Chapter Twenty
Imight not have hadthe experience with relationships that Flynn boasted, but I still knew when a guy was flirting with me.
Not that Flynn was laying it on thick.Occasional glances over the top of his menu, his expression knowing; the smile, which suggested he couldn’t look at me without thinking of the fact that we’d just had sex.
I hid my own grin behind the rim of my coffee mug.Letting him see it felt like I’d have spoiled the game, somehow.
“So, why this place?”
He looked around us.“All-day breakfasts, the food is good...and it doesn’t feel...”A shrug.“Pretentious, I guess.”
“It feels like somewhere back home.”
“Maybe that’s the real reason, then,” Flynn conceded.
I smiled at the middle-aged waitress who topped up my coffee.Waited, until she’d moved on to the next table, before I carried on.“You’re allowed to miss it, you know.It’s not all...difficult.”
He made a face, too many emotions in there to tease out any one sentiment.“I know.And it’s not like I hate it, or the people who live there.”
“Oh, good.”
Flynn rolled his eyes.“Present company excepted, obviously.You’re the worst.”
“Truly terrible,” I agreed, still smirking.
He twisted his mug on the table, watching the ripples inside.“It’s just, well, you’ve seen how they are, when I come back.”
“Your parents?”
A nod.“It’s great that they’re proud of me, but most of the time it feels like they’re actually proud of some guy called Flynn that I don’t really know.Certainly not the one I feel like myself.”
“You could try telling them the truth?That you’re not happy, even if you look like you’re doing well.”
“Going back now, it’d feel like accepting defeat.”He made an unhappy face, like the very thought of it was sour.“Like saying I tried, and I failed, and I had to come scurrying back with my tail between my legs.”
“Because that’s where all the losers live.”I couldn’t quite keep the acid edge from my voice.