Page 202 of The Winslow Brothers

But Flynn doesn’t say anything else. Not in text and not on the phone, and the silence makes my heart quicken its speed, uncertainty driving the pace.

God, he must think I’m a total nutjob, and he’s about to lose my number any minute. Or worse, turn me in to Immigration himself.

“Look, I know it’s weird and awkward to text each other while we’re on the phone, but…I need the buffer, you know?” I try to explain my intentions, even though I don’t really understand what I’m trying to achieve here. “This whole thing is making mefreak out a bit…” Okay,a lot.“And I just don’t know what to say or do or how to show that we’re in love when we barely even know each other—”

“Check your messages.”

“What?” I ask, but a few moments later, a new text fills our chat.

Flynn: My day was pretty good, babe. How was yours?

“Oh.” Okay, so maybe he doesn’t think I’m a total nutjob. Just, like, a partial nutjob. Not put-her-in-a-padded-room nuts, more like, yes, she’s crazy, but it’s tolerable.

I don’t hesitate to type out a response to his message. Truthfully, I’ve been thinking about it for about seven out of the last twenty-four hours, so it’s pretty curated.

Me: It was good, but I miss you. I hate being this far away from you. I hate waking up and finding out that you’re not there. And going to bed without you beside me? Completely miserable. How many days until I’m in New York with you again? Because from where I stand, it feels like a thousand.

Flynn: I miss you too.

A sigh leaves my lips when I read his latest text. “No offense, Flynn, but you’re going to have to say more than a few words for this to work. I mean, we are supposed to be two people who are crazy about each other and miss each other and all the things, you know? Our text conversations should show love and excitement, but they should also show passion. We’re two people who desperately want to be together but have to be thousandsof miles away. It’s going to look weird if I’m penning a novel of adoration and you respond withyeah.”

His hearty chuckles fill my ears, and I furrow my brow.

“Wait…are you laughing at me right now?”

“No offense, but you sound like an acting coach.”

It’s my turn to laugh, but my nerves turn it to hysteria pretty quickly.

I’ve never been one to spend time imagining my future husband, but I do know, if I did, it definitely wouldn’t have been like this, where my husband wasn’t even my husband at all but a man who made a commitment out of pity in order to help keep me from losing my job. It all feels kind of pathetic when I think about it.

“I’m sorry. I know I sound like a rambling psycho and I’m probably making no sense, but the importance of all this, of getting this visa and keeping my job, is making it hard for me to be rational.”

I shut my eyes and run a hand through my hair, but when Flynn says, “Check your messages,” into my ear once more, my focus is back on the screen of my phone.

Flynn: Do me a favor and tell me what you’re wearing right now, babe. In explicit detail, so I can imagine it perfectly.

A breath gets caught in my lungs, and I open and close my mouth several times in an attempt to form words.What the hell? Is he…is he sexting me?

“I can’t be sure…but…are you sexting me?”

“You want it to look real, right?”

Numbly, I nod, the words on the screen still burning into my eyes.

“I’m expecting a response,” he adds.

Okay, Daisy, you said you wanted this. Well, the ball is officially in your court…

I’ve never sexted with anyone in my life. Kind of sad, I’m sure, but true—I am a sexting virgin.

Maybe the only sexting virgin left on the planet at this point in the modern-technology age.

Don’t make a big thing out of it, Daisy. Just…sext him back.

I glance down at my clothes, and when I see that I’m still in the skirt and blouse I put on for work this morning, I decide that this isn’t nearly sexy enough for this conversation. And before I know it, I’m stripping out of my work clothes until I’m left wearing something that feels appropriate for the sexting cause.

An imaginary notification bings dramatically in my head:Libido has entered the chat.

---