Page 50 of Flipping the Script

“He’s a friend of the family,” I said, not quite lying. I couldn’t tell them it was Sebastian without outing him.

And he technically was a family friend. My parents and brothers loved him.

“Do you like him?” Isaac asked.

“Not like that.” I couldn’t stop my huff of laughter.

“What do you mean?” Asa folded his hands and studied me.

“This, that night… It was a mistake.” I didn’t bother bringing up our first mistake, the one that happened outside his cabin. “We got carried away.”

“Carried away?” Isaac slid a little lower in his chair.

“How is that comfortable?” I asked. “My back would be screaming at me.”

He grinned and slumped lower. “You know me. I can’t sit still to save my life. But back to what you were saying about your family friend and his talons.”

“There’s not much else to tell. Him and I… It’s complicated.”

“So uncomplicate it for us,” Isaac said.

I looked between them.

“Or you can just clam up and pretend everything is fine, like usual.” Isaac’s tone was teasing, but he wasn’t wrong.

I’d never been the type to open up to people. Maybe it was a control thing or a way to protect myself, but I wasn’t a talker. I could hold conversations and chat about pointless shit, and I was really good at listening to other people’s problems, but talking stuff out didn’t come naturally to me.

“There’s just not much to say. We don’t get along. Never have. He doesn’t like me, and I don’t like him. The other night we were arguing about something stupid, and shit got physical.”

“Hate sex is the best.” Isaac grinned at me. “Nothing beats an angry O.”

“It didn’t go that far. We just got each other off.” I shrugged. Hopefully Asa couldn’t see that my neck was hot again. “It was a mistake. We already agreed it can’t happen again.”

Asa’s brow knitted.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing. I’ve never seen you blush before. Not once in the six months we’ve known each other. You’ve blushed four times in the last ten minutes. All while thinking about a guy you don’t like.”

“Maybe because I still can’t believe any of it happened.”

“Or because it was different, and you don’t know what to do with that.” He leaned back in his chair and spun his phone on the table. “You don’t like feeling out of control, and I’m guessing that”—he waved toward my shoulder—“happened because you were both a little out of control.”

“You’re annoyingly perceptive,” I grumbled.

“Am I wrong?” he asked knowingly.

I didn’t answer.

Asa smirked. “I’m just saying that anyone who can make you step outside of your comfort zone might be worth spending more time with.”

“Not this guy. This…thing between us is over. It was a mistake.”

Asa and Isaac exchanged a look.

“I’ve got to get back out there.” Pushing back my chair, I stood and untied the arms of my coveralls from around my waist. “How much time do you have left?” I asked Asa.

He tipped his phone toward him to check the time. “About seven minutes.”

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