Mack Daddy(37)

Shutting my eyes again, I let those words sink in. “Where do we start?”

“We get the hard part over with. We start by talking about what happened the last night we were together. And what happened after.”





PAST


The last few days of the end of the semester came way too quickly.

It was Friday, and my flight back to D.C. for the summer was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Frankie and I had decided to blow off work, since it would be my last full day in Boston before we wouldn’t see each other until fall. Even though we weren’t talking about our impending separation, there was a certain melancholy in the air. We were both being fairly quiet during breakfast.

Moses had already left earlier in the morning to head back to Ohio for the summer. Tonight would be the first night that he’d ever left Frankie and me completely alone. I felt anxious, like we really needed to get the f*ck out of the apartment before I said or did something stupid.

“I think we should go out and enjoy the city, stay out until late. Fuck everything we’re supposed to be doing. It’s my last day, and my flight isn’t until mid-afternoon tomorrow.”

“What did you want to do?”

“We could go down to Newbury Street, get something to eat, look around. Maybe we could hit one of the clubs on Lansdowne later.”

“You’re usually more of a homebody. I’m surprised you want to go clubbing.”

“I used to go out all the freaking time until I started hanging out with my homebody roommate.”

She threw her napkin at me. “Don’t blame me for your lameness.”

“Remember when you first moved in? I don’t think I’d ever eaten a meal at the apartment until you started cooking for me.”

“Is my cooking that good?”

“It’s good, but I stick around for the company.”

Frankie blushed like she often did whenever I complimented her. “Well, the economy will love you again someday when I’m not around anymore.”

Things suddenly got quiet. When I’m not around anymore. Frankie’s assumption was valid. I’d never given her any indication that I would leave Torrie. But a lot had changed recently, and honestly, I could no longer envision a scenario where Frankie ever disappeared altogether from my life. I couldn’t stomach the thought of her dating other guys anymore, either. I’d lucked out that after Emmett disappeared, there hadn’t been anyone else. If I could barely hide my jealousy then, it would have been impossible now.

I banged my mug down on the table. “Come on…it’s my last day. I don’t want to waste it at home. I feel like doing something crazy.”

Her face perked up. “You know what I’ve wanted to do for a very long time?”

“What?”

“I want to get a tattoo.”

I laughed. “You want a tat? Where?”

“Well, it would be small and something I could easily hide. I was thinking either my ankle or my lower back.”

Fuck. Her lower back. The thought of that was so sexy to me that I could feel myself getting hard just thinking about it. She looked so innocent, but Frankie definitely had a wild side.

“Your lower back?”

“Yeah. Why?”

Biting my bottom lip, I grinned. “You’re gonna get a tramp stamp, Frankie Jane?”

“You think it’s slutty to get one there?”

“I think it’s hot, actually. I think something subtle would look nice against your skin.”

“Maybe I’ll get one while we’re out. I’m feeling oddly impulsive today.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Maybe because you’re leaving,” she said. “It’s putting me in a weird mood.”

“Me, too. I’ve been in a funk all week.”

She looked hesitant to say something else.

“What, Frankie?”

“It’s gonna be really weird not having you here.”

“I know.”

“It’s so strange when I think back to when I first moved in. I used to prefer living alone. Now, I’m not sure how I’m going to go back to that.”

“It’s only a couple of months. It’ll fly by,” I said, even though I was probably even more freaked out about my leaving than she was.

“A lot can happen in a couple of months,” she said.

She was right. An unwelcome thought entered my mind. What if Frankie met someone this summer? She didn’t want to be alone; she’d likely seek out company so she didn’t have to be. What if I came back and had to see her with some guy? What if nothing was ever the same again? A summer was only two months, but two months could change the course of an entire lifetime. What if today was the last day that things would be like this between us? My pulse was starting to race.

We ended up heading down to Newbury Street that afternoon and planting ourselves at an outdoor bar. The sun was hitting Frankie’s hair just right, making it look more like the color of fire than normal. I didn’t know what it was about that moment, but something told me I would remember it forever, just sitting here watching the sunlight hit her hair.

Frankie was working through her burger and fries, seemingly unaware that I was staring at her. I was feeling happy to be out with her, but sad at the same time, because I still couldn’t stop thinking about having to leave her for the summer. The fact that she’d be totally alone worried me, especially knowing she’d be doing laundry by herself down in that dingy basement.