Page 55 of Complications

“If you don’t want to be described as a project, don’t be a project. It’s not that complicated. Here, have some bacon. It’ll make you less grumpy,” Frankie shrugged, then piled bacon on my plate, along with a few pieces of fruit.

“Is that actually possible?” Connor asked.

He propped his chin up on his fist and asked the question like it was the most serious one in the world. Matteo chuckled in the seat next to him, but he didn’t jump in to defend me either.

“I’m not grumpy.”

“You, my friend, are the goddamn definition of that,” Matteo said dryly.

He waved a careless hand in the direction of Frankie and me and asked, “How long has this been going on?”

“Like a week?” I answered.

“Since we were kids,” Frankie contradicted.

Doc and Elio gave each other a knowing look that made me want to punch one of them. Probably Elio because I liked Doc more, but I let it slide because last night, Frankie had finally fucked me the way I’d been begging him to. He said he’d been worried about my shoulder until Doc had given me a clean bill of health. I finally got fucked into the mattress like I’d wanted to happen for years.

Fucking worth it.

“What’s that grin for?” Connor asked.

I knew he was going for innocent, but he failed miserably. The looks between him and Matteo were too obvious.

“Did you know it was possible to eat breakfast without being all fucking nosy?”

“Actually, I did not, and I don’t think it’s true. And since it’s Matteo’s house, I get to be right.”

“Are you seriously pulling rank on me?” I asked him.

“I am,” Connor said solemnly. “I absolutely am.”

“Well, ain’t that some shit,” I answered.

Frankie grabbed my hand, laced our fingers together, and rested them on my thigh. I knew my twitchiness was just nerves, but goddamn, I didn’t expect to make a debut quite like this in front of the entire family.

“I’ve made some decisions about what we’re doing for the next month.”

Matteo’s announcement came out of nowhere, but it grabbed everyone’s attention.

“We are going on vacation, and it’ll be easier on all of us if we figure out the logistics together.”

Matteo’s announcement sent Connor flying into his lap and draping a barrage of kisses over his entire face. Elio celebrated with a fist pump and some kind of strangled yell. Doc smiled indulgently at Elio but kept himself restrained.

“Not sure on the destination yet.”

“Once you know where you’re going, let me know, and I’ll start working on security,” Frankie said with a nod.

“Us? What about you?” Connor asked, with a glance between Frankie and Matteo. “You two are coming with us because there’s no way I’m putting up with Matteo by myself. He’ll want to do cultural stuff, and I’ll want to hang out on the beach drinking fruity shit.”

“I like fruity shit,” Elio interrupted.

“And what⁠—”

I couldn’t finish my joke before Frankie kicked me under the table. It wasn’t my fault the jokes wrote themselves.

“What?”

“Behave.”