Picture Perfect

afraid of the entire time- which is him fucking everything that has a pulse- is about to happen. No one who was in love with someone would say that.”
    Letting out a groan she said, “Jesus Christ Tessa, do you really not understand any guy psychology? He was saving face. He did it in an asshole way and he owes you an apology, but he was lying . He isn’t happy that you broke up, he’s fucking miserable. His friends- the ones that have known him forever- have told you to your face that he’s miserable and you’re not paying attention! You have a choice, and here it is. Sit with your thumb up your ass doing nothing while the love of your life builds up an emotional wall to keep you out, or get off your ass and apologize for being dumb. This isn’t Flynn-shit baby girl. This is Tessa-baggage. Fix it. I love you no matter what you do and I will be here for you until we tap out side by side in a nursing home when we’re ninety-nine, but I’d like to be tapping out together after we’ve both had lives filled with love and children. You aren’t going to recover from this if you don’t take a chance and let him in and I don’t want to die next to a spinster who lived her life in an apartment full of cats because she was too stubborn to see love when it was right in front of her face.”
    My tears poured out while she ripped me a new one, and I realized that I had no one to blame but myself. We were silent for a few minutes, other than the sound of my sniffling and her telling me that it could be fixed. When I had myself as composed as I was going to get I whispered the harsh truth to her.
    “I’m terrified. I’m scared that I love him, scared that it took nothing to fall in love with him, scared that it’s been such a short amount of time. I’ve given him my whole heart Jess, but I’m petrified to let him know.”
    Making a sound of approval she said, “That’s right honey, you do love him, and I know that you’re scared. What you need to figure out now is what scares you more. Living a life without him, or admitting to him that you love him?”
    Hands down the answer was living without him. I wanted to do more than build a house with him. I wanted to have babies that were a part of the two of us, wanted to spend all of my Holidays from now until forever with our families together. I wanted Flynn’s face to be the last thing I saw before I went to sleep every night because he was the love of my life, and I wanted to be that same person for him.
    Taking a deep breath I said, “I surrender. I’m going to take a shower and go tell him that I’m an idiot. Pray for me Jess.”
    “I will baby girl. Everything is going to work out I just know it. Call me tomorrow and let me know how it goes. I love you.”
    “I love you too Jess. Thanks for being such a kick-ass, tell it to me straight, bitch of a best friend. If this works, I owe you one. If it doesn’t, you owe me two cats to start my spinster life.”
    Laughing she asked, “What the fuck? Why would you owe me one thing but I’d owe you two? That’s back-asswards. WHEN this works out, you’re naming your firstborn after me. I don’t even care if it’s a boy. That’s my price, and there will be no substitutions.”
    I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to barter, so I agreed. When we hung up I rationalized that she wouldn’t really hold me to that promise.
    My anxiety level was high as I grabbed underwear and one of Flynn’s tee shirts before making my way into the bathroom to shower. I threw my hair up into a clip to keep it dry and then spent ten minutes letting the water calm me down as it washed over me. When I was finished I dried off, got dressed and brushed my hair for a few minutes. Fortifying myself for what I was about to do, I swung the door to the bathroom open and stepped into Flynn’s room with the intention of going to find him.
    I didn’t have to look hard, because he was sitting at the end of his bed with his head in his hands.
    Shit. Things didn’t look good.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

    Have you ever had a moment where you realize that you’re a complete fucking tool and you’re so ashamed of yourself that you want to beg someone to beat your ass?
    Yeah, so have I.
    My realization came right about the time the door to my bedroom was slamming shut after I told Tess that I was going to gorge on groupie pussy for the entirety of the tour.
    It was a hateful and shitty thing to say, and I regretted it as soon as it came out of