Mollie arched an eyebrow. “It’s a bathroom, Rafe. Not a maze leading to the Wizard’s Cup.”
The jerk of his head—and the tight, white line of his lips—made Flynn follow Rafe around the corner. Some things were ingrained.When your older brother looked like he was about to pop a gasket, you fell in line.
That was the kind of thinking that had kept him safe in the Chicago mob for so long.
Until, suddenly, it didn’t.
Rafe pushed through the bathroom door. And immediately turned on Flynn. Those blue eyes, two shades darker than his own, practicallythrew sparks like an old muffler dragging on asphalt. His voice was just as rough. “What the hell is going on with you?”
Flynn jerked past him to lean against the sink. Not like this was the first time big brother had tried to take him down apeg. It worked when they were little. Hell, it even worked when they were teenagers, after their mom and dad had been killedand Rafe tried his damnedest to parent Flynn and Kellan.
But it didn’t work anymore.
He crossed his arms over his black tee shirt, meeting Rafe’s hot stare with his own well-honed icy indifference. “What? Ishowed up, didn’t I?”
“That’s not enough.” Rafe banged a fist into the tan metal support between the stalls. “You fucking promised me, Flynn. Youstood on that beach with me three weeks ago, when we were deciding if we should quit WITSEC and run, or stay and trust theprogram. You, me, Kellan—we all agreed to stay. And you both promised to try. To make an effort to fit in. To find something to like about this town. To become a part of it.”
Rafe was right. Guilt swamped him.
On the other hand, he’d been drowning in guilt ever since they left Chicago. Why bother surfacing when he’d gotten so damnedused to feeling like he couldn’t breathe?
Still. He had to throw his brother a bone. Not an apology, but an acknowledgement. Of his ongoing status as a first-classjerk. “You’re right. I did promise. I also promised to wash the dishes, and I think our coffee mugs from three days ago arestill in the sink. Probably already sprouting moss in this rain freaking forest. Sometimes I need a reminder about things.”
“Yeah? Kellan forgot to do the laundry for the third week in a row. I’m going commando over here.”
Looked like Rafe was throwing him a bone, too. Flynn shrugged one shoulder. “He didn’t forget. His master plan is to pretend to forget until you get fed up and do it yourself.”
A dark eyebrow shot up practically to his hairline. “He thinks he can play me? A Goody Two-shoes almost-lawyer trying to goup against the Chicago mob’s fixer? Unbelievable. The kid’s got bigger balls than brains.”
Flynn figured that Rafe was just pissed he hadn’t thought of that strategy to get out of his trash duty. He tried to hideit, but Flynn knew his secret weakness. His big bro turned green and almost heaved at just the smell of a day-old banana peel.A full and reeking bag of trash was his kryptonite.
Flynn’s acknowledgement might be enough for his brother, but it didn’t give him any satisfaction. He didn’t want Rafe to thinkhe’d been a jerk without any provocation. Not when there was such an obvious target to take the blame of his lousy behavior.Because his mood had soured worse than month-old milk as soon as the meeting started.
So he jerked his chin toward the door and the twenty people gathered to discuss the Festival in already endless detail. “Thatguy in the hat’s a self-important prick.”
“No argument here.” Rafe’s boots thudded against the floor as he paced the small space. “From anyone, as a matter of fact.Way I see it, the whole town can’t stand Floyd. But he does the job nobody else wants, so they all put up with him for twentyminutes once a month.”
That actually made Flynn feel marginally better. “As long as everyone knows he’s a first-class douchebag . . .”
“Ask Lucien and Mick.”
Talk about proof. Lucien was the heir apparent to the Sunset Shoals Golf Resort that kept half the town in business. Mickwas an old kook of a vet. He’d bet the two of them couldn’t even agree on the color of the ocean. If they both thought Floydwas bad news, then Flynn could give the rest of the Chamber a chance, too.
“I will.” Because Flynn had learned—the hard way—not to take anyone at face value.
Not to trust anyone’s word.
No matter how small the issue. Not even the only family he had left in the world.
“What were you looking at on your phone, anyway? It’d better not be any site connected to Chicago.”
“It’s not,” he said swiftly. But Flynn didn’t shift fast enough to keep Rafe from grabbing the phone from his front pocket.His brother skimmed the still-live screen.
Damn it. Flynn needed to change the settings to have it hibernate faster. But it had been his one luxury. Not having to hidework texts anymore. Not having to hide . . . anything on his phone anymore. Nothing in his new life was important enough tokeep secret.
His old life? Well, that was so shrouded in mystery it might as well be the love child of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster.Aka nonexistent.
Rafe’s jaw dropped. With as much drama as the lead on a CW teen soap, he grabbed the top of the stall door for support. Withhis other hand he waved the phone at Flynn. “You’re . . . flirting?”
“No.” The answer popped out automatically. He didn’t flirt with Sierra. Flynn didn’t allow himself to do that. Or he hadn’t, until last night. When he’d lost all common sense and restraint and just given in to thefun of being with her. But today was a new day, and his emotional walls were back in place.
He’d just
