Page 88 of Praised
“It’s the truth,” Flynn said, wholly unaware.
“Not that.” I sighed, jerking my chin toward the cocktail table where my best friend and ex-boyfriend stood in heated conversation. “Him.”
“Who?”
“The one with pink hair is my best friend, Drake. The other is my ex.”
“The one Grayson met?”
The change in Flynn was immediate. He didn’t let go of my hand, but he squared his shoulders and stood straighter. His posture was almost casual, save for the tight grip he had on my hand that gave him away.
I didn’t know how long this was going to be my life for, how many times I would have to tell Cody to leave me and my friends alone. I wasn’t stupid enough to think that I’d never run into him. We ran in the same circles and had some of the same friends, but Drake wasn’t one of them.
Upon closer approach, I could see the anger in Drake’s mouth, the tiredness around his eyes. Whatever was happening, they were arguing. Cody looked the same way he had when he came to my house with his fake apologies, like he was running out of sincerity and about to show his true colors.
By the time I realized what he was doing, Flynn had pulled me to the table, inserting himself at Cody’s side and leaving me next to Drake.
“Hey,” I muttered, giving Drake as much of an apologetic look as I could muster. I would have given anything for my underwear.
“I didn’t know you were here,” he said.
“I didn’t think to invite you,” I told him. “I was meeting Flynn’s friends officially.”
Drake’s stare darted to Flynn, and an amused smile flashed across his mouth.
“You can make it up to me,” he promised, stretching his hand out toward Flynn and ignoring Cody’s existence. “I’m Drake. It’s nice to finally meet the man who has stolen dear Rosie’s heart.”
Flynn returned the gesture, angling his back to Cody, who of course took it as an offense.
“I’m right here, and I was having a conversation,” he snapped.
Flynn didn’t even turn around. “And it’s finished now.”
“Says who? Says you?” Cody scoffed, balls always too big for his own good.
Flynn, for his part, looked near giddy. He took my face into his hands and pressed his lips against mine, kissing me until I moaned and opened my lips to him.
“Don’t hate me for this,” he whispered, turning his back on me and glaring down at Cody.
Drake grabbed my hand and pulled me back, making us both observers on the shit show that had become my life. All I wanted was for Cody to leave me in peace. He clearly didn’t have any respect for me or for what our relationship had been, so I struggled to understand why he was so fixated on weaseling his way back in.
And to think, there had been a time in the not-so-distant past when I would have allowed it because I thought that was the kind of treatment I deserved. It hadn’t been so long ago that I’d really believed I couldn’t do better than a man like him. I found myself indescribably thankful for him and the way he’d opened my eyes.
Love exploded in my chest, and I wanted to tell him. I wanted him to know I loved him too. I needed him to understand that, in a very nondramatic way, his love had saved me from a lifetime of mediocrity. Flynn had come into my world on accident, turned it upside down with a kiss, and changed the whole course of my life.
“I’m not afraid of you,” Cody said, no doubt in retaliation to whatever greeting Flynn had offered him. “I wasn’t scared of the other one either.”
Flynn looked over his shoulder at me and I shrugged. “Grayson?” I guessed.
Flynn nodded and looked back to Cody.
“From what I understand, you stuck your cock where it didn’t belong and you’re not mature enough to deal with the consequences of that,” he said.
Cody stammered, unable to build a response before Flynn started back in.
“It’s a hard lesson to learn,” he went on. “I remember the first deal I lost. It stung, but what I didn’t do was run around town making it everyone else’s problem.”
“You don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Cody protested. “He’s just using you to get over me. You’re nothing more than a rebound. He’ll be back.”
