No Place Like Homecoming, Dallen, Maggie [beach read book .TXT] 📗

a feeling I was totally unfamiliar with had taken root in my chest. I wanted to help him. I wanted to stop worrying about me and worry about this guy since no one else seemed to be doing it.

He was always taking care of everyone else—including me. But who was looking out for Flynn?

Me. The answer was me.

I sat up a little straighter, something in my chest loosening. Unraveling as a smile tugged at my lips.

“What’s with you?” Flynn asked. He looked wary.

Smart guy.

He eyed me with a narrowed gaze as he reached a hand out to help me to my feet. “You ready?”

I flashed him a smile as I slipped my hand into his. “As I’ll ever be.”

Was Flynn’s family problem my issue?

No.

But I wanted it to be.

Don’t ask me why. I was trying pretty hard not to overthink it myself. But the thing was, Flynn’s family deserved better. Flynn deserved better. And for the first time in my life...it wasn’t about me.

I might not have known how to fix my relationship with my parents, and I had no interest in getting Logan’s attention again. He could have his homecoming crown, and whoever he took as his date could get her time on the stage as the queen.

For me, well...I was starting to realize it might not have been so terrible to be a princess. A fake princess, obviously.

It only took swooning in front of a bunch of munchkins to make me see reason. That maybe my life wasn’t really back in New York. Maybe it was here. And maybe it could be good if I gave it half a chance.

Having Callie and the others in my corner was new. It was a taste of what friendships could be like. Having Aunt Lucy talk to me like I was a grown up—heck, having her talk to me at all—maybe that was the kind of home I needed right now. One where I wasn’t treated like a child, for better or for worse.

For better, I decided when I got home from school later that day. Flynn had given me a ride, and my brain was on fire with ways that I could help him. But I’d need help.

I’d need friends.

I walked in to find Aunt Lucy chopping vegetables for dinner.

I’d need family.

“Here, let me do that,” I said, taking over and pretending not to notice that her jaw had dropped and her eyes were like saucers. Yeah, yeah, so maybe I hadn’t exactly been bending over backwards to help around here.

But things were changing. I was changing.

At least, I wanted to change. And that was a start, right?

“To what do I owe the honor?” she teased as she stepped back to let me take over. “I didn’t think you knew how to do anything in the kitchen except for mope.”

I rolled my eyes. “Would it put you at ease to know that I’m just trying to butter you up for a favor?”

Her laugh was a cackle and it made me grin as I turned my attention to the knife and vegetables before me. “I do like your honesty, kid. All right, hit me. What’s the favor?”

“First…” I half turned to look at her. “How well do you know Mrs. Masterson?”

She frowned. “Flynn Masterson’s mom?”

I nodded.

“Well enough. I felt sorry for her and her boys with all they’d been through these past few years. I know a lot of us wished we could have done more for them, but there’s just not much year-round work to be had in this town.”

I pursed my lips as I debated how far was too far to intervene in the life of some guy I barely knew?

But as soon as I thought it, I had this flash. This image of Flynn just before he’d kissed me, the way he’d held me as I cried. The way he let me be myself, and how I wanted to be better when I was with him.

This wasn’t a stranger.

And the way I felt around him was so not even close to a friend. I swallowed and shook off the thought. I was in it to win it now, right? Go big or go home.

And it wasn’t like I could go home, right? So go big it was then.

“Are you close enough that you’d feel comfortable calling her and getting her input on something?”

I glanced over to see my aunt studying me. “Possibly. What’s this about?”

I turned, knife still in hand and decided right then and there that I would tell her the truth. I’d tell her my plan.

My stomach’s revolt at the thought was a not-so-helpful reminder that I didn’t trust people. I didn’t open up to them, and I didn’t let them in.

Not normally.

But maybe trusting people wasn’t something that came naturally to anyone. Maybe letting people in was hard for everyone. Well, everyone but Callie. She seemed to be a natural.

Maybe it was all about deciding to let people in. Choosing to let people help. So I told my aunt everything I was thinking, about how I didn’t want to see Flynn sacrifice himself and his future for his family. About how I might be able to help.

Thankfully Aunt Lucy was on my side when I was done.

She was in my corner, and that meant everything. Which was why I followed up with one more request. “Aunt Lucy, do you think you could set up a videocall for me and my parents?”

Her brows arched but she just nodded. “Yeah, kid. I can do that.”

“Good. There are some conversations I need to have with them, and I need them both to be there.”

“I think that’s very wise,” she said.

“And Aunt Lucy…?”

She waited expectantly.

“I’m hoping you’ll be there too.” I swallowed and cleared my throat. “I mean, if you don’t mind.”

She came over and took the knife out of my hands, setting it down before pulling me in for a bear hug that stole my breath. “I’ll be there, kid.”

Fourteen

Flynn

The rest of the school