Page 109 of Playing Flirty

I not-so-subtly peeked around him.

Shaun sighed. “He’s not here.”

“Oh.” I swallowed my disappointment.

“In a strange turn of events, he’s not mad at me.” Shaun released a light sigh followed by a soft smile.

“That sounds like a good thing.”

He shrugged and pursed his lips. “You know William. He’s pretty comfortable with being mad—it’s like his default setting. And this time, I deserve it. But he isn’t mad. He’s quiet. Quiet and busy.”

“Busy with what?”

Shaun looked up and all around before scratching the side of his head. “He’s been at work most of the time. He’s got a deadline.”

The lump in my throat returned, and when I didn’t answer, Shaun let out a soft sigh. He placed the suits over the back of the couch. “He still won’t be needing this.”

“I thought he wasn’t mad.”

He released a pain-filled laugh. “It’s not about me. He doesn’t want to be around our dad, and I can’t really blame him for it. We had a deal.” He smiled, and then his mouth curved downward. “But I had to invite my parents. I thought…” He unclenched his fists. “I thought my dad wouldn’t make it. He’s usually too busy to do anything.”

“Were things really that tense at home? Between William and your dad?” I leaned against the wall and checked the time. I had to leave in a minute, but I wanted to hear this.

“I guess it was, I don’t know. A lot of their arguments happened behind closed doors. Our dad didn’t like for my mom and me to get involved.” He inhaled a deep breath. “But he was a great dad to me, so I… I struggle to see him the way William does. And it was okay because William knew I had his back. He knew I didn’t think of him the way our dad does. But now…” He rubbed his hands over his face and shook his head. “Like you said, groveling. I’m groveling and doing everything he asks of me.”

“What’s he asked for?”

Shaun opened his mouth and shut it before shaking his head. “Uh, nothing, never mind. Don’t you need to get to the airport?”

I looked down at the time. Drat.

“Happy groveling,” I said and turned to leave even though part of me wanted to wait there until William returned. Until he was ready to see me.

The next few items on Neema’s to-do list included collecting our jewelry and shoes and fetching one of her wedding guests from the airport.

Running low on physical energy—and my emotional energy nonexistent—I arrived at the airport and took a seatwhile I waited for her friend’s plane to land. I had no idea what she looked like, but Neema had described me to her friend—including what I was wearing—so I had no worries she’d have trouble finding me.

To pass the time, I scrolled through the gallery on my phone. Images of William filled the screen, and my stomach turned. In the last few weeks, I’d taken quite a number of photos of him.

William cooking.

William as Batman.

William on the balcony.

Silly selfies William sent to me.

William playing my game.

William. William. William.

Ugh, my phone was more obsessed than I was.

I sorted my gallery from old to new and started again.

I scrolled until I came upon childhood photos of myself and my numerous travels with my parents. Seeing their happy faces made my chest ache. I missed my mother and father so much. It was three days until the wedding, and I was so excited, not only for my best friends, but to see my parents. Especially since learning about the dynamic between William and his father, I missed mine and the relationship we shared even more.

Images of Comic-Con flooded my screen. I couldn’t help smiling at a selfie I’d taken with a very realistic Edward Cullen look-alike. I’d printed that image and framed it.

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