Page 6 of Flynn

I flexed my arms. “Take a guess.”

Her eyes sparkled as she took me in and shook her head. “Personal trainer? Defense teacher?”

I chuckled. “No, tattooist. I ownRanger’s Ridge Tattoo Studio.” Her face radiated happiness for me and fucking hell did it feel good.

“Congratulations, Flynn. That’s awesome. You always were good with a pencil.”

“And you always told me to do something with it,” I reminded, wanting her to know that she’d had an impact on my life.

Her cheeks pinkened softly and she slid her eyes from mine to focus again on the track.

“So, how’s the business?” she asked, pushing on.

“Good. Great. We are booked out for the next several months and get requests all the time.”

“I’m glad.”

Her genuine happiness for my success hit me square in the gut. Nothing about Ara was performative. She’d never been one to go on with fake platitudes because she didn’t dofake.

“What about you? What are you up to these days?”

“I have two jobs,” she started, an air of contentment settling overher. “But I mainly work as a youth counselor. I get to help kids with troubled backgrounds or who have suffered a traumatic event and get them the help they need.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised, although I had no idea why. She’d always been good with me, and I’d been an asshole of a teenager sometimes. But from what I remembered of her growing up, she’d wanted to go to law school.

“Yeah,” she said with a gentle smile, slowing down to look around a building before turning back to me, eyes soft. “I guess I was inspired to do something that would really have an impact.”

I held her gaze for several moments, the meaning of her words settling over me, stirring something inside. I’d helped to shape her life, too. Knowing I’d impacted her at all filled me with mixed emotions, and I swallowed convulsively. My gaze dropped to her mouth and my lungs seized. The second I’d laid eyes on her I knew I was in trouble. I’d thought it would be fine, that I could handle it. But I wanted to kiss this woman so fucking badly.

Blinking quickly, Chiara stepped away again and checked around the building before waving at me to follow along. Trying to ignore the way my blood felt oddly electrified, I followed. I’d been in her company for less than an hour, but I wanted her. It was as if my attraction to her growing up had been paused while we’d been apart, and the minute I laid eyes on her again, it came flooding back three-fold.

“Does it pay well? You said you have two jobs,” I asked, bringing us back to the topic at hand.

She scoffed and shook her head. “No, but I don’t need a lot. A lot of my work is with underprivileged kids whose schools and families can’t afford a lot to get their kids help. I supplement my income by teaching piano most afternoons and some weekends.”

I nodded and then frowned. “Does teaching really pay that much? I know what the fees are from Foxy, and these dates aren’t cheap. You’ve got me here for a few days,” I reminded,leaving the real question unasked.

Chiara shook her head. “No, teaching doesn’t pay well. But my parents started a savings account for me when I was born and gave me access to it when I turned twenty-one. I own my house outright, and from what was left, I did my degree and invested the rest. I’ve been lucky in that sense and while I’m not rolling in money, I’ve made some good choices in how to use it to my best advantage. It helps that my dad’s an accountant and financial planner.”

“That’s great, Ara.”

She smiled at me softly and shrugged her shoulder. “I know I’m lucky. I’m incredibly fortunate. It’s another reason I didn’t become a lawyer who was focused on money and wanted a job that focused on helping others and giving them the same kind of support I always had access to. Everyone deserves a chance to make something of themselves.”

This woman…

I shouldn’t have expected her to be any different, and yet I was still stunned by the goodness that radiated out from her. She was like a ray of sunshine, and my thoughts suddenly turned murderous at the idea of anyone dimming her light.

Naturally, my thoughts jumped to Ellis, and I clenched my jaw.

Ellis and I had a complicated relationship. We’d known each other all our lives but my parents and I lived in Keystone City, and they lived in a small town in Emerald Valley. We hadn’t been close. When Uncle Trevor adopted me, Ellis had felt somehow betrayed. He didn’t want me in his life like that, but it wasn’t as if either of us had much of a choice. We were family whether we wanted to be or not, and Uncle Trevor wanted to ensure I felt as much a part of his family as possible. I hadn’t really cared if I was legally his at the time. I knew who my parents were. I knew what I’d lost in that accident. Ellis’s little tantrums barely registered on my radar of things to worry about. Still, he never let me forgetthat I wasn’t hisrealbrother. He’d just been careful about how and when he did it. The fucker had no idea how goddamn lucky he was to have the parents he had, how lucky he was to have thelifehe had.

I’d known he was hot for Chiara for years, everyone could see it. He wasn’t exactly subtle. But she’d seemed only slightly interested. I knew she felt obligated to go out with him, to see if everyone was right about them being a good couple, but she never looked at him like she was really into him.

But it's not like I spent all my time looking at her, either. I was usually trying to fuck up my own life in some strange reaction to my parents’ death, or I was out sleeping with any girlfriend who was up for the ride. I got a fake ID, rode my motorcycle at terrifying speeds. I drank and got into fights. I even managed to find a tattooist who was happy to take my design and permanently etch it into my skin when I was seventeen.

Uncle Trevor hadnotbeen happy with me.

And yet nothing I did ever pushed him away. I’d hated him for it, but in the end, loved him even more.

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