“Oh, hi!” A woman, I assume is Frankie’s mom enters the kitchen. “You must be Zeke!”
She doesn’t even hesitate as she walks up to me and wraps her arms around my shoulders.
“We’re so glad to have you here.”
I look up at Mr. Young before glancing at Frankie. Both have sneers on their faces.
You’re the only one, I mutter in my head.
“Frankie! Come say hello to Zeke,” Mrs. Young urges.
“I have homework,” she says before bolting up the stairs.
“She’s a little awkward,” her mom explains on a rough exhale. “She’ll come around.”
I’m counting on it.
“Don’t bother her,” Mr. Young interjects. “I think distance is a good thing.”
Mrs. Young scoffs as she holds out her hand, an indication for me to stand.
“You have free run of the house,” she begins as she pauses in the foyer so I can grab my bag. “We ask that you stay out of our room, but other than that—”
“Stay out of Frankie’s room, too. Teenage girls need privacy,” her dad hollers from the kitchen at our backs.
Mrs. Young rolls her eyes. “As I was saying, free run of the house. We leave Frankie money to buy groceries, so just let her know if there’s anything you need from the store. Your room is up here.”
I follow her upstairs, my body warming the closer I get to the girl that headed this way earlier.
“Both Paul and I head out again tomorrow, and I’m so sorry we won’t be around longer to help you get settled.”
“It’s fine,” I assure her as she swings open the first door in the hallway. “Here we are. The sheets are fresh. I wrote down the Wi-Fi code on that note. The satellite has nearly every channel.”
If her dad was up here, I imagine he’d warn me not to order porn.
“The bathroom is through there. It’s a jack and jill, so just make sure you lock Frankie’s door before you use it and unlock it before leaving.”
My ears perk up with the news. I don’t even have to sneak around in the halls to visit her. I have full access right through the bathroom. Life is looking up right now.
“Well,” she eyes my single duffel bag, “I’ll let you unpack.”
My bedroom door closes softly behind her. The room is simple, clearly decorated for a guest room without much flare or character, but the bed looks soft and it’s clean.
I stand in the middle of the room for a full five minutes before the pull toward her room gets to be too much. Certain her mom is back downstairs, I cross the room and enter the bathroom, not even pausing before reaching for the doorknob that leads to the other bedroom.
Shoving open the door, I don’t even bother to look around the room, my eyes landing on Frankie the second I step inside.
She’s not working on homework like she told her parents. She’s lying flat on her back on her bed, just staring up at the ceiling. She’s absolutely stunning, and there’s something carnal going on in my body at the sight of her surrounded by fluffy pillows and a cream-colored comforter.
I want to spread myself on top of her and take my time with her, give her everything she deserved when she was back in Utah, but then she opens her mouth.
“I’m sorry to hear about your dad.” Sadness fills her eyes as she turns on her side to look over at me. “Is that why you were so upset that night?”
That night.
We both know what she’s talking about. It was somehow the best night and the worst night of my life all rolled into one, and just the mention of my dad makes me want to hurt someone, her particularly since she’s the only one around to lash out at.
“That night was a mistake,” I hiss as I glare at her. She doesn’t seem shocked by my outburst, and what does that say about me if even my anger is predictable? “Never bring it up again.”
I spin around, slamming her door into the bathroom and not giving a damn if her dad runs up the stairs and demands that I leave his home. Staying in the same house with her is going to be impossible when I want to lash out at her and at the same time pull her to my chest and press my mouth to hers.Chapter 34Frankie
“No,” I tell Piper, not making eye contact with her. “I’m not interested.”
“But it’s the annual back-to-school bonfire,” she whines.
Dalton squeezes her hand, and I’m doing my best not to feel weird about him being in my bedroom.
“And?” I challenge. “We’ve never gone before.”
“This year is different.”
“Not for me,” I counter.
The bullying hasn’t been bad. Not once has someone tried to trip me in the halls or shot an insult my way. Bronwyn seems quite content to give me vindictive looks as she snuggles closer to Zeke every chance she gets and believe me, that’s enough to make my blood boil.