18. Flynn
Chapter Eighteen
FLYNN
“Come again,” I said, glancing in Diego’s direction.
“I said it looks like you’re pissing Mandy off,” Diego commented, leaning back in his chair before taking a swallow from his beer.
I didn’t even look in Mandy’s direction. I occasionally spent time with Mandy, on a very casual, not often basis. I wouldn’t even call it a friends with benefits arrangement. We were friendly, and there were occasional benefits.
I took a bite of my pizza and shrugged. “I doubt it. Plus, why would she be pissed off at me?”
Elias’s brows hitched. “Because you’re ignoring her. I’m not saying she has some sort of claim on you. But when you do see her, she usually gets what she wants from you. That’s all.”
“Tonight, she might as well be invisible,” Diego added with a roll of his green eyes.
I glanced between my two friends and shrugged. “She’s not invisible. I’m just not in the mood.”
We were out for dinner at Diamond Creek Brewery. It was housed in an old plane hangar. The open space had been turned into a restaurant and brewery. The brewery part of the business was in the back with the stainless steel equipment partially visible behind a brick wall. In a touch of whimsy, there were model planes hanging from the ceiling. This place was popular with locals and tourists.
Every few weeks, we came here for food and drinks. The food was always good, and their beer selection was hard to beat. Gabriel and Grant had just left a few minutes ago to go play pool at Sally’s Bar, another local favorite. Tucker was a few hours away, doing an overnight tourist trip in the Katmai area.
Diego ran a hand through his dark hair, casting me a sly grin. “I think I know why you’re not interested.”
Elias cleared his throat. “We all know why.”
I kept my expression bland. “Do tell.”
“You have it bad for Daphne,” Elias countered swiftly.
“Your princess,” Diego said with a wink.
I masked my irritation by taking a swallow of my beer. “Since when do you two pay attention to who I want?”
Diego shrugged easily. “Dude, we live to get under your skin. It’s not easy. In fact, I don’t think any woman has gotten under your skin since I’ve known you. Except for Daphne.”
“Well, that would be because I don’t have time. In case you missed the memo, I work all the time, and I happen to like it that way.”
Elias looked over at me from across the table, his gaze sobering. “You do work all the time. I’m familiar with that tendency because I do too. We all like Daphne. She’s awesome.”
“And her food is fucking amazing,” Diego said with a vigorous nod. “Don’t screw it up by getting cranky with her.”
“Better yet, don’t screw it up by fucking her and making things complicated,” Elias commented.
My friends had no freaking clue how complicated things already were. It’d been bad enough when I was only a little obsessed with her before that night. After that, it had felt like a game of whack-a-mole in my brain as I tried to keep my thoughts of Daphne from breaking through every free moment.
After the other night in the kitchen? I was totally screwed.
Every second of that encounter was burned deeply into my mind and had imprinted her on every cell of my body. Throwing emotions into the mix was turning out to be insanely complicated for me.
“Can we lay off giving me shit about Daphne? The last thing I need is to screw up the situation with the best chef we’ve ever had.” Avoidance was the only defense I had at the moment.
Diego nodded solemnly. “Exactly.”
“Your mom seems to be enjoying herself,” I commented to Elias, figuring that would take the focus off me.
Elias flashed a grin. “She is. She also noticed you have a thing for Daphne and thinks Daphne would be good for you.”
I hung my head and groaned.
Diego took pity on me. “Aw, we’ll leave ya alone for now.”
“Hey, guys,” a voice said.
Glancing to the side, I saw Jared Winters approaching the table. After a chorus of greetings from us, Jared looked toward me. “So are you going to take Trey up on his offer?”
“Think so,” I replied. “I just need to hammer out the financials. I don’t have enough cash to buy him out outright, so I need to talk to the bank.”
Jared eyed me speculatively. “You can work it out. I wish I could fly planes. I’d take him up on it in a hot minute.”
“Hey, man, we’ll take you up in the air for your instruction hours,” Diego offered with a quick grin.
Jared ran a charter boat business with his two brothers. While we flew through the skies, they did everything on the water. They often sent us customers, and we did the same in return.
Jared’s green eyes twinkled with his chuckle. “Nah, man. I don’t have time to learn something new. Don’t forget I have a toddler to chase,” he added.
Diego spoke first. “Toddlers either ruin people for more kids or not. What’s your vote?”
Jared chuckled. “Good point. It was the sleepless nights that got to me when he was a baby.”
“Well, there’s always that,” Diego replied with a grin.
Jared nodded. “Yup. Trust me, having a baby is harder than flying a plane, but I’d do it all over again. Anyway, I need to keep moving. Just here to pick up some takeout and a few growlers of beer.”
“Catch you later,” I said with a wave.
Jared’s interruption got Diego and Elias off further discussion of Daphne. We chatted about this and that. Unfortunately—for me, at least—Daphne was never far from my thoughts. After I waved goodbye to them, since they rode here together, Mandy waylaid me in the parking lot.
“Flynn!” she called.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw her crossing the parking lot, her footsteps crunching on the gravel.
I smiled, keeping my expression bland. Mandy stopped beside where I stood at the back of my truck.
“Hey.”
I inclined my head. “Hey.”
Mandy was gorgeous. She had rich chestnut hair and big blue eyes. She was tall and willowy and usually down for a good time with no strings attached.
That worked for me most of the time. It’s just that I didn’t even feel the slightest twinge of interest for her now. I wasn’t comparing them because that wasn’t fair. It’s just that Daphne with her petite, curvy body and her flashing green eyes was the only thing that drew my interest these days. With Mandy standing in front of me, her eyes narrowed and curious, I actually tried to be interested.
I felt nothing, freaking nothing.
“I’m off for the night,” she offered with just a hint of a question at the end.
“Good to see you, Mandy, but I’ve had a long day, and I’m tired. I have an early morning tomorrow.” I was being entirely honest there.
Mandy’s eyes searched my face. “I take it you’re not interested.”
I shook my head.
Mandy stared at me, her eyes narrowing slightly as she rested a hand on her hip. “You know, that’s the first time you’ve turned me down.”
Oh, fuck. She was not letting this go. “Mandy, don’t take it personally.”
Mandy rolled her eyes. “It is personal, Flynn.”
Clearly, she was taking it personally. I wasn’t sure what to make of her irritation with me. “Look, I thought we were clear on this. No expectations. I haven’t seen you in months.”
Mandy eyed me for a long beat before letting out an annoyed huff. “It’s not that I expect anything from you, but I thought we had something.”
Apparently, Mandy was only easy to deal with as long as I gave her what she wanted. I spun my keys around my index finger as I looked at her. “I’m not sure what to say, Mandy.” I really wasn’t.
“Fuck you, Flynn.”
“I’m sorry, Mandy.”
She stalked away, anger radiating from her as she threw up her middle finger over her shoulder. So much for that. I genuinely hadn’t meant to hurt Mandy. We’d never been serious. Hell, I’d maybe hung out with her three or four times over the past year. My life didn’t leave room for much socializing. Apparently, her attitude was only easygoing if she got what she wanted. With a sigh, I climbed in my truck.
I drove home, trying to ignore the drumbeat of anticipation. I couldn’t help but wonder if Daphne would be up late in the kitchen again.
It didn’t slip my awareness that my very anticipation made my dismissal of Mandy bullshit. I was tired, and I did have an early morning tomorrow. Yet that didn’t change the fact I wanted Daphne. I’d stay up all night for her.