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"Be her friend, Flynn That's all you can do, and hope that one day, she'll want you enough to step off the ledge with you"

This just blows I was hoping ic-ball answer to woret fro but cultivate the friendship

Well, piss on that, I think to myself I'm not about to sit back and watch this woh, and I intend to get her to the next level

I'll just make sure I'm subtle about it

"Damn it, Rowan What the hell did you do to my stockroom?"

I look up from the computer and rub my eyes I was in invoice hell, and now I' down, I rub Harley's head as he snoozes bylikes to lay nearbecame attached to me so quickly

Looking over my shoulder, I try to ansith as much calm as I can "What do you mean?"

"You re-arranged the whole fucking roo Why did you do that?"

"I put all your supplies in alphabetical order You didn't have any structure to it and it was driving me nuts"

"I did too have structure," he explodes "I knew exactly where everything was"

"But I didn't," I snap back at him "And since you expect anized so I could see when you were getting low on supplies"

"But I can't find anything," he says like a whiny, snot-nosed brat

"It's not rocket science, Nix It's alphabetical You see there's this concept that's called 'A to Z'," I say slowly "If you're looking for bolts, just start with the A's and proceed forward You'll then get to the B's and lo and behold, you'll find the bolts Geez"

Nix glares atin displeasure I do a happy dance in my head

Oh, you'd think that Nix and I hate each other based on that display, but quite the opposite We get along fantastically We just fight like squabbling siblings I think, personally, that I provide an outlet to Nix that allows hirumpy, an attitude I understand he used to exhibit quite frequently Emily told me about Nix's time in the Marines and his injuries from the war I didn't know much about PTSD but Emily explained it all to ht It's why I have such extreme patience with him, and why I let him snarl and snap at me most days It's the least I can do for the sacrifices he made for our country

"Hey, Nix," I say, opting for a coe in subject "What does your shirt mean?"

I had noticed it earlier and had beenthat said, Se as the tattoos that Flynn had on his biceps

"It's short for Sean Means, Always Faithful"

"Why does Flynn have them tattooed on his biceps? He wasn't in the Marine Corps, was he?"

Nix shakes his head and walks over to his fridge He pulls out a beer and holds it up toif I want one I shake my head and watch as he flops down in his ratty, old recliner, twisting the cap off After he takes a long s, he answers me, "He did it shortly after I ca from my injuries He did it to honor me"

I digest that infors for what Flynn did Honoring his cousin for his sacrifices And the words clearly have uys that is always faithful It's why he stuck by me, and why he is so well loved by his faht coreat husband one day, and I'm immediately hit with a flood of jealousy that it won't be me

I'm jealous because I won't have that chance with him, because I'm too chicken shit to risk my friendship with him And I' ring, because I' that he won't look at me the same way, and won't be my friend anymore In fact, I've convinced myself that the bitch he marries won't let him have any female friends, and I want to kill this unknooman that he will marry one day

"Geez, Page What in the hell is going through your head? You look like you could ht now"

I shake out of "

"Yeah, right Coe Lay it on "

"Stop calling ossip sessions That's for you and your other dork friends that like to sit around and paint each other's toenails a pretty shade of pink"

Nix gives a shout of laughter and lifts his beer to me in salute "Good one"

I turn around to the coh with me

"So how are things going with you and Flynn?"

My shoulders stiffen involuntarily and I take a deep breath "Everything's great Peachy keen"

"You know he's in love with you, right?"

I swivel around in my chair so fast I almost throw myself out of it "What? What do you mean?"