then this happened, and I realized how stupid all that was. This is ridiculous, but… I dunno. Maybe it’s the change I needed.”
Callie reached out to touch the fingers Flynn had wrapped around his coffee cup, just the gentlest brush of contact. Just enough to let him know she was there, physically and emotionally.
This was why she made such a good preschool teacher.
“I’m sorry for not seeing it,” Callie said. “I owed you better than that.”
“I went out of my way to hide it because I knew you’d tell me to leave.” Flynn smiled wryly. “So I guess… Iknew, but… I dunno, I think that’s why I wanna help Zach? This keeps happening to me, and I think maybe it keeps happening to him, too. Is that stupid?”
“It’s not stupid,” Callie confirmed. “And I’ll stop teasing you about it. It’s nice that you’ve made friends with your new husband.”
Flynn gave her a look.
“Okay,nowI’ll stop teasing you about it,” she said, smiling over the rim of her coffee cup. “Thanks for being brave enough to tell me. I know that was hard.”
“Was it ever,” Flynn agreed, his stomach still aching with the worry that Callie was going to yell at him. He knew better than that, and sheneveryelled unless someone was in immediate danger of hurting themselves or someone else, but…
He’d been worried, all the same. Worried was his default state.
“I have a frozen cheesecake on hand for times like this,” Callie said. “Wanna help me eat it?”
Flynn wet his lips. He could definitely have gone for some sugar right now. “Sure, why not?”
Callie grinned at him, standing. “Good, you’ve earned it. And you’re right. I think Zach’s good for you.”
Flynn nodded, watching her go and rocking Lily gently. He felt better, now that he’d told her what hadreallybeen going on between him and Stacy. He knew there were more in-depth conversations about it in his future, but that was okay.
It had been easier to tell Zach first. He’d only been vague, but it’d helped him to admit it to himself, and to realize that he really did need to tell Callie about it.
So she was right. Zach was good for him.
