Page 59 of Craving Francesca

“I’mbeing an asshole?” Frankie laughed humorlessly. “You’re sitting here waiting on my couch to what? Chastise me? For not being home when you thought I should be home? For not answering my phone for a few hours?”

“We were freaked the fuck out,” Myla shot back. “Lou’s been trying to get a hold of you all day!”

“And I already apologized to Lou.”

“She wasn’t the only one who was worried.”

“Well, I’m sorry about that. She shouldn’t have even called you.”

“You should’ve answered your fucking phone.”

“I was asleep.”

“Drop the bullshit,” Myla said flatly, looking over at me. “We all know you weren’t sleeping.”

Frankie practically shook she was so angry. Taking a step forward, I set a hand on her hip to remind her I was there.

“What the fuck areyoudoing here?” Frankie spat at Cian.

“Don’t talk to him like that!” Myla yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Me? You’re the one who’s ambushing me in my own fucking house after I’ve had a really shitty day already.”

Myla looked at me. “Yikes, that must’ve stung.”

My hand slid further around Frankie’s waist as she took a step toward Myla.

“Since you’resoconcerned,” Frankie ground out. “I had a doctor’s appointment this morning, and I needed someone to pick me up, so I called Gray. We got lunch, and then I passed out at his house all afternoon.”

“Why couldn’t you drive yourself?” Lou asked in confusion. I met her eyes and shook my head.

“Good question, Lou,” Frankie said sarcastically. “Because when they give you meds that’ll make you groggy, they won’t let you drive afterward.”

“Why didn’t you call one of us?” Myla asked, gesturing between herself and Lou.

“Maybe because I didn’t want to deal with all of this bullshit.” Frankie threw her hands in the air.

“Oh, your friends caring about you is so hard, right?” Myla spat. “Poor Frankie.”

My jaw tightened, and I looked at Cian. I was all for letting Frankie fight her own battles, but they were reaching a point where I was going to step in. There was only so much she could take in one day.

“Fuck you,” Frankie yelled. “Go the fuck home.”

“I cannot believe this shit!” Myla’s hands curled into fists.

“Myla,” Lou said in warning, clearly picking up on something that Myla wasn’t seeing.

“You shouldn’t put up with this crap,” Myla said to Lou. She turned back to Frankie. “I know we usually let you do it—but you can’t just treat everyone like shit and then expect them to come crawling back for more. When people are worried about you, the correct response is to tell them you’re sorry for making them go out of their minds for hours thinking you were in a ditch somewhere.”

“It’s all about you,” Frankie shot back. “Always about Myla. How Myla feels about things. If it’s going to upset Myla. Well, maybe for once, I didn’t want to worry about your feelings.”

“Great,” Myla replied emotionlessly.

“Baby,” Cian murmured, rising to his feet.

“I’m sorry that I didn’t want my abortion to be aboutyou,” Frankie said, her tone just as flat.

Myla took a step back like she’d been slapped.

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