Page 21 of Flynn (Foxy’s Rent-A-Date #4)

Kate was driving me nuts. If she had somewhere else to go, she didn’t need to be here.

And yet here she was sitting on the edge of my lounge, her knee constantly bouncing up and down as she checked her phone every three seconds.

“Oh my God, just go home already,” I told her, putting down my book.

Kate looked at me with wide eyes and shook her head.

“No, we’re hanging out.” I sighed and rolled my eyes.

“No, we’re not. We were meant to be watching a movie, but then you kept looking at your phone, so I picked up my book, and you’ve barely looked at the TV in the last thirty minutes.

What’s going on with you?” Kate scoffed and stood up.

“There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just feeling a lot more hyped up today than usual is all.

Didn’t Sofia say she was coming over for a movie night as well?

” I rolled my eyes. Yes, she had said that, and it was thrown together at the very last minute.

I was leaving my parents’ house tomorrow and moving back into my own place—much to their dismay.

But I needed to start living on my own again, and it was time to take those steps.

My parents had gone out to dinner, and so Kate had shown up demanding a final movie night.

But she’d barely spared the options a glance before throwing in her first choice.

“Kate, do you have somewhere else to be? Honestly, hon. I appreciate the idea of a movie night on my last night here, but I’m tired and could use an early night,” I tried.

“No!” she cried and then gave me a weird smile.

“I mean, not yet. We’ll get out of your hair soon and let you have an early night if that’s what you want.

But, you know, we just want to spend a little time with you first.” I frowned and put down my book.

“Honey, is everything okay? You’re acting strangely.

” Kate let out a shaky laugh. “I’m good, really.

I’m just gonna find out where Sofia is. Give me a second.

Watch the movie,” she instructed, turning up the volume.

I was used to Kate acting weird sometimes—she could be a little odd—but this was a new level even for her.

Sighing, I turned my attention to the movie and tried to immerse myself in it, but noises from outside kept dragging me out of it, and eventually I sighed and gave up.

I had just reached the front door when Sofia came in, her smile wide and excited.

“Hey, you made it. Do you know where Kate is? She said she was going to call you,” I said, hugging her quickly.

“Yup. I need you to come outside,” she said, her smile widening.

“Umm, why?” She tugged on my hand. “Just come.” I didn’t even make it out the door before a song filled the air.

I frowned as Sofia led me out onto the darkened porch and I realized what song was playing.

Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers rang out and my feet came to a sudden halt on the top of the porch steps.

Fairy lights suddenly flooded the front yard, strung up from the side of my parents’ house and across to our front fence, illuminating the darkened lawn in a beautiful wash of warm light.

My eyes widened and mouth fell open at the sight of it all, but the world itself seemed to come to a halt at the sight of Flynn standing on the footpath before my house.

All the air in my lungs left me in a whoosh at the sight of him, and my heart started pounding hard and fast. Flynn.

He was here, he was standing right here, and he looked better than I remembered.

I opened my mouth to speak, to say something, anything, but he held up a hand to me and I frowned.

The moment he brought up a big white card from beside him, I started laughing.

He was really going to Love Actually me.

He grinned and I read the card. “Don’t speak.

I need to tell you how I feel, and if you’re going to tell me you can’t do this, I’d rather not hear the words.

” I looked back at his face. He was happy, hopeful, but I could see the shadows of doubt and hated that they were there at all.

“Of course, every good romance needs its own soundtrack. Since we already borrowed moments from Swayze, I figure we can borrow this song too.” I laughed and nodded.

“Chiara, I have loved you since we were kids. I didn’t know it at the time, and I never would have admitted it, but there was a reason you were the only one who could get through to me.

” My laughter died, and I took in a stuttered breath at his words.

“You got under my barriers. You got through the walls I put up, and you took up space in my heart without me even knowing it. For over ten years, you’ve had a space there that no one has been able to touch.

” I blinked when my eyes burned and for the first time took note of Kate and Sofia somewhere behind Flynn on the other side of the fence.

Trev and Carol were there too, everyone smiling.

I turned back to Flynn as Unchained Melody continued to blast loudly from the old boom box sitting on Sofia’s car.

“Whether you knew it or not, you were with me during my training in the Army, and you were with me through both tours overseas. You were the voice in my head when I came home telling me I was worth more than I let myself believe, and that I could do something with my artistic ability.” I bit my lower lip and hugged my arms around myself, feeling my heart break and heal at his words.

“I know these last few months have been tough on you, and you’ve been through hell and back.

I wanted to be there with you, but I knew you needed to do it without me there.

But there hasn’t been a single second of any day that’s passed where you haven’t been on my mind.

” God, this was the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for me.

“Ara, I love your smile, the real ones you give me that are just mine. I love how your eyes go from dove gray to quicksilver when your mood changes. I love how you care for everyone around you, and your first instinct is to heal rather than judge. I love how I feel when I’m around you—like anything is possible—and how much strength you give me.

” He was the one who gave me strength. Surely, he knew that?

“I love how you never accept less than what you deserve, and how you demand it from those in your life. I love how you call me out when I’m being an idiot and when you see me lying to myself.

” “But most of all… I love you.” I flicked my gaze back to his face to see him watching me, a vulnerability in his eyes I’d never seen before.

“If you don’t feel the same, or you want me to leave you alone, then please…

go back into the house and I’ll leave you alone.

But if you resonate with the words of our song, then stay.

Speak up and tell me if you’re still mine, and I’ll wait for you, however long it takes.

” God, this man. A tear spilled over onto my cheek, and I hurried down the steps of my house, not wanting to wait a second longer.

Flynn let the final card drop to the ground and I ran for him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

He caught me, those strong arms wrapping me up and holding me tight, and I’d never felt safer in my life.

Applause from our small audience broke out, but I ignored it.

“I love you too,” I told him as he lowered me back to my feet.

His green eyes warmed, and his gaze skimmed over my face as if he were memorizing it.

“I have missed you so much, and I’m sorry I sent you away.

I just had to be sure. I needed to know that what you were feeling wasn’t some sort of guilt or responsibility toward me.

I needed to know you loved me too because I couldn’t handle the thought of you waking up one day and realizing it had all been a big mistake.

I never could have survived that and—” Flynn pressed a finger to my lips and smiled down at me, his eyes sparkling with warmth.

“I know, Angel. I know, and I understand.” Tears burned my eyes.

“I’ve loved you since were kids. Since you gave the girl who lived across the road a safe place to have her first kiss with no consequences attached.

I loved you still when you showed up to save me from humiliation at my best friend’s wedding, and I loved you all the more when you actually saved me.

I love you, Flynn.” His green eyes shone with a sheen of unshed tears, and he pressed his forehead to mine as he struggled to take a full breath.

“I love you, Ara. You’re my Angel, my first and last love.”

“Stop talking and kiss her already!” I laughed at Kate’s call from behind Flynn and he grinned down at me.

Not wanting to wait another second, I leaned up on my toes to meet his kiss halfway.

The second our lips touched, it felt as though the world had finally righted itself, and I could allow myself to breathe again for the first time since I’d sent him away.

His arms around me felt like home, and his kiss held my future.

This was it; this was real. There was no more faking it with Flynn.

We were on the same page. Finally… and forever.

Thank You For Reading…