Page 45 of His Cowboy Heart

Flynn, for his part, didn’t seem particularly happy to see me. If anything, he looked irritated. His entire body was tense, so much so that I could see the muscles flexing along his arm as he closed the door behind him.

The air around us may have been charged with electricity, but the silence was painfully awkward. I let out a nervous laugh that I tried to pawn off as a laugh of surprise or amusement.

“Sorry, I was just looking for something to write on so I could leave you a few words… um, a note I guess…” I stammered as I motioned to the bathroom. Flynn’s complete and utter lack of reaction had me on edge. “It wasn’t important,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’ll just let you get your rest. I’m sure you’re tired from doing whoever—” I stopped abruptly when I realized what I’d said.

Whoever? Really, Jules? What the fuck?

“Whatever,” I blurted. Flynn didn’t react.

Okay, it was time to call a spade a spade. There was no graceful way to recover.

Period.

God, if the man would just move aside so I could slide past him and out of the door and his life forever, it would make it a lot easier to put one foot in front of the other. Flynn wasn’t getting the hint, though, so I simply hung my head, hurried toward the door muttering “sorry” as I neared him, and then maneuvered my body so I could slide past him and escape the room.

Itriedto slide past him, anyway. It was hard to do any sliding when the one you needed to get past wouldn’t move.

I was forced to come to a stop in front of him. We were a foot apart at most and yet he didn’t move.

God, the man was stubborn. It was maddening. Since he wasn’t making any attempt to stop me, I used my arm to reach past Flynn, making sure not to touch him, before going for the doorknob. Flynn’s hand covered it before I could get to it.

And the bastardstillwasn’t speaking.

“Look, fine, okay, you got me,” I snapped in an effort to maintain a shred of dignity. “I just wanted to tell you something, but it’s moot now. It doesn’t matter anymore. I’m sorry I didn’t realize it sooner. And I’m sorry for invading your privacy.”

“What ‘doesn’t matter anymore’?” Flynn asked gruffly.

“It!” I bit out. “It! The things we told each other. The way we… the way we…”

“Touched?” Flynn supplied. If anything, my attempt at an explanation was only pissing him off even more.

“Fine, yes, touched. Seeing Brooks and Xavier together, finding out about Curtis and Del—I just. I didn’t want the same thing to happen. I wanted to look you in the eyes when I…” I couldn’t finish the thought because it hurt too fucking much. I didn’t even truly know why it hurt. Saying goodbye to Brooks would be hard as hell and yeah, it would hurt, but not like this. Not like I was being cleaved in two.

“When you said goodbye,” Flynn finished for me.

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” I whispered. I reached for the doorknob and pushed his hand away. I was surprised when he let me do it, but the feeling didn’t last because as soon as I turned the knob, Flynn turned the key that I hadn’t noticed was already in the deadbolt lock above the doorknob. The lock clicked into place before I could open the door and then Flynn was removing the key and sliding it into his pocket.

A chill ran down my spine.

I was locked in with the man and there was absolutely no way to escape. I didn’t even have my phone on me to call Brooks. My only option was to scream like hell or find a way to get the key from Flynn.

Neither option was appealing.

“Open it,” I said. My voice cracked despite my attempt to make the words sound like an order. I turned the knob in case I’d imagined the whole thing but when the door remained shut, I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath. “Open it.”

When Flynn didn’t respond, I felt the last few remnants of self-control starting to slip away. “Open it,” I whispered. Silent tears began to slide down my cheeks as I continued to turn the doorknob over and over. “Flynn, please,” I managed to get out right before a harsh sob escaped my throat.

I shook my head when Flynn closed his hand around my bicep. He forced me to turn around and since I literally had no place to go, I did it. I used my sleeve to wipe at my tears. It was bad enough that he had heard me crying; he didn’t need to see the tears. I didn’t have much pride left, but it was enough. No one, not even Flynn, could take that from me.

Gentle fingers beneath my chin made it impossible to keep my head down. The second my eyes met Flynn’s, I knew he had me. Even if I could physically escape him, he’d managed to take that need from me.

I let out a soft whimper when Flynn dropped his head and kissed me. It was the kind of kiss you never forgot. All the things I hadn’t seen in his eyes when he’d entered the room were in that kiss. It wasn’t about lust. He wasn’t trying to punish me in any kind of way.

Flynn’s thumb gently stroked my cheek as he kissed me. He ended the kiss but left his lips close enough that they brushed up against mine with every breath he took.

“After everything we’ve been through, Jules, do you really think I would ever raise a hand against you in anger?”

I shook my head frantically. “No, never,” I said roughly.

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