My stomach was in knots, and I felt like I was about to puke. “What in the hell am I doing here?” I blurted. Oh for Pete’s sake. Very smooth, Frankie.
“I think that’s supposed to be my line,” Brooks laughed.
I pushed off the wall and set the bag at my feet. “Well, then ask it.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m so confused right now. I’ve barely said a word and you’re already pissed off at me.”
Well, shit. He was right. “I’m not pissed.” At least that was what I was trying to tell myself. “At least, not at you.”
“This is different. I don’t think I’ve ever not been at the receiving end of your wrath.”
“I don’t have a wrath.” I wasn't even sure that made sense. “Or whatever.” Like that was going to make things better. I needed to grab the bottle of wine out of the bag and get a little liquid courage.
“Or whatever is right,” he chuckled. He dropped his arms to his sides and took two steps toward me. “So, why are you here?”
“Um, the guys and I were worried about you so I decided to come and see how you were.”
“So you drew the short stick and had to come here?”
Truth be told the only person who knew I was here was Harlyn, though I’m sure she had told Remy once she got home from work. “Yeah.” I snapped my fingers and tried to act like I was put out by having to be here. “I did bring the fixings for lasagna so I figure since I’m here, I might as well make you dinner.”
He looked over his shoulder where Susan had disappeared to. “Uh, really?”
Christy was down there. Whoever the hell she was. “Yeah. Is that okay?”
He turned back to me. His sexy smirk was gone, and he looked like he was ready to push me out the door and lock the door. “Uh, I’m no—”
“Brooks? Susan said you had a visitor.”
The blood drained from Brooks’ face, and his fists clenched at his sides. “Please just be nice to her, Frankie,” he whispered.
My head snapped back, and tried like hell to not be offended by his words. I was a nice person.
Most of the time.
All right, some of the time, but really, the only reason someone would see my bitchy side was because they deserved it. While I wasn’t going to be happy meeting Brooks’ girlfriend, I didn’t plan to be a raging bitch to her. She might get a bit of a cold shoulder from me, but you couldn’t really blame me for that. She had managed to snag the guy before I could.
Not that I wanted to snag Brooks or anything like that.
Here came hot mess Frankie again. I really needed to get my feelings in check. I held up my hand and pressed it to my chest. “Scouts honor, I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Before Brooks could warn me again to be on my best behavior, the woman who I assumed was Christy walked into the foyer and stood next to Brooks.
If I had ever wondered what Brooks would look like as a woman, all I had to do was look at the one standing next to him.
Don’t get me wrong, Brooks wasn’t feminine, and Christy wasn’t boyish looking, but you know what I meant. They had the same blue eyes, same bowed lips, and the color of their hair was exact.
Here I had been ready to duke it out with Christy, Brooks’ girlfriend, and all along, she was his mom.
Thank God I didn’t call her his girlfriend before she had walked in. I would have been opening my mouth and inserting my foot.
“Frankie, this is my mom.”
*
Chapter Twenty-Three
Brooks
Well, this wasn’t exactly what I had planned for the night.
“It’s so great to meet you. Brooks told us a story about you last night at dinner that had Susan and me rolling with laughter.” Mom looked down at the bag at Frankie’s feet. “Susan mentioned you brought dinner.”
Frankie looked down at the bag like she didn’t even know it was there. “Oh, I did.” She grabbed the bag off the floor and looked in it. “It’s just lasagna.”
Mom moaned and moved toward Frankie. “I haven’t had lasagna in ages, and I think the last time I did have it was when in a restaurant which probably wasn’t as good as what you’re going to make.” She grabbed the bag from Frankie and smiled at her. “It’s so nice you decided to come by.”
“I’ll get the oven on,” Susan called from the kitchen.
“You two talk for a bit. Susan and I will get everything out of the bag.” Mom walked into the kitchen and threw a wink my way. “She’s gorgeous,” she said loudly to Susan.
“Ah, sorry about that. Mom doesn’t really know what subtle is.”
Frankie’s eyes were still on where Mom had just walked. “That was your mom.”
“Uh, yeah. Last I checked, she was.”
Her eyes snapped to me. “If I knew she was here, I wouldn’t have come over. I didn’t mean to barge in on your time with her.”
I chuckled and shoved my hands in my pockets. “She lives with me, Frankie. You’re not interrupting anything.”
“Oh,” she mumbled. “So does that mean your dad…” she trailed off frantically looking around.
I didn’t even think Frankie had ever met the guy, and she was terrified of him. “He’s not here. I haven’t seen him since he told me he was leaving my mom because she was holding him back from the life he’s meant to be living.”
Frankie’s jaw dropped. “Say what?” she gasped. “I had no idea your parents separated. Hell, I don’t think anyone knows.”
And that was the way I wanted it to be. I knew that it wasn’t going to stay secret for long since Dad already had a chick he was moving into the house, but it was nice it hadn’t gotten out yet. “There’s a lot of people who don’t know, Frankie.”
“This is what you meant when you said you had a lot on your shoulders.”
“Yeah, that’s one of the things that have been distracting me.”
“There’s more?”
I really didn’t want to go into what all was wrong with my mom. She had been good since I had gotten back from the Sundown Nationals, and I had just been sticking to the house to get her into some kind of routine. “You think maybe we could talk about this not standing in the doorway?”
She looked around. “I think it’s technically called a foyer.”
She would be a smartass. “Whatever the hell it is.”
Her eyes connected with mine. “Can I ask just one question?”
I nodded and braced for whatever could possibly come out of her mouth. “Did you really think I was going to be rude or mean to your mom?”
I had hurt her when I had said that. I could see it in her eyes that she took what I had said to heart. “That’s not what I meant to say, Frankie. I just know you say whatever comes to mind without thinking. There’s some things going on with my mom, and I just needed to make sure you didn’t say anything to upset her.”
“But that’s your mom,” she insisted. “You really think I’m that big of a bitch I wouldn’t respect her?”
Shit, shit, shit. I had been worried that she was going to be mean when really I had been the one to be mean. “No, I don’t think that, Frankie. It’s just that…” I ran my fingers through my hair and looked up at the ceiling. “She’s got early onset dementia, and I never know what is going to trigger her. I couldn’t exactly blurt all that out before she walked in. I’m sorry. I don’t think you’re a bitch. I don’t think you’re mean. I just know you say it like it is, and I like that, but with my mom, I just don’t know how she would handle that.” I dropped my chin to my chest, and my shoulders sagged.
I closed my eyes and sighed. An odd sense of relief settled over me, and it felt like I could breathe again. Damn, that felt good to get out.
My eyes snapped open at the sound of Frankie’s hurried footsteps. She launched herself at me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered over and over.
“Doll, it’s okay.” I couldn’t be mad at her. I wasn’t mad at her. The
re wasn’t any way for her to know about my mom.
I felt wetness on my neck, and she sniffled. “I was such a bitch to you,” she sobbed.
“Frankie, doll, stop crying.”
“I’m not crying,” she hiccuped. “I just have something in my eye.”
“Such a hardass you can’t even admit when you’re crying,” I chuckled. I wrapped my arms tightly around her and buried my face in her hair. “I’m glad you came over.” I hadn’t realized I was suffocating staying at the house.
I loved being with my mom, but it was like I was always waiting for the shoe to drop on the next time her memory slipped.
“I again came over here thinking I was going to sling a wrench at your head because you were ignoring me.” She tilted her head back, and I lifted my head to look down at her.
“Was there a wrench in that bag?”
She shook her head and snorted. “No. I was going to improvise and throw the nearest heavy object.”
“I’m gonna have to glue everything down when you come over. I can’t have you with easy access to things that could maim me.”
Her face softened, and I wiped a tear rolling down her cheek. “I’m really sorry about your mom and dad, Brooks. That can’t be easy to deal with on top of her memory problems.”
“I always knew my dad was a dick. I guess I just never thought he was that huge of a dick that he would leave my mom for something she had no control over.” I caressed her cheek and watched her bite her bottom lip. “It’s for the best that she’s here with me.”
“You really are a good guy,” she whispered.
“You’d do the same thing for your mom, Frankie.”
She smiled and nodded. “She was my best friend. She always told me it was her and me against my brothers and Dad.”
“I bet she was right. I’ve met your brothers, and I have to assume they are just like your dad.”
“You would be right,” she laughed. “She always told people I was a gift from God to help her battle against her houseful of boys.”
“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we? You don’t have your mom anymore, and mine is fading away.”
“But she's still here, Brooks. Just like I still have my mom with me. I’ll always have my memories, and so will you.”
I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against hers. “I don’t know how you do it, but you always come in like a freight train and just make everything better.”
“It’s a gift,” she whispered. “Though don’t let anyone know. Most just think I’m a bitch.”
I opened my eyes. “No, they just don’t wanna take the time to really get to know you.”
“Oh, so that’s what this is. You getting to know me?”
I slightly nodded my head. “Yep. And it all started with you chucking a wrench at my head.” I closed the gap between us and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “The day that changed everything.”
“An almost decapitation will do that to you.”
“Such a smartass.”
She reached up and threaded her fingers through my hair. “You like it?” she asked.
“Oh, I more than like it, doll.”
“Then maybe you should kiss me again?”
I brushed another kiss to her lips, and she moaned lightly when I pulled my lips a hair away from her’s. “Like that?”
“Yes, but more,” she pleaded. She tugged gently on my hair to pull me close, but I didn’t move.
I loved Frankie’s strong personality, but she wasn’t going to run this. I was in charge right now. “Yeah? You want more?”
She bit her bottom lip and tilted her head slightly. “Yes.”
“You’re so beautiful, Frankie.” She gasped at my words, and I pressed my lips to her before she could spew some bullshit about me being full of it.
Her taste was intoxicating. The moment my lips had touched hers, I had a pretty good fucking idea of what I wanted with Frankie.
Her in my bed.
I was going to have to settle for stealing a kiss from her for now. “Doll, my mom is literally twenty feet away.”
“Do you want to go out to my car?” she mumbled. She followed my retreating lips with hers and managed to pull me in again.
Not that it really took much to persuade me to kiss her again. I was hanging on by a thread to not take her up on her offer to go out to her car.
“We gotta stop, doll.”
She whimpered against my lips and shook her head. “No.”
“Later,” I promised. I knew my mom and Susan weren’t going to stay quiet in the kitchen for long.
She pulled back and rested her hands on my shoulders. “Fine, but remember I’ve got a hell of an arm on me, Brooks.” She patted my chest and strolled into the kitchen.
I glanced over my shoulder and watched her lush ass walk away. Now I could blatantly watch her without feeling like a pervert sneaking looks at her.
Frankie was a tough-as-nails chick who didn’t take shit from anyone, but I also knew deep down she had a heart of gold who didn’t want to hurt anyone.
She was the perfect blend of spunk and sweet, and she was going to be all mine.
*
Chapter Twenty-Four
Frankie
“It’s done.”
“Oh good, I’ve been smelling it cook for the past forty-five minutes.” Susan walked into the kitchen, straight to the steaming pan of lasagna.
Brooks had been sitting at the kitchen island nursing a beer and talking to his mom while I cooked. “Well, it’s time to chow down.” I handed Susan a plate and nodded toward the platter of garlic bread. “Grab a couple of those, and I’ll cut you a slab of lasagna.”
Brooks laughed as Susan trotted over to the garlic bread and giggled like a schoolgirl when I set a huge piece of lasagna on her plate. “I don’t know why you two are sitting there like Frankie didn’t just cook the most delicious meal known to man.” She held her plate close to her chest and scooted to sit next to Christy.
I held up the spatula and pointed down at the pan. “You two just going to sit there, or are you going to want some of this?”
Brooks put his arm around his mom and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “I’ll get you a plate, Ma.”
She patted his arm and nodded. “Make sure I get a bigger piece than Susan.”
I was learning that while Brooks’ mom was sweet and quiet, she also had a bit of a feisty streak in her. “Don’t worry, Christy, I have the perfect corner piece saved for you.”
Brooks grabbed a plate and held it out. “I see how it is. My mom gets the best piece, and I’m left with whatever scraps you have left.”
I rolled my eyes and plopped Christy’s piece down. “Seeing as there is more than half of the pan left, I think you’ll have more than a few scraps.”
He held out another plate and smiled. “I’ll take mine right now seeing as I’ve seen how much you Jensen’s can eat in one sitting.”
“You are such a dick,” I laughed. I scraped the small pieces and parts that oozed out and scooped it out onto his plate. “Enjoy,” I smirked.
Susan crowed in delight, and Christy had a huge smile on her face. “I think she might be the one to give you a run for your money, Brooks.”
He set the two plates down in front of Christy and where he had been sitting and grabbed the whole platter of bread. “I think you might be right, Mom, but I’m going to be the one with all of the bread until she stops holding the lasagna hostage.”
He knew my weakness. He had taken the carbs and wasn’t going to give them up until I filled his plate.
So he wanted more, did he? I grabbed his plate, walked back over to the pan, and set it down. I cut a piece half the size I had given Susan, and set it on the plate.
“That’s still not enough,” he called.
Oh, I had a feeling it was going to be more than enough. I tugged a hot pad onto my hand and picked up the pan. I walked around the island, set the pan where his plate had been, and stuck his fork in i
t. “How about that for a big piece?”
I chucked the hot pad at his head and dove to grab the platter of bread from his hand. He ducked to miss the hot pad, and I was able to get my hands on the platter to wrestle it away from him.
“Ah ha!” I shouted with the platter raised above my head. “I am victorious!”
Christy and Susan roared with laughter, and Brooks just crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “You’re gonna pay for that later, doll.”
I rolled my eyes and flipped him off. “Bring it.”
Brooks looked at his mom and shook his head. “I can’t take you anywhere, can I?”
I put away my finger and felt my cheeks heat. “Sorry, Christy.”
She scoffed and waved her hand at me. “You have no idea how many times I flipped Brooks’ dad off behind his back. It gets kind of fun after a while to see how many times you can do it before they see.”
“Mom,” Brooks scolded her. “He would have flipped his lid if he caught you.”
She rolled her eyes and picked up her fork. “Before I had my stroke, your father cowered in his boots if he pushed me too far. He just never let it happen when you were around.”
Brooks snagged a piece of bread off the platter and winked at me. He sat down next to his mom and looked down at the pan. “If you think I won’t eat my dinner out of this, then you are sorely mistaken, Miss Jensen.”
I grabbed a fork from the drawer and wound up like I was going to chuck it at him. Susan gasped, and a look of delight crossed Christy’s face.
Brooks and I were delivering on being entertaining tonight.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, doll,” he warned.
I lowered my arm and gently tossed the fork in front of him. “I kind of like you not bleeding.” I grabbed a plate and handed it to him. “Though you do test my patience.”
He handed me the fork I tossed but didn’t let it go when I grabbed it. “I think the whole world might test that patience, doll.”
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