“Frankie, man.”
“Don’t fuckin’ ‘Frankie, man’ me. I told you to treat me like a grown man. I don’t need your protection. Aaron ’n me? We’re in a good place now. We talk instead of arguing. We take each other’s feelings into consideration. We’re planning a future. Together. And if you wanna be part of that—of my future—then you gotta learn to respect me. Got that?”
I had nothing but admiration for my Frankie as he held his ground. This Frankiewasa different man than the person I’d spent three years with. His eyes shot sparks, his face flushed red, and damned if I wasn’t a little turned-on. From what I’d been told by Frankie, Austin was not one to back down easily, and that was why, after taking a moment to consider Frankie’s words, when he came over to me, I wasn’t sure what he’d have to say.
“I’m sorry for doubting you from the start and never giving you a chance. I have trust issues, as Frankie knows, so it takes me time. But I’ll concede I didn’t want him to get back with you at first because I was afraid for him.”
“I’ll never hurt him again. I promise.”
Ordinarily I wouldn’t care what anyone outside of Frankie’s family had to say, but in the months I was away, Frankie had met Austin, and they’d become as close as brothers. If I wanted Frankie in my life, I had to make room for, and peace with, Austin.
“If you’re willing to try, I am too.” I stuck out my hand.
And without any hesitation, Austin took my hand and shook it. Frankie slipped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck.
“I love you both so much. All I want is for everyone to get along.”
“Sometimes you have to wait for the time to be right. Austin and me? We hadta get to that place on our own, right?”
Austin nodded. “You dancing tonight, Frankie?” Austin held up his phone to snap more pictures of the kitchen.
I felt Frankie nod against my shoulder. “Yeah.”
“Okay. I’ll see you. Rhoades is meeting some developers after dinner, so it’ll be only me later. Aaron.” His gaze cut to me. “Will you be at Man Up? We can hang out together.”
His acceptance made me smile. “Yeah, sure. Thanks.”
“I gotta get back to the city.” He pulled on his jacket. “I told Rhoades we’d have dinner together.” Footsteps echoed through the house as he walked, and then the front door slammed behind him.
“You wanna finish up here and get dinner before we go to the club?”
“Yeah, sure.” His phone beeped, and at his whispered, “Holy shit,” I quirked a brow.
“What’s up? Everything okay?”
Never one to hide his emotions, Frankie’s eyes widened like a kid’s at Christmas. “Remember I said I was gonna invest some money?”
“Yeah? You made some money?”
“I fucking doubled it. In only a few weeks.”
“Fuckin’ A, babe.”
Still staring at his phone, he said, “Uh-huh,” but I got the feeling he wasn’t listening to me. “If it keeps going up, I’ll get more than I need for a down payment on an apartment. My parents will see I’m serious about this.”
“But there’s no guarantee, right? I mean you should probably sell it and take the money, don’tcha think?” To me, it all sounded like gambling, and that was some nasty shit I had no desire to get involved in.
“Maybe.” A mysterious smile split his face, and Frankie turned on some music. “Anyway, check out my new routine.”
I watched Frankie strip off his shirt and wiggle his ass to the beat of the music. He did moves reminiscent of the Hustle, ending on a backflip, then a split.
“Ouch.” I winced and held out my hand to help him up. “I can’t believe that don’t hurt.”
“Lucky for you, your boyfriend’s flexible.” Taking my hand, a breathless Frankie snickered. “Comes in handy for things, if you know what I mean.”
“Now who’s being stupid?” But I kissed the top of his head, and when Frankie looped his arms around my neck, I lost myself in him and we remained in the kitchen as the sun set.
