Page 44 of Christmas in Coconut Creek

Frankie <3:Nice names. Leo is the oldest?

Ophelia:Yup, just turned fourteen. What about you?

Frankie <3:I have a younger sister, Addy

Ophelia:Does she live in Coconut Creek too?

Frankie <3:She’s down near Miami with my mom

I felt an irking need to ask him more about his family, about the father he didn’t mention, but decided against prying too deeply. Nat reached over and put a bubbling champagne glass down next to me on the table with a wink and then reclined backwards.

Ophelia:Do you visit a lot?

Frankie <3:I try to when I can. The last couple months have been kind of hectic

Ophelia:Too busy trying to get laid in the airport

Frankie <3:I’m playing the long game

The tension of home and work unfurled from my body and relaxation settled in with every minute as Nat and I glided across the spa from comfy chair to cushioned table.

The rough hands of a massage therapist pressed into my back like leaded weights, and I groaned involuntarily. Modesty was not the policy where beauty care was concerned, especially not in this high-end spa where it almost felt rudenotto get naked. I was entirely too exposed with my tits squished underneath me against the linen-sheeted table and more than a healthy helping of my ass crack on display.

I’d gone to the same waxer for ten years back home in Pine Ridge, and a level of trust had to be built and nurtured over that full decade before I even felt comfortable showing that much hole to a fluorescent light.

Ophelia:What’s your sign?

Frankie <3:Aries

Ophelia:I knew you were a drama queen

Frankie <3:Do you really buy into all that shit?

Ophelia:Of course I do. I’m a textbook Libra—social, perfectionist, and I’m hilarious

Frankie <3:And vain, so very vain

Ophelia:Confident

Frankie <3:What else does the star thing say about me?

Ophelia:You’re passionate, stubborn, don’t mind putting work into your relationships

Frankie <3:I’m not stubborn

Ophelia:You enjoy a challenge

Frankie <3:Accurate. What does it say about how I am in bed?

Ophelia:Disappointing, quick on the trigger, selfish

I snorted to myself as I sent the message. My face was becoming numb against the half-moon pillow it was cradled in, and my arms under the massage table tingled like television static.

Frankie <3:I’m gonna make you eat those words, sweetheart

I began to reply but another text came through first.

Frankie <3:And maybe those pretty red panties I stole too so your friend doesn’t have to hear it all the way down the hall

---