Picture Perfect

there was a pounding at the door. Jess, much perkier than I in my current state, jumped up and ran to open the door. Her gasp when she looked through the viewer and saw who was at the door was my first clue. My next was the sound of his voice when she opened the door.
    “Please tell me Tessa’s here.”
    Fuck me, and fuck my life. He flew all the way out here to talk to me. The hits just kept coming.
    Jess let him in, her eyes wide as she stared at him. My eyes met his and as usual, the connection was right there. Even knowing he was having a baby with another girl, I still felt for him what I’d never felt for anyone else. We stood there staring at each other in silence for a minute and I couldn’t look away.
    Finally, Jess’s strangled inhalation pulled my attention from Flynn. Meeting her gaze, I realized that she knew something was going on. There was no way for her not to know, not now that she was in the same room with us. Her eyes told me she had questions and that I would be answering them. With a sad shake of her head, she left the room.
    Turning back to Flynn, I gasped when he came and pulled me into his arms. It killed me being up against his body like that, touching him and inhaling his scent. I started to pull back, but he didn’t let me go. He held me tighter, forcing me to look up at him. “Babe, it’s not what you think. That girl in the pictures on TMZ is my sister.”
    Did he think I was new here? I’d just spent the better part of a week with him, talking about our lives. I knew for a fact that he didn’t have a sister. This was, hands down, the most pathetic excuse for douchebag behavior that I’d ever heard.
    Shaking my head in disgust, I pushed against his chest.
    “Jesus Flynn, on top of everything else, you’re a liar. Let me go!”
    Holding me tighter, he looked me dead in the eye. “I swear on my father’s life Tess, that girl is my sister. We just found out this week that my dad fathered twins almost twenty-three years ago. I’ve got twin sisters. I’m sorry I didn’t text baby, so sorry. My dad has been a fucking wreck and I’ve been staying at his house. There were DNA tests, we needed to meet the girls, my grandparents had to be told, and then they had to meet them. Needless to say, it’s been a dramatic couple of days.”
    I wanted to believe him, wanted it to be true, but I was terrified. I froze in his arms like a statue.
    “Sweetness, I fucked up. I. Fucked. Up. I should have called and explained this before. Shits been out of control and I’m guilty of putting everyone else but you and me first. I needed my dad to be okay, needed to deal with what was going on. I never stopped thinking about you, not for one minute. I missed you like crazy babe. Wanted you with me in the worst way. When you texted me back last night and then changed your fucking number , I hauled ass to get to you. Don’t throw us away Tess, I’m begging you.”
    I believed him, I did, but I was also scared shitless. The past week had cut me to the quick emotionally, and it hurt like hell. That was how I felt after being wrapped in him for less than a week. How much worse would it be to open myself up completely for however long this lasted? To me, it felt as though it would be emotional Russian roulette. I couldn’t put myself in that position.

Chapter Twenty-Four

    It felt like my heart was in a fucking vise. How fucking dumb was I to let the drama of the last week stop me from keeping in touch with Tessa? The distance had made me miserable, and the effect of it on her made me feel like the biggest asshole on the planet. Her uncertainty about our future was written all over her face.
    Pulling her to me, I cupped her face in my hands. “I’m not above begging Tess, at least not where you’re concerned. So here I am, begging you, not to walk away from us. Give me another chance to prove to you that we’re worth it and I promise you, I won’t fuck it up. You’ve got me in the palm of your hands baby. Don’t throw me away.”
    Closing her eyes, she shook her head and let out a sad sigh before speaking. “You hurt me Flynn. I’m not jaded or experienced enough to deal with your lifestyle. I feel like a total moron standing here admitting that to you, but I’m not sugarcoating it, so there it is. You need someone to accept that you’re a free agent, someone who can be accessible on command at your whim and who will understand when you don’t make any attempt at contact. I’m not