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“So you think they’ll take her side?”
“Choosing her over me would be the easiest choice either of them would ever have to make. They’ll hate me for hurting her, then I’ll lose them. I’m not so sure I ever had them to begin with.”
Franky and I had done a lot of talking over the last couple weeks. We’d take the boat out on sunny days and speak for hours on the ocean. We’d sit by the firepit on cool nights, tossing back beers—or something stronger if the topic required complete oblivion to get through it. Franky’s central theme was guilt. He traveled through life bogged down by an abundance of it, and it all traced back to his parents’ neglect of him, then the loss of Gloria and her family. It may have originated there, but it had continued into how he saw himself as a husband and parent.
“It’s not too late to fix things with them. With your kids,” I clarified, refusing to examine why I felt a clarification was needed. Why I felt the need to leave Selene out of it.
“Maybe,” he said noncommittally.
“What else has been bothering you?” I brushed back the clump of hair sticking to his damp forehead. I had a need to comfort him, and I would’ve apologized for the intimate touch if he hadn’t closed his eyes to it, inhaling and exhaling in relief.
Franky blinked up at me sluggishly, his eyes hot and fierce, paralyzing me. He shook his head, ridding it of whatever thoughts had been boiling up inside him. I felt powerless to do anything but wait for his next words, or his next move.
“Whatisn’tbothering me,” he said bitterly, his eyes now devoid of anything good. I’d been holding myself up on my knees, but the sudden change in his demeanor jarred me, dropping me onto his lap where his hard cock waited.
Franky’s fingers dug into my legs, and the air exiting my lungs reversed direction.
I expected for one of us to freak out any second now, but the freak out never came. We were both too stunned to do anything but remain suspended in time. My dick responded to his, and without a direct order from my brain, my hips thrust forward, picking the worst time to go rogue.
“No,” Franky gritted out angrily, eyes flaring with panic as his fingers did damage to the tops of my thighs.
We staggered to our feet, straightening our clothes and clearing the lumps from our throats.Would shit be extra weird now? Would he ask me to leave? What the fuck wasthat,Leland?
“That one tilts, and it’s driving me crazy,” Franky said, flicking a hand at the stools, his voice pinched. “And that one’s too short, and the middle one is too tall.”
So we were pretending nothing happened. I could do that. I couldtryto do that. I prayed a silent prayer that when I opened my mouth to respond, I could manage more than a fucking sweet moan. “But the fourth one is perfect.” I inwardly patted myself on the back for sounding unfazed. “I know this because I tested it out this morning. Now all you’ve gotta do is make three more just like it. You’ve mastered it.”
He didn’t respond, the mask of pretense slipping as he paced a circle with his hands bracketing his hips. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want another person tossing me out the window because they’d decided I’d become “too much.”
I was determined to show him that we could forget what happened and move on, determined to get an enthusiastic reply from him about his damn stools.
The paint on his nose had dried, but the end of my brush remained caked with paint. I pointed it at him threateningly. “Repeat after me,” I instructed. “I did it.”
“Leland—”
“Uh-uh,” I said, and he watched the bristles for sudden movements. “Say: I did it. Say: I didn’t know what the hell I was doing when I first started, but I didn’t give up and I’m the fucking man,” I said in one rush of words.
“I will not—”
“Say it!” I shouted, flaunting my weapon at him. “Say: I’m the fucking man, and I can overcome any fear and do anything I put my damn mind to.”
“Please don’t make me—okay, okay!” he said, holding his hands up in surrender as I swooped in. “I’m the man—”
“Thefuckingman,” I corrected.
“Must you swear so much?” he asked with a sigh. I flew my brush in closer. “I’m the fucking man, and I can overcome any fear, and do anything I put my damned mind to.” The corners of his eyes crinkled, and he brandished a grateful smile. Saying it had made him happy. I quickly added two green polka dots above the stripe on his nose, smiling when he frowned at me.
“See,” I whispered. “You’re a daisy after all.”
His grin was boyish and bashful as he whispered back, “So are you, Leelee Bear.”
Chapter 9
Franklin
Dumping my wet umbrella and shoes by the door, I walked briskly toward the stairs, not wanting to waste any more time in getting some medication into Leland’s system. I halted with a foot on the first step, seeing a tightly coiled bundle on the couch.
Backtracking, I placed the bag containing chicken soup and cold meds on the coffee table so I could unbutton my suit jacket.
