Page 9 of Flynn

I lifted the water bottle to my mouth to wet my suddenly dry mouth and forced myself to really think. Flynn being here had serious advantages, yes, but also disadvantages. There was a lot of history, family drama, and conflicts we’d have to navigate. Our timelines would need to be perfect, and we’d have to explain why we were keeping our relationship a secret for so long. Well, that one wasn’t too bad. We were worried how Ellis would react. But having to deal with the fallout for a fake relationship might be too much.

“No, we’ve got this,” I said and dragged in a deep breath. “This will work.”

Flynn didn’t look like he fully believed me, but thankfully he let the subject drop.

“Okay, first, let’s take some photos, then we’ll work on our backstory and test each other to see if we can remember what we’ve come up with. Keeping as close to the truth as possible will help with remembering facts,” he said, pulling a laptop of out of his bag and placing it on the small desk. I stepped closer and he tugged his phone from his pocket before looking at me.

“Ready?”

“What are we doing, exactly?”

He grinned and looked around the room. “We need to make these look like they could be from any time in the last three months. So, we’ll require a few outfit changes and hair style changes. I’ll work on altering our backgrounds and the lighting. Anything I can’t change here in the room, I can do with photoshop.”

“I have no idea where to start,” I confessed, beginning to feel overwhelmed. There was still time to get out of this. There was still time to confess to my best friend that I’d drunkenly misspoken and I had no boyfriend.

Feeling sick, I realized I had to come clean. I had never been good at lying, it made me feel ill. If I could just say the truth now, then I could save face later on and avoid a huge amount of drama. Flynn being here was going to piss off a few people, the groom, namely.

My phone pinged, but I ignored it, wondering how to tell Flynn. It pinged again, signaling a second text, then a third, a fourth. I frowned and pulled it out to see Sofia’s name on my screen, showing several texts and an incoming call. Crap, what now?

“Sofia, hey—”

“You’re dating Flynn?”she squealed so loudly I had to pull the phone from my ear. My wide eyes flew to Flynn who stood staring at me with surprise, obviously overhearing.

“Uh—”

“Is this why you didn’t tell me you were seeing someone? Cause I gotta admit, hearing you had a boyfriend for the last few months—but who you had told menothingabout—stung. But I get it now. It’s Flynn! But babe, seriously, you don’t have to worry. I’ve always loved him, and Ellis will get over it,” she blurted excitedly before I could even say a word.

“Sofia, how—”

“Check your messages. My mom saw you two together and wanted to know when Flynn and Ellis had made up,” Sofiaexplained before I could get the question out. I put her on loudspeaker and opened my texts to see several photos of me and Flynn together at the coffee shop. Some had us laughing; others had us looking serious with his hand on mine. Okay…

Flynn came closer to look at the photos, and I watched his face for any sign of regret or panic. He was annoyingly hard to read.

“I cannotwaitto see you two tonight. Where is he? Can I say hello?”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I was stunned speechless, unable to form words.

Seeing my panic, Flynn leaned closer. “Hey, Princess Sofia,” he greeted with a small smile, a wealth of warmth in his voice.

Sofia squealed at hearing his familiar term of endearment, and I covered my mouth with my hand, wanting to laugh and cry all at once.

“I can’t believe you’re here! I am so excited. Can I come see you now?”

“Uh,” I started, having no idea how to answer.

“I had a long flight, and I haven’t seen Ara in a few days, so,” Flynn answered, leaving the rest of the sentence up for interpretation.

Sofia giggled. “Oh, I get it. Okay, have fun, you two. And I’ll see you both in a few hours for dinner. Oh, and Chiara? I’ll tell Ellis, don’t worry. He’ll get over it.”

“Umm, thanks, Sofia,” I muttered, sighing.

“Love you!”

“Love you too,” I farewelled before hanging up. The minute the line was dead I dropped my phone onto the bed and covered my face with my hands and groaned. There was officially no backing out now, no changing the story, no calling it off and coming clean. We were in this now, and I had to make sure we passed scrutiny from everyone.

Shoot!

Strong fingers circled my wrists and pulled my hands from my face, and I sucked in a sharp breath at the zap of awareness the contact caused. I raised my head to meet Flynn’s concerned gaze.

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