Chapter Twenty-Two
Zach laughed as he pushed Flynn through the front door of his apartment, heart soaring at how well the evening had gone and how nice it’d been to walk home with Flynn, shoulders brushing, hands grazing against each other from time to time, the crackling intimacy between them building and building on the way.
He pulled Flynn in by the front of his shirt, their lips crashing into one another, laughter making the kiss awkward and messy but no less enthusiastic. No lessgood.
They were going to get through this. They were going to get through this, because Flynn was amazing, and he took so much care of Zach, and Zach didn’t even begin to deserve him.
“You did great,” he murmured. “You wereincredible. You had her eating out of your hand.”
Flynn blushed prettily in response, and Zach loved it when he did that. He was coming to adore everything about him.
Every time he looked at Flynn, he felt his heart opening up to him, bruised and battered as it was. All of him knew that it’d be safe to hand it over, to give it to Flynn to protect and keep, and he wanted that.
He wanted to drag Flynn to bed, and fuck him into the mattress, and tell him he loved him.
Because he did.
The light in the kitchen flicking on made Zach jump. Did Flynn have automatic lights? He hadn’t noticed before…
His stomach turned as he felt Flynn go stiff under his hands. Something was wrong. The lightsweren’tautomatic.
“Wow,” a familiar voice said from the kitchen. “Didn’t take you long to move on, huh?”
Aiden.
Zach swallowed, closing his eyes tight and only barely fighting the urge to bury his face in Flynn’s chest, beg for his warmth and kindness and protection.
“Hey,” Flynn said, warning in his tone. “You’ve got a lot to answer for. First of all, you owe Zach an apology.”
“Sure, yeah, I’m really sorry I left you in the path of my brother, who seems to think he can just… steal my boyfriend?” Aiden said.
Zach turned, anger welling up in his chest. “You walked away,” he said, the sting of tears pricking at his eyes. “Youranaway and left Flynn to clean up your mess.”
“So you just jumped on his dick?” Aiden asked, pulling a face. “Jesus. I knew you were desperate, but I didn’t know you werethatdesperate.”
The anger turned to cold fear, settling in the pit of Zach’s stomach.
“Don’t talk to him like that,” Flynn said. “You’re responsible for the mess you left him in. I stepped in to fix it, like I always do. If you’re mad about this, you only have yourself to blame.”
“Oh mygodyoumarriedhim,” Aiden said, turning his attention to Flynn. “You’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”
Zach wanted to say that Flynnwasn’tan idiot, that he was good, and kind, and ten times the man Aiden could ever hope to be, but he was too busy being frozen to the spot to do any of that.
This was what he’d been afraid of. Aiden coming back was his personal nightmare, and he’dknownit was going to happen sooner or later, but the timing couldn’t have been worse.
“He dragged me into this just so he could con his grandma into paying for art school and you went and fell for it in what? A few hours? And Callie says you letmeuse you.”
“He’s not using me,” Flynn said, though his confidence seemed to be fading. He didn’t soundsure.
Zach’s heart sank. He’d been literally seconds too late to tell Flynn he loved him. If he said something now, it’d be like confirming everything Aiden was trying to make him believe. It’d sound like he was just saying it to keep Flynn on-side.
If hedidn’tsay anything, Flynn would probably think it anyway.
Hell, he clearlydidthink it, and who could blame him? Zach had been desperate. Thishadbeen about convenience and getting what he wanted, in the beginning.
It wasn’t now, but what had Zach done, exactly, to make Flynn believe that?
Jumped on his dick. Like Aiden said.
