Blue Sacrifice (Blue Davison) (10 page)

“No, you’re not.”

A long moment of silence passed between us then
Flynn stopped being patient or subtle.

“I’m waiting.”

“I won’t be there for hours.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yes, I do.”

Another moment passed then I laughed. “I miss you
too. I missed you after less than eighteen hours, but I don’t know if that
makes me like most women or not.”

“Oh, you’re an original. Don’t worry about that.”

“I’ll call you before I leave, if that helps?”

“Yes, very much. Thank you.”

“And we’re having steaks?”

“Yes, my redheaded carnivore. Giant mushrooms
too.”

“Was that a sex hint because I didn’t get it?”

Giving me one of his rolling laughs, Flynn said,
“I’m an above decent cook and you will be quite impressed. Now hurry up and
finish your girl time because I have needs.”

“Stop flirting with me so I can focus on something
besides you and I undressed later.”

When Flynn sighed, I could almost see the smile on
his face. “I really do miss you, so light a fire under that sexy butt of yours
and get over here.”

“See you soon, pretty boy.”

Grunting, he hung up, but I heard him laugh just
before the dial tone. I returned the phone to my jacket pocket then noticed
Lacey watching me. Whatever she was grumpy about, assuming it wasn’t the lack
of power blue shirt options, she never explained.

Instead Lacey rolled her eyes when Alyssa decided
to get all twelve shirts. Then Alyssa rolled her eyes at her sister for
disliking pink. Next Amira rolled her eyes at her two daughters for always bickering.
Still embracing the idea of being a Zandi, I got into the action too and rolled
my eyes just for the heck of it.

The house Flynn and his dad were renting was a
well known cool house in Lily Falls. Back in the seventies, an architect showed
up in town, built the contemporary stunner, then ditched Lily Falls without ever living in the house. Apparently he rented out the property for the rest of
his life then his family continued to do so after he passed away.

There were wild stories about the nutty people who
lived in the house over the years and the crazy parties they threw. I knew most
of those stories were probably lies, but I was still excited to see the inside
of the infamous house.

Walking my bike up the dark stained driveway, I
admired the contemporary masterpiece. Though if I was honest with myself and
stopped the hero worshipping, I’d admit the house looked a little like
something I would have designed with my Legos as a kid. Like an assortment of
boxes, in a haphazard design, the house was amazing, yet a little silly. Either
way, I had to admire the audacity of building something so unconventional in a
town full of massive Victorian and Mediterranean homes.

Flynn appeared at the door and skipped down the
many steps to where I stood admiring his house. The garage door slowly opened
and I spotted Flynn’s car inside. Otherwise the three stalls were devoid of
possessions. No boxes from the move, no Christmas stuff, nothing.

“Your cheeks are so pink from the cold,” Flynn
said, kissing one of them. “Park your bike in the garage. I’d hate for sticky
fingers to take off with my girl’s fancy ride.”

Grinning, I walked the bike into the garage then
returned to Flynn who took my hand.

“The steaks are cooking nice and slow. They’ll be
ready in a bit. Oh, and you’re going to love the mushrooms. Robust like another
slab of meat.”

“You’re merely an above average cook, you say?” I
asked as he tugged me up the twenty odd stairs to the front door.

“Turns out that besides porn and Facebook, the Internet
has recipes.”

Grinning at me, Flynn opened the front door as I
heard the garage closing. I followed him inside and tried not to get awestruck
by the large open foyer. Boxy by some standards, the rooms didn’t feel
claustrophobic because of the high ceilings and walls of windows.

Checking on dinner, Flynn left me to admire the
two-story fireplace with its roaring fire. I wandered to the windows overlooking
the river. All of the best homes in Lily Falls were on the water and this
amazing house shared the same luxury.

The back patio reached the river then dropped off
into the water. On the other side of the river were thick woods, the kind too
dense for most people to easily travel through. Yet I spotted someone moving
around between the thick autumn decorated trees.

Sighing as my mother came into view, I wanted a
break from the craziness and blood. She wasn’t bleeding yet, just wandering out
of the woods and watching me at the river’s edge. I wished she would leave me
alone for a while. Missing her, I had once enjoyed her visits, but now I knew
she only appeared to torment me.

Another figure emerged from the woods and I
stepped back from the window at the sight of Assad Zandi. He waved at me with
his free hand while his other hand held a shotgun. Standing next to my mother,
he smiled, but I only saw evil in his once gentle eyes. My mother glanced at
him then back at me. Her hands reached out to me as if I was expected to save
her. Her eyes were locked on mine and I couldn’t look away, not even when Assad
pointed the shotgun at her head.

Flynn turned me to him and away from the window,
just as the gunshot echoed in my head. I heard the splatter of what was
probably my mother’s brain matter against the windows. I told myself how
logically the distance wouldn’t allow for such a thing and besides my mother
had been dead for eight years. Despite my attempts at logic, I cried against
Flynn who said nothing until I quieted down.

“Terminal tumor getting you down again?” he whispered.

Staring up at him, I imagined how pathetic I must appear.
I couldn’t go a single day without crying or freaking out. While I wished I
could explain so he might understand, I knew the words would sound like
insanity to an outsider. Yet with Flynn, I was willing to try, but not tonight
because tonight was a chance to have fun. I wasn’t going to ruin it with trivial
things like honesty.

“Sometimes the woods make me sad,” I told him.

Flynn nodded, wiping my cheeks with his thumbs.
“Even with the woods there to upset you, I hope you’ll stay tonight.”

Smiling weakly, I nodded. “Yes, I’ll stay. I can
think of nothing I would rather do than stay here with you.”

Finally Flynn’s face lit up and his swagger
returned. “I’ve got plans for this evening.”

“Oh, I bet you do.”

“In fact, while we’re waiting for dinner, I want
to distract you Flynn-style.”

“I think this goes without saying, but there is nothing
sexier in the world than a man who talks about himself in the third person.”

“Don’t I know it,” he said, giving me a wink.

Walking with him to the black leather couch, I
didn’t even think to tease him. Lily Falls had gotten cold for me the last few
weeks and the chill followed me everywhere. Yet Flynn was warm and he wanted me
for something besides my death.

The couch was long and wide and we quickly got
comfortable with him leaning over me, yet skilled enough not to squish me. He
wore a white tee and I wanted it off as much as he wanted to remove my shirt. Instead
we just got tangled up trying to undress each other.

Laughing, we never moved the action to a base
worth cheering over. With dinner coming and our inability to coordinate the
stripping scenario, we never got past first base. Fortunately Flynn really
excelled at first and I wasn’t too shabby either.

When Flynn pulled his lips away, he stared at
nothing with a frown.

“What?” I asked, slightly alarmed.

“Dinner smells done, doesn’t it?”

Trying to shrug, I was fairly sure I didn’t
succeed, but I did run my hands through his soft hair, mussing it up.

“I’m going to feed you,” he whispered, caressing
my lips with his. “Then we’re going to get these shirts off.”

“I’m not sure how I feel about giant mushrooms,” I
said as he pulled me up off of the couch. “I don’t mind little ones like on hamburgers
or in salads, but giant ones sound scary.”

“I cooked stuffed mushrooms with cheese, tomatoes,
and bread crumbs. My mom used to make them for Thanksgiving and I found the recipe
on the Internet. It’s not exactly like hers, but it’ll do.”

“Do you miss her?” I asked as he pulled out a
chair for me at the long black table in the adjoining dining room.

“Yes, but not as much as I thought I would. Humans
are very adaptable and I learned to live without her.”

“Do you see her at all?”

“Around the holidays, but not so much the last few
years.”

“I’m sorry.”

Flynn gazed down at me and caressed my cheek. “Did
I distract you from the woods, Blue?”

“Very much so,” I said, grinning. “Thank you.”

Lifting an eyebrow, he sighed. “Keep giving me
that naughty grin and you’ll make me rush through dinner just so I can get you
back to the couch. What a shame after I slaved away cooking for you.”

Laughing, I watched him disappear into the kitchen
where he returned with sizzling steaks and those fearsome giant mushrooms.

“Why can’t we take the fun to your room?” I asked
as he filled my plate.

“This is a beautiful house. One of the best homes
we’ve ever lived in and I’m thrilled the Affleck sisters splurged to buy Dad’s talents.
With that said, the upper levels are cold and I’m sure there’s a window
standing open somewhere. Can’t find it though, so I think we’d enjoy our nudity
more in the grand room with the fire.”

“Okay.”

Flynn gave me an irresistible smile, complete with
a little dimple action. “I didn’t take you for shy, but if you’d like to get
frisky upstairs under the covers, I’ll deal with the cold.”

“I am neither shy nor modest. Wherever, whenever,
I’m game.”

“You’re not nearly as naughty as you pretend.”

Rolling my eyes, I sighed. “Maybe for a world
traveler like yourself. For Lily Falls though, I play pretty hard.”

Flynn sat in a chair next to mine and grinned. “My
mistake. You’re as naughty as they come.”

Winking, I bit into the steak then sighed. “Mmm…so
good.”

Now Flynn rolled his eyes. “The way you tease is
cruel.”

“It’s not a tease. You’ll see soon enough. This is
really good though.”

“Try the mushrooms.”

Nervously cutting into the huge brown concoction, I
was certain I’d be forced to fake my way through approving moans. Instead it
wasn’t bad. After savoring the first bite, I happily dug in for more.

“You’ve made me a believer,” I said, impressed by
his ability to turn the brown horror into something so delicious.

“I thought you’d like it.”

We ate quietly for a few minutes and I thought to
compliment him on his cooking skills. Then I remembered something and decided
to get it out of the way. While I had considered keeping Tyson and the opera to
myself, I figured Flynn had gone through a lot of trouble to make a nice dinner
for me. Hiding things from him, besides the sacrifice, left me uneasy.

“Lacey has an older brother,” I said, wiping my
mouth. “He’s really into the arts and he asked me to see an opera with him on
Wednesday. I said I’d go.”

Flynn stopped chewing. When he started again, his
gaze held mine until he swallowed.

“You’re going on a date with this guy?”

“Not a date. He’s a friend I’ve known most of my
life.”

Flynn leaned back into his chair and studied me.
“Will you have dinner with him?”

“Yes, but he’s just a friend.”

“Why are you telling me then?”

“So you’d know he was just a friend and wouldn’t
think I was…well would it even be cheating if Tyson wasn’t a friend?”

“Do you really have to ask?”

“I don’t know you, Flynn. I don’t know what you expect.”

Nodding, he sipped his drink then exhaled gruffly,
clearly pissed.

“I’m in love with you.”

There were many mature or romantic ways to respond
to what he said, but I chose a different direction.

“Bullshit. You can’t be in love because you’ve
known me for a few days. No one falls in love that fast in real life.”

Flynn didn’t look hurt or angry. His expression
was unreadable then he nodded again.

“I feel something for you that I’ve never felt for
any other girl and we both know there’ve been plenty of other girls. How can
you be so sure what I feel isn’t love?”

“How can you be so sure it is?”

“The girls I’ve dated were varied. Smart, dumb,
hot, just okay, funny, dull, kindhearted, bitch. All kinds of girls and I could
take them or leave them. Some of those girls might have wanted for me to stick
around, but most probably didn’t care. For me, none of them made me crazy like
you do. You don’t even try either. You always seem like you have one foot out of
the door. As if you’re always looking for a chance to run away. I’ve dated
girls with commitment issues or who wanted to party without any strings. You’re
not special because you don’t cling, but you are special.”