Jo
"RELAX," FLYNN WHISPERS. "You keep doing that and you'll scare them all away."
I retract my hand from the water and look sideways to meet his gaze. His face is blue. The floor is blue. Everything is blue except for his eyes. Right now, despite the deep blueness of the aquarium, his eyes are a translucent green.
He asks me to watch him and I do. He dips his hand into the small bag filled with fish feed and scoops out a small quantity. Then he gently spreads the brown crumbs into the water and then slowly, the small fishes gather round his area and consume it.
"They won't bite," he assures me and urges me to try.
I lean forward on the glass and stretch my arm forward on the railing without resting too much of my weight on it. I open my palm and mimic Flynn's movements on the surface of the water. He's silent next to me, watching my every move and then slowly, two of the little creatures turn around and advance towards their treat. The rest of the squad turn around and glide towards me, abandoning Flynn, tails waddling as they do so and then they gather round my hand and feast on the crumbs that float and sink into the water.
I dip my hand a little lower into the water and a few of them swim towards it and nibble away at my fingers in an attempt to capture what is left of their food. A slightly ticklish sensation travels up my fingertips as they nibble on and I grin a little, before taking my hand out and watching beads of water roll down my fingers.
"That was nice," I mumble. "You come here often?"
He nods. "Yes," he hesitates before he continues. "Sometimes, I bring my sister along."
"You have a sister." I say, turning to him and he nods.
"Yes."
"Older or younger?"
"Four years younger."
My head does a little spin. "Is she Ellie? Your mum's store is named after 'Ellie' and she's Talia. Except, Ellie's like her middle name or something."
He smiles like he remembers something. "Yes. The store was named after my sister. The whole bookstore was her idea. Hence, the name."
"Oh," I nod thoughtfully and then I frown. "How come, I've never seen her though? She's never been at the store before. Unlike you."
Now that I think about it, no one has ever mentioned Flynn having a sister. Not Eloise, not Otis and not him, until now, that is. I tuck in my lips when he doesn't respond immediately. I don't want to appear nosy or anything, especially if he's not ready to talk.
"She's got a private tutor at home and has extra lessons after school. So she doesn't really have the time to be at the store like I do."
I nod and decide not to ask any more questions about her. That explains it, really. But with the way he stares at the fishes and doesn't meet my eye, I'm convinced otherwise. Still, I don't push it. Instead I say, "Craig isn't buying this."
Flynn doesn't look surprised. He spreads a few more feed into the water and gives me a sideways glance. "He's not."
"You knew?"
He leans away from the railing and fully turns sideways so that all his attention is focused on me. "I did. Johnston's an open book. I think, he thinks you're not over him yet."
I close my eyes and pinch my nose, sighing as I do so. "Oh god."
"Are you not?"
I open my eyes and shoot him an incredulous look. "Really?"
He shrugs and leans on his right arm. "You never know."
"I'm notâ I can't be attracted to him anymore. Not after what he did to me."
He's curious. "Wanna tell me what he did?"
I look away and watch a coral blue fish with an exaggerated, feather-like tail swim towards us and swim back. Memories of that day make me shrink with humiliation. I shake my head and dip my hand into the feed, before spreading it out and hoping the blue fish swims back to us.
Flynn doesn't say anything immediately. He notices my reluctance and then he folds his arms and doesn't push it. For that, I'm grateful.
"Half of the time, you're stiff when you're with me," he casually says. I raise a brow at him. "Plus, I'm a better actor than you are."
I roll my eyes and give up on the blue fish. "Pretending is kind of hard, in case you didn't know."
"Oh I do know. What I also know is that, if you're going to pretend, you do it right."
"And how exactly do you do it right?"
"You relax and get rid of those second thoughts," he says. "You don't go rigid when I pull you towards me," he wraps his arm around my waist and instantly pulls me towards him. I go stiff immediately, just like he said. "You don't hold your breath when I tuck your hair behind your ear," his hand touches my face and he pushes back the rogue curls behind my ear. I can barely breathe. "And you also don't break eye contact, when I'm looking at you in front of any of them." He angles my chin towards his face like he did earlier today at the club and this time, I don't look away. It's thrilling as it is terrifying and the heat from his body is moulding with mine.
He looks slightly impressed. His breath hits my lips. "1 out of 3. You've got a lot to learn, Pryce," he murmurs and then he dips his head to the side of my neck and his mouth touches my skin. He kisses me there and I shudder involuntarily. He doesn't stop. His free hand comes around the other side of my neck and he slowly kisses a hot trail upwards until he gets to the corner of my jaw.
My heart is thumping with a speed I cannot recognize. Every inch of my being is alive and sensitive to Flynn's demanding kisses on my skin. I feel every curve of his mouth, every graze of his thumb on the other side of my neck and my earlobe and it feels so good that my body slightly trembles. I can't explain what's going on but I'm just letting it happen. Flynn kisses his way down my jaw until he gets to my chin. He's dangerously close to my mouth. He softly bites my chin like he did the last time and he kisses it once before he raises his head again to look at me.
"You've spaced out," he notes and I blink before placing my hands on his chest and taking a mighty step back. He looks seemingly unaffected by whatever just happened, instead, he dips his hands into the pocket of his jeans and regards me with a cool expression. Meanwhile, I look like I've just run cross-country. My face is as red as a tomato and my breathing is slightly uneven. My skin is still hot and tingling.
"What was that?" I ask, wide-eyed.
Flynn raises a brow. "What was what?"
"That," I frantically wave my hand between us. "That activity that just took place."
"That was practice," he says very seriously.
I fold my arms defensively, like it's a shield against him. "Practice for what?"
"You have to date me a little longer," he says. "You have to get used to me touching you. So far, neither of our goals have been accomplished which means, we have to do better," he pauses. "Plus, you've got one person to make jealous right now." He says, gesturing to my dress. "That forgetful prince is interested in you and he should sweat. He likes girls whom he can see but can't touch. A challenge. That's exactly what he wants and you're looking at one right here."
I run my hands down my face but really, I'm just trying to calm my racing heart. "Rules," I blurt and lean against the railing. "We have to have rules to this thing."
"Fine by me," he agrees and mirrors my movements. Crap, it's still a bit hard to look at him. "You've got to give me a heads up before you know, you touch me and stuff."
Flynn doesn't hide the amusement in his eyes. He folds his arms as he stares at me. "Stuff?"
God, this is embarrassing. "You know what I mean."
He takes his lip between his teeth and shakes his head from side to side. "I honestly don't."
I grit my teeth and narrow my eyes at him. "What kind of stuff do you do to a girl you're 'dating'?"
He looks me up and down. "Whatever she wants me to do to her."
Words have never made me blush so much in my entire life. I straighten my spine and feign nonchalance. "No tongue, when you kiss me." I say very quickly. I sound funny.
Unfazed, he says, "That depends."
I swallow. "On what?"
"If you're a good kisser or not."
I scoff and flip my hair back indignantly. "I am."
He smirks, slow and seductive. "I'll be the judge of that."
"Why does that matter anyway?"
"Because I might get carried away and break that rule of yours," he says lowly.
"Well don't." I can't believe we're actually doing this.
"I hope I do. I'm not really responsible, Pryce."
I don't know what to say after that. I lick my lips and blow out my cheeks. Internally, I'm a leaf.
"Is that all?" He asks and it takes me a minute to realize he's referring to my rules.
"Oh um, I hate pet names. Call me doll face and I'll punch you in the face."
He chuckles. "Noted."
"For now, that's all I can think of. If more comes up, I'll let you know. If I'm uncomfortable, I'll let you know."
"Cool."
"Well," I place my hand on the railing. "Do you have any rules for me?"
"One," he says.
"What's that?"
He throws a charming smile my way. "Don't fall in love with me."
I let out a dry laugh and roll my eyes to the back of my head. Very typical of him. "You think so highly of yourself."
"I don't know. I've heard I'm irresistible," he cockily says. Egoistic Flynn cannot be hidden for too long. He will always find a way to resurface.
"Funny," I say. "I think it's quite the opposite."
He raises his brows and pokes his cheek with his tongue, trying not to smile. "That's amusing, Pryce, considering I had you putty in my arms not too long ago."
I shoot him a nasty glare, irrespective of the fact that my ears are burning. "You caught me off-guard. Get off your high horse." He can't know he affects me somehow.
He laughs and draws a bit of attention to us from some of the onlookers in the rest of the aquarium.
"What's so funny?"
"Watching you squirm has made it to my top five favorite things in the world."
"Insulting you is my favorite."
"That's just sad."
"If it's you, it's not."
He gives me a wicked grin. "I thought we made up, Pryce."
"I'm starting to rethink my decision."
"I'd just have to find another way to get you to forgive me then," he says but it sounds like a promise.
I avert my gaze from him and turn back to the water. At the corner of this part of the aquarium, two peach colored fishes with yellowish pouty mouths are engaged in a fierce lip lock. I don't dare look at him. My mind runs a mile a minute while I stare at them.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Pryce," Flynn says and heat floods my cheeks. He's closer now and he's standing right next to me.
"You're the one who needs to get his mind out of the gutter," I say. "I wasn't thinking about anything."
"Sure," he drawls and points at them. "They aren't kissing though. They're sparring, most likely trying to injure each other but anyone would think they're kissing."
I lean closer and try to observe them closely but they're at the corner of the glass tank. I'm actually surprised. This is the first time I'm hearing this and it's interesting that he knows something I don't.
"Hey," I say and poke his forehead with my finger twice. "There might be something there after all."
He rolls his eyes and tells me we're leaving. I bid the fish goodbye and walk behind him. A lady gives us a couple of flyers and with all her teeth in display, she urges us to come next time and bring a friend. The blueness of the aquarium fades as soon as we step into the sidewalk. It's dark already and a few stars are dotting the blank, black canvas. I hadn't realized how much time has passed while we were in the aquarium, but it's not that late and mum's on a night shift today, so I'm good to go.
Flynn lets me change the song once we get into his car and then he teases me when I tell him he has a good taste in music. I decide that I'm never complimenting him again. Jaded by Rage Nation comes on after that and I ignore him and sing along word for word.
When we get to my porch, my phone rings and when I turn the screen over, I see Daniel Corrigan flashing in the caller ID. Great, now he's calling me. I can feel Flynn's eyes burning a hole through the screen of my phone and I stare at it until it stops ringing.
"Nice ringtone," he says and then I turn to look at him.
"Thanks." The most logical thing for me to do after that, is to leave but I grab my bag and place it on my lap before staring at him again. There's a bottle of orange juice sitting right in the console of his car. It was there the last time I was in his car as well. He must really like it then.
"I'm going to watch YouTube videos on how to become a Broadway actress."
He grins and drums his fingers against the steering wheel. "Right, go do that."
Do I have to thank him for taking me to the aquarium? I feel awkward already being in the same enclosed space with him.
King's excited barking rips me out of my trance and I see him racing down the stairs of the porch. He's spotted me already.
"Goodnight." I tell Flynn, looking at him and he does the same.
"Goodnight," he says silently. It feels rather intimate. That's my cue to bolt.
I open the door and slam it shut just in time for King to jump into my arms. "Whoa, there." I laugh and scratch his fur. He barks and curiously glances behind me to see who the stranger is. I coax him into looking back at me before heading up the stairs and turning around just as Flynn drives off. I open the door and set him down and he prances around the room again.
Grandma is sitting on her rocking chair with her head lolled to the side. I grab the half-used yarn and knitting needles from her hands before gently waking her up. She forgets who I am for three minutes before smiling at me and telling me I'm her favorite grandchild. I grin and help her to her room before coming right out to switch off the TV.
I fix up a quick sandwich and a smoothie in the kitchen before heading upstairs to my room. When I shower and take my insulin, I write a little while I eat and when my fingers begin to cramp, I close my journal and grab my phone.
Drew didn't respond to my voicemail as usual and the flicker of hope that somehow manages to spring up whenever I get to him, dies as fast as it usually does when I get the same result. I have one sandwich left and instead of moping over my older brother's lack of concern and affection, I turn on my laptop and go straight to YouTube.
I fall asleep, thinking about Flynn's lips on my neck and how to train for a career on Broadway.