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Stumbling into my apartment a couple of hours later, I had just enough strength to peel out of my clothes before tumbling face-first onto my bed. The scent of sex and cigarettes surrounded me. It ended up being one of the best night’s sleep I’d had in a while.
The next few weeks were a blur of getting things in order for the purchase of the bar, working for Cole, and trying my best to be there for him as he navigated his ever-changing intentions for his relationship with Jasper.
I’d found my rhythm. I knew how much sex I needed per week to get the bare minimum hours of sleep every night. I knew how hard I had to work at being a good friend to keep my guilt under control. And I’d even come to terms with the fact that I may never hold a paintbrush ever again. Things were going great, and thenheshowed up. And then everything changed.
Part Three
Chapter 30
Leland
Seven Months Later
Not only did I have my Christmas holiday ruined when Franky decided to show up in town, but I also had my whole life thrown off its axis when he decided to stay. Indefinitely.
After the new year, I spent months focusing on the purchase of the building that housed the bar, then the renovations of it because there was more to be done than I’d initially thought.
As soon as the loan had been secured, and I was sure that I could stay afloat for a few months unemployed, I handed Cole my resignation. I needed to direct all my attention into getting the place up and running, or so I’d told him.
Cole understood from the beginning that my working for him would be temporary. A means to get me to my dreams, so there were no hard feelings on that front. He did, however, have a problem with how little access to me he got afterward. Avoidance had become my main objective, and so I’d kept myself too busy for everyone.
It wasn’t as hard as one would think, because Cole had eventually won Jasper, and with Jasper’s now ex-husband out of the picture, he and Cole had begun making up for lost time.
A few months of needing to stay afloat turned into six, because nobody told me that contractors sometimes lied, and that nothing would work according to plan.
I refused to tell Cole, because he would’ve offered me another job or outright transferred me the cash, so I’d been living off my credit cards instead, which was why I should’ve been at my bar waiting for the electrician to show up to fix a wiring issue that threatened to delay my grand opening, and not across town riding the elevator up to Cole’s penthouse.
He’d made it clear in his message that if I didn’t come to him for this meeting, thenthey’dcome to me, and I couldn’t have Franky in my space, tainting it with our tumultuous past.
The elevator doors parted silently, revealing Cole’s expansive marble foyer. I ran a nervous hand through my hair, preparing myself for the lecture I’d for sure receive from him, while also preparing to be cut open by the sight of his father.
Cole’s booming voice came from the living room, where I assumed he was speaking with hisotherbest man. Per his text, he wanted to meet in person to go over details for the big day. He and Jasper were getting married.
“There he is,” Cole drawled, glaring at me from the sofa. I bit back my snarky reply because I deserved his bad attitude. What I didn’t deserve was to be hit with the overwhelming emotions that came from seeing the man sitting in the armchair across from him. I’d never get over him. I’d accepted that. Didn’t mean I had to like it or put myself in situations where those feelings crippled me.
Franky gracefully unfolded from his seat, which, for me, happened in slow motion as my brain took its time recording every moving part of him. “Hello, Leland.” The deep rumble of his voice sent my toes curling in my shoes. He was still the type of man who preferredhellooverhi.
Such a fucking gentleman.
His dark eyes widened and his lips twitched.
Fuck. I’d muttered that out loud. Cole, seemingly too upset with me to have heard, dug into me before my embarrassment could set it.
“Where the hell have you been? I didn’t realize the end of our working relationship meant the end of our friendship, too, Leland.”
“Have you always been this dramatic?” I asked, hitting back. His annoyance melted away, a slice of hurt taking its place. “I’m sorry. Of course we’re still friends. I’ve just been busy getting the bar ready for tonight’s grand opening.”
“I’ve been offering to help. Jasper and I both have. You don’t have to do this alone,” Cole reminded me.
“But I want to,” I said abruptly, my anxiety elevating the longer Franky and I were in such close proximity to each other.
“Doesn’t explain why I haven’t seen or heard from you since my birthday party nearly a month ago.” His pale blue eyes implored me to help him understand, to tell him what he did wrong. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him the truth—or at least part of it. That I couldn’t be around his father because when he watched me as if walking away from me all those years ago had been the biggest mistake of his life, it threatened to re-open old wounds I’d fought hard to keep barely scabbed over.
I chanced a glance over at Franky, and he didn’t even have the decency to turn away, to pretend he wasn’t staring at me in a way that said he was ready to lay the truth at Cole’s feet right then and there if it meant he could have me.
Caught up in the darkness of his gaze, I hadn’t heard Cole call out to me until it was too late. Until he’d gotten to his feet as well, his narrowed stare shooting between me and my kryptonite.
“Ishethe problem?” he asked, pointing to Franky. They were a lot more similar now. A result of the quality time spent rebuilding their relationship. Franky had a refinement that Cole missed out on, though. Probably because Jasper had shown up at the right time in Cole’s life, softening some of his hard edges. Franky would always seem out of place in certain environments, even though he was humble at heart. Cole tended to blend in better, expensive clothes and all.
