Page 54 of Coming Up Roses

“Alright. Sounds good.” She turns to the window and watches the paddocks roll by, before suddenly picking up her phone and tapping away.

The only sound between us the quiet music coming from the ute speakers. I’m busy wracking my brain for something to say to her—because what does one say after hooking up with their friend? But she speaks first.

“Flynn, were you serious about the puppy?”

“What?”

“The puppies Olivia showed you at lunch yesterday. Do you want to get one?”

I run a hand through my hair. I do want one. I want to feel less lonely, and a puppy seems like a good way to do that, but Olivia and Katie were right about me and responsibilities. I’m not very good at them. “Maybe. I like the idea of one, the reality might be a different story though.”

She makes a small humming noise and a moment later my phone chimes with an incoming text. “That’s the link. I think you should consider it.”

“What?”

“I saw the way you looked at those puppies. There’s no person in the world who I think would be a better puppy dad than you.”

“Is that because I behave like a puppy most of the time myself?”

She laughs and I celebrate the sound. “Maybe.” She shrugs. “It just makes sense to me that you should have one. At least think about it.”

“I did, but Katie and Liv are right.”

She makes a tiny scoffing noise and I raise my eyebrows at her. “They don’t think you can handle the responsibility of a puppy, but have no issue giving you plenty of responsibility with your job.”

“I turned down the job with all the responsibility. Henry offered me the farm manager role and I said no.”

“Just because you didn’t want to manage the whole place, including the staff, doesn’t make you irresponsible. You’re not going to let a puppy down, Flynn. You never let me down.”

There’s still time. The thought flashes through my mind so fast I barely register it. “I don’t know,” I say, trailing off and hoping we can leave this conversation topic behind.

“Just think about it. Maybe go see them.”

“Well, if I go and see them, I’ll for sure be bringing one home, because did you see their faces?”

She laughs. “True, but I don’t think that would be a bad thing.”

28

ABI

I don’t knowif I’m overstepping by pushing Flynn about the puppy. The look on his face when he saw the pictures of them, then the look that crossed it when Olivia and Katie shot him down is scratched into my brain though and I can’t let it go.

Is encouraging him about the puppy really overstepping when I jerked him off and came all over his hand last night? Probably not.

I direct Flynn through the streets, still quiet and sleepy this early on a Saturday. The sun is just cresting the horizon and it’s peaceful.

I don’t know how peaceful things are between Flynn and I though. He seems … conflicted.

I worry I pushed him too much and he regrets it, but there isn’t much I can do about that right now.

“Left here,” I say, pointing to my street. Flynn indicates and makes the turn, not saying a word. “This one with the bluedoor,” I say and he jerks in surprise. It’s then that I realise his hands are gripping the steering wheel like they did that day we made out on the beach. His knuckles are white and he’s looking like if he lets go his whole world will fall apart.

“How long do you need?” he rasps, hands not leaving the steering wheel, not even to put the ute into park.

“You can come in for a bit if you want,” I say, but Flynn shakes his head, jerking it roughly from side to side, his eyes fixed on my bright blue front door. “Um, maybe half an hour?”

“Okay. I’ll see you back here.”

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