“Hey.” Frankie put his fingers over my lips. “Shh. I am, yeah. It was hard at first, learning to trust you again, and there were times I doubted, not gonna lie. But not anymore. You’ve changed so much. You’re everything I always knew you could be.”
“It’s ’cause of you.”
“No. You did this. You’re makin’ the changes. Step by step. Every day I see it. I could only be your cheerleader on the sidelines. You had to do it your own way. So yeah, I love you.”
I didn’t think I’d ever seen Frankie so serious, but the fierce pride in his eyes when he gazed at me opened my heart. I could breathe, maybe for the first time ever. It made sense, though. I’d been so angry all my life, I pushed away anyone who showed me kindness, thinking there was something wrong with them for wanting me.
“Hearing you say it…I know I didn’t deserve it before.”
“Now you do. You’re like a new man. You’ve got a job, friends, and me.” Frankie kissed my cheek, and I held him tightly.
“You. I got you. You’re all that matters.”
The scar along my side throbbed as I was seized by fear and shame that I still hadn’t told him everything. I rubbed it discreetly.
“Does it still hurt?” He reached over to touch it, but I jumped up and out of the window seat, disrupting our quiet moment.
Coward.
“No, it’s nothing. I had an itch, is all. Isn’t Austin supposed to meet us here?”
As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and even though I didn’t like the guy, I sent a silent prayer of thanks he’d shown up when he did.
“Speak of the devil. I’ll get it.”
But Frankie rose and went with me to answer the front door.
“Hi.”
Austin stood on the front porch, gazing around. “Hey. This place is beautiful. Must’ve been built in the early 1900s, right?”
“Yeah. Come on in.”
Austin gave Frankie a hug and me a nod hello, and we all stood around in the echoing, empty front parlor.
“My mom said around 1920 or something. Look at the floors Aaron found when he ripped up the carpet. And all the doors that were painted? They’re all natural wood underneath.”
“They’re beautiful. The big bay windows really add to the house as well.” He grinned and took off his jacket. “You guys might wanna shut the blinds next time. I got an eyeful of you two even from across the street.”
My face heated, but Frankie only punched Austin in the shoulder. “You stupid. Lemme show you around.”
The two of them walked through the house, Frankie chattering, pointing out the high ceilings, the fireplace, and the work I did stripping and sanding. Austin said little but took notes on his phone and snapped a lot of pictures. It wasn’t until he reached the kitchen that he addressed me directly.
“You’re going to pull out all the cabinets, right? This looks like a total gut job. And what about the bathrooms? You aren’t a licensed plumber, so I’d advise you to find someone. I don’t know anyone who does residential renos on a single-home basis, but I can ask. The people I deal with are mostly commercial or large-scale developers.”
“I figured. And yeah, I have friends I can ask. They do construction.”
Typing on his phone, Austin nodded. “Make sure they have permits, or you’ll get screwed.”
I bristled at his tone. I wasn’t a kid to be spoken to like that. I wanted to tell him to fuck off, that I knew what I was doing, but after a few deep breaths, I calmed down. “Yeah. I know. I have it under control. But thanks.”
Glancing up from his phone, Austin looked me square in the eye for the first time. “You’re welcome.”
“Okay, you two. Can we cut the shit?” Frankie stood between us. “It’s ridiculous to have my best friend and my boyfriend looking like you wanna rip each other’s heads off.” He faced Austin. “Get it through your head. Me ’n Aaron are together. Period. It ain’t gonna change. We love each other. So if you wanna be my friend, you either accept him or walk off.”
Stunned, I could only stare at Frankie’s back until he faced me with an equally ferocious expression. “And you.” He poked me in the chest. “Just ’cause I love you don’t mean you get to pick my friends. Austin was there for me. He’s always been there for me, and I know he loves me too. So you two can either fucking learn to get along, or I swear”—he poked me again—“I’ll walk out and neither of you will see me again. Got that?”
I nodded, and he glared at me a second before spinning around to address Austin. “You got that?”
