I groaned, dropping my forehead against his chest again. “It’s not your responsibility.”
“You’re right, it’s not.” He stated. “It’s their father’s responsibility to be in their lives and help you. But he’s not. And if I know a single thing about you at all, I know there’s a damn good reason he’s not. So, you can either do it all on your own and continue feeling like you’re harming them somehow, or you can let us help. We want to help.”
“We?” I snorted, shaking my head. “You and what army, Elliot? Because that’s what it’s going to take.”
“Travis.” He said instantly, and I scoffed as he went on. “Rick and the guys. We all care.”
“Travis hates me.” I snap. “He thinks I’m failing them too, and he’s right.”
“He doesn’t.” The sound of Elliot's scoff echoed in the confined space as he pushed me against the wall, and my head snapped back. The rough texture of the wall scraped against my body as he loomed over me. “Travis is a hard-ass and even harder to read than you are. But he’s my best friend, and I know him like the back of my hand. And there are a lot of things he thinks about you, Frankie.” He said pointedly, and my stomach flipped slightly even as he pushed on. “But I assure you none of them are in a negative way.”
“I don’t understand?—”
“Good.” He smirked, barely visible in the dim light. “Because I’m messing this up by trying to convince you that he’s into you. Even if he is my best friend, I’m not trying to ruin my own chances with you.”
“God.” I sagged into the wall, and he grinned bigger. “You’re crazy.”
“Crazy enough to make a move on a girl in a stinky equipment room who just wiped snot all over my shirt.”
A laugh broke through my lips before I could even recognize it, and I shook my head, giving in to the universe, which was obviously trying to humiliate me in every way tonight.
“You’re an incredible mom, Frankie.” He stated, more serious now. “It was one of the first things I noticed about you when you moved back. But you want to know what else I noticed, probably long before I saw you with the kids?”
“Do I dare ask?” I deadpanned, being snarky like my normal hard-ass self.
“I mean besides that dump truck—” He joked, and I pinched his side, making him chuckle. “It was how drawn to you, I am.”I bit my lip to keep from pushing him away like I usually would as he went on. “It doesn’t make sense, and I know that, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t something there that I’m interested in exploring when you’re ready.”
“And what if I’m never ready?” I whispered the fear I had every night, falling asleep alone for the last four years. “Because I don’t think I know how to be that girl anymore.”
“Do you want to be?” He asked, running his thumb over my cheek. “Because I remember the girl you were in high school. I remember how full of life and love you were. You were like a flame, and all of us were the moths, daring to fight the heat to be close to you.”
“Elliot.” I sighed as if his words were arrows aimed directly at my armor.
“Experiment with me for a moment.” He said, as his voice took on a huskiness I’d never heard before. “Ask me to kiss you.” My chest deflated as my breath left my lungs, faced with something I had thought about more times than I could count in the darkness of my own fantasies, but never expected to happen in real life. “Don’t give me one of the millions of excuses I’m sure you are already thinking of. Just tell me to kiss you. Just once.”
I gave in, falling headfirst into the dreamland he was dangling in front of me like it was something I could actually have. “Kiss me, Elliot.”
Tomorrow, I’d regret it and have to come to terms with that loss.
Tonight, I was going to give in.
“With fucking pleasure.” He growled, and then his lips were on mine, and my moans were in his ears as he pressed me into the wall.
I wasn’t sure what I expected a kiss with Elliot Torres to feel like, but I knew I didn’t expect the intensity that I was getting from him, that was for sure. His teeth nipped at my lip,and I opened, teasing his tongue with mine as my body burned everywhere he touched me. He kissed with such dominance and confidence that it made me weak in the knees.
Damn it, he kissed like I would assume Travis would, all full of power and control.
Fuck—was I really thinking about Travis as Elliot’s hips pinned me to the wall? Was I moaning for Elliot while I suddenly wondered if Travis would be as assertive as his best friend was?
“Sorry to interrupt.” A gruff voice said from behind Elliot, and I shrieked, finding Travis standing there, staring at us locked in—whatever the hell we were just doing, and I instantly felt guilty.
Damnit!
“You have impeccable timing, man.” Elliot laughed without turning, wiping his lip with the pad of his thumb as he braced one arm over my head against the wall. “What’s up?”
“Mrs. Blake wants you to drive Frankie home. Rick is closing down the bar and said to send her home.”
“What?” I snapped, ready to argue with being told what to do, even by my own mother and Rick.
