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Cap must have filled Rowdy in on my history with Austin as I shared minuscule details beyond my Gabriel troubles. I’d hoped to ease Rowdy into my shit show of a life, rather than bash him over the head with the details of my pathetic existence.
“Who the fuck are you to tell me I can’t talk to her?” Austin, obviously overcoming his stupor, gives Rowdy a shove to dislodge him as the barrier between us.
“I’m the motherf—”
“Stop!” I quickly step between them when Rowdy comes back ready for a fight.
Rowdy’s stormy eyes lock on me. “Don’t do that.” He pulls me away. “Don’t ever step in front of me, Frankie.” His voice is a pained whisper, his hands fisted at his sides. “I can’t see straight when I’m angry.” He runs his hands through his hair, making the waves of shoulder-length locks bounce back into place. “I don’t ever want to hurt you.”
I grip his arm, tilting my head to catch his eyes he has trained over my shoulder. “Okay.” So, this is his dark streak I’ve been sensing but haven’t seen. “Understood.”
He nods. “Never hurt you.” His eyes are full of more apology than necessary.
“I never thought you would, Darkboy.”
He smirks, letting out a punch of air. “You tagged me in the first few minutes of meeting me, calling meDarkboy. How is that?”
Maybe my gauge on trusting people isn’t broken after all. It had been blinkered by love, but knowing it’s still there and working bumps up my confidence. I shrug. “I’m just that good.”
He smiles on a nod, but frowns when he motions behind me. “You’re gonna talk to him, aren’t you?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I spot Austin holding up the far wall, waiting. “I think I need to. There are things to be said.” Peace to be made. Hatchets to be buried. Adulting shit.
“I’m not comfortable leaving you alone with him. Cap would have my head if something happened to you.”
If he’s worried about Cap, he should meet Gabriel.
Damn, I forgot.My stomach sours, and my heart flutters. I forgot Gabriel doesn’t give a shit about me either. My mind is mush. The force of that reality makes me want to get in my car and drive, never looking back.
But before I can move forward, I have to put Austin behind me. Then, someday, I can do the same with Gabriel.
The idea of saying goodbye to him saddens me more than saying goodbye to Austin. Maybe because Austin and I have been saying our goodbye slowly over the last year, emotional distance wedging us apart with each disappointment, each lie, each heartbreak. His latest attacks were simply nails in the coffin of our relationship.
Whereas Gabriel and I barely started before we ended. But the impact is profound, cavernous, and aches in a way Austin’s betrayal never did.
Well, fuck. I guess I should get one bad decision over with and behind me.
After arriving last night, I couldn’t track my Angel down. She was nowhere to be found in any of our normal haunts. She’s not answering her phone. The asswipe she’s with hasn’t answered any of my calls or texts either.
The guys at the gym said they hadn’t seen her but promised to give me a call if they did. They didn’t have any idea about Frankie and me being together. They knew she and Austin had broken up and the cliff-notes version of his meltdown, but if they know the whole story, it’s not from me or any of the guys in Lyndale. We’re a tightknit family, and the guys left here in Vegas haven’t earned their place. Doesn’t mean they’re not great guys. It just means they’re not family. And the shit Frankie has been through is family business.
I hate that family knows about my business. About my fuckup. But I’m here to make it right, make her understand I didn’t cheat on her. I never would.
The idea of her even believing I would not only cheat on her but be callous enough to text her proof in the form of a blowjob pic eats at my insides. She went through hell with Austin, and here I am putting her through even more cheating humiliations—true or not—she believes it to be. And it kills me.
Truth be told, I fucked up before she even left by not making my intentions clear, by not telling her she means more to me than sex. Except, I’m still not clear on where I see our future. I just know I want her in it.
Leaving my sister’s apartment, I give the new guy a call, hoping this time he’ll pick up.
It rings twice, and my heart jumps when he answers, “You’re a determined fuck.”
“You have no idea. Where is she?” I should probably go easy on the guy, after all I’m looking for his help, but damn if his attitude isn’t rubbing me the wrong way.
“Trying to forget you.”
Fucker.“She can’t. She never will.” I won’t let her.
“Yeah? Well, she’s talking to her ex as we speak. You’re already a distant memory.” His words hit me right in the heart and send my pulse racing.
