For the Love of the Law

Chapter Twenty Six | My Heart Was Playing Pinball With All My Other Organs

I didn't see Flynn until Saturday morning, when he trudged into the diner looking like the walking dead.

The gorgeous, totally sexy walking dead, but like a zombie nonetheless.

"Coffee?" He asked hopefully, approaching the counter as his eyes rose to meet mine and I almost giggled at how cute he looked, his uniform slightly rumpled, his hair a mess, his badge crooked.

"What have they done to you?" I asked him with a small laugh as he leaned on the counter and rubbed a hand over his face, as if to wake himself up more.

"I've had three hours sleep in 48 hours. Stan threw me on a double shift with some of the detectives working on something." 

"Does this something have anything to do with the illegal fight clubs the gangs been running?" I asked, leaning on the counter opposite him. His eyes shot up to meet mine, the blue making my heart pound loudly against the inside of my chest. 

"How do you know about that?"

"It's a small town, Flynn. And Marley's best friend is a gang member." I shrugged my shoulders, watching a flicker of a smile work its way onto Flynn's face. When his eyes stayed on me, I fought a blush because memories of when I last saw him were running through my mind like those annoying ads before a movie. "What are you looking at?"

"You. You're cute."

My heart was playing pinball with all my other organs, the way it was moving around in there. 

"And you're sleeping walking."

"Well I just slept walked my way all the way to you. That must mean I was following my dreams."

I turned away as I bit my lip, blushing att his words. "Corndog. The usual coffee?" 

"Hold off on the milk today, I feel like I'm going to need the strongest caffiene boost I can get today." 

"You're working another shift?" I frowned when I started up the coffee machine, grinding the coffee beans and it whirred to life. "What did you do to Stan?"

"Well..." I caught his wince from the corner of my eye, and I found myself narrowing my own at him.

"What?" I said cautiously.

"Uh, Stan. He, he knows. About this. Us." Flynn said, pointing between the two of us as a nervous look crossed his face.

"He what?" 

Lucky the diner was quiet. That was louder than I expected it to be. "You told him?"

"No! Remember the kid who beat up Marley? He passed a comment about me and you, and Stan was watching me interview him. What was I supposed to do when he asked me about it? Lie?"

I sighed, shaking my head slightly. I couldn't be mad at Flynn, not really. "Wait, did you say the guy who beat up Marley knew?" 

"Yeah, Kyle Astor. Official pain in my ass."

"What did he say exactly?" 

Flynn's eyes darted nervously around me, landing on the coffee machine as he bit his bottom lip. "I think the coffee's burning." 

"It's not. Tell me what he said."

"It's not for a woman's delicate ears."

"Flynn, I never picked you for a sexist. Just tell me!" 

He huffed, blowing out a breath like a child. "He just asked if I was banging you, okay? That's all." 

Oh. Well, okay.