Chapter Thirty
The beer bottle sweatedagainst my fingers, as I twisted it in the wet ring on the table and tried not to imagine catastrophe.Flynn had been watching me with a blithe sort of curiosity since we sat down, sipping from his own drink and apparently happy to leave me to stew.Or maybe he just didn’t know what the hell to say, given what was probably a fairly pained expression on my face.
It was tempting to down the bottle and order up another, only I was the designated driver tonight.Flynn had argued we’d be more comfortable in his car, but I’d pointed out that he might need liquid courage to deal with my friends.Then I’d reminded him that his SUV was prone to breaking down, and he’d called me an asshole and told me fine, I could drive.
My mood had rapidly gone downhill after we arrived.
It wasn’t like I thought Kyle and Catherine would be upset, or unhappy about my news.I actually thought they’d take great delight in teasing Flynn, and there was a part of me which was rather looking forward to seeing him give as good as he got.
It was just hard, though, when it all felt very much like goodbye.
“Can’t believe you started without us.”Kyle’s voice was loud, enough to startle me out of my pensive reverie.
“Only the first,” Flynn said, holding up his bottle.
Catherine gave Kyle a shove.“What’re you having?”
“The usual, obviously.”
She laughed as she headed to the bar.
Kyle sat down, then looked at me more closely.“What bit you on the ass, then?”
I flipped him off.“Are you really gonna show me up, when we have a guest?”
He snorted.“Guest?Is that what we’re calling it, now?”
Flynn flashed me the sort of grin which suggested he was already enjoying things immensely.
“Fine,” I said, deciding the rip-the-Band-Aid-off strategy was probably most wise.“We’re dating.Happy?”
Kyle reached out to grab one of the beers that Catherine was holding.Swung it round, in Flynn’s direction.“Y’hear that?”He winked at Catherine as she sat down.“Our boy finally found himself an honest-to-god boyfriend.”
Catherine extended her own drink.“And to think, he was next door all along.”
Reaching his beer out to clink against theirs, Flynn shook his head.“Not quite.But I do feel like I was terribly overlooked.”
Kyle side-eyed me.“Yeah, he’s an asshole like that.”
