Page 86 of All That History
“The sheets are hardly cold from your last stay,” I pointed out.“They probably weren’t expecting you until next Christmas.”
“Are you telling me to leave?”
I grunted annoyance.“Don’t make this about me.”
Flynn stripped off his coat, tossing it onto my bed.I fought the urge to let my gaze drift down, over his ribbed sweater.To memorize the way the fabric clung to the curve of his pecs.
“We had sex,” he reminded me.“And then you left, and we’d barely had a chance to talk about...anything.”
“Define ‘anything,’” I said, dryly.
“You don’t think it could work.Between us, I mean.”
I boggled at him for a moment.“What the hell is ‘it’ in this situation?”
He sat down heavily at the edge of the bed.Hands clasped between his knees.“I thought you might want to...or, no, well...be open to the idea of us...y’know.”
I stared at him, telling myself that there was no way I was going to say a damn thing until he’d finished his sentence.
Flynn made a frustrated gesture.“I thought you might be open to the idea of us, y’know, giving dating a try.”
As romantic overtures went, being asked out with the same exasperated intonation as someone declining an extended warranty didn’t exactly rate highly.Not that it seemed the right moment to make a joke about it.
“You just got out of a relationship.Now you want to jump into another?”
His stare was unflinching.“That relationship was...something else.So if you’re not interested in dating me, don’t use William as an excuse.Just tell me it’s not what you want, Oli.”
I bit the inside of my cheek.Knowing just what I wanted was half of the problem.
I sat down next to him.“Do we have anything in common?Aside from the sex, I mean.”
“I think we know each other more than a lot of people, when they first start dating.”Flynn shrugged.“Isn’t it more about whether you want to know someone better, though?To find out just what you do have in common?”
“Words of wisdom from the relationship expert,” I muttered, sourly.
He folded his arms, looking unhappy.“If the sarcasm is your way of turning me down, I’d rather you just use the actual words.”
It was a defense mechanism and we both knew that.I also knew I couldn’t exactly blame Flynn for calling me out on my bullshit.
“I just...”I paused, trying to put my thoughts in order.“It’s not about whether we like each other, or have something in common.There’s all the practical stuff.”
“You could get a different job, in the city.It’d have to be easier than finding work here, surely?”
I gave the envelope up on the shelf, the one from the thrift company’s head office, a guilty glance.“It’s not just work, though, is it,” I demurred.
Flynn nudged me, gently, with his shoulder.“I don’t know.Getting personal information out of you is harder than shutting my mom up at the holidays.”
It didn’t seem so dangerous to lean into him.Not when his arm felt so warm against mine.“You could move back here?Work remotely, maybe.”
“And go back into the closet?”He sighed.“Didn’t it feel better to sit with me in that restaurant the other night, and not worry about who saw us and whether they thought we were friends, or a couple, or whatever?”
It had, there was no way I could deny that.Even if the clench in my chest, the one which always left me feeling I was on the cusp of being “found out,” had been difficult to shake.
“We could just meet up, every so often,” I suggested.“When I was visiting, or when you’re back here.”
Even without looking at him dead-on, I could tell from Flynn’s body language that he wasn’t happy.
“Look, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep things solely physical with guys.I’m not criticizing you for liking sex, and casual hookups.”He made a sound, in the back of his throat.“I mean, that’d be pretty hypocritical of me.But it’s not where I am in life, and I want something more than just regular sex.Even if the sex is great.”
