Page 80 of Craving Francesca

“Can’t believe I missed it,” Bas said once it was just the two of us. “How the fuck did I miss it?”

“Don’t know,” I replied. I didn’t have it in me to console him. If he’d pulled his head out of Lou’s ass for two seconds, he would’ve noticed.

“Fuck,” he spat. Turning, he punched the brink. Once, twice, a third time.

“Don’t break your hand,” I ordered as I walked away. “You’ll be useless in the garage.”

I had no sympathy or patience for the men who called themselves her best friends and then let her wither away. None.

Chapter 9

Frankie

“Hey, come here,”I muttered, grabbing Lou by the arm so I could tug her across the grass.

“What’s up?” she asked happily.

“So, Gray’s going to take me out on the bike—”

“Oh, fun!”

“—we’ll be back sometime next week.”

“Wait, what?” she looked at me in confusion.

“We’re going to take the week off.”

“When the hell did you decide that? You’re going with Gray? I didn’t realize that was still a thing that was happening.” She shook her head. “I’m so lost right now.”

“We decided today,” I replied, glancing at my phone. It was five o’clock. I needed to get home soon if I was going to be ready by seven.

“So, what, you’re together now? And you’re taking a trip?”

“We’re friends. He noticed that work’s been wearing me down and asked if I wanted to take off for a while.”

“Okay,” she said slowly, still completely confused. “I mean, can you just do that?”

“I’m doing it,” I replied, feeling more sure of it as I tried to explain. “I’ll deal with whatever when we get back.”

“Okay.” She looked at me closely. “If you think it’s a good idea.”

“I do.” I nodded firmly. I was excited for the first time in…so long I couldn’t even remember. “Could you run me back to the house real quick so I can pack?”

“Now?”

“Yeah, he’s picking me up at seven.”

“You’re leavingtonight?”

“No time like the present.” I shrugged.

Lou was silent for a few moments. “All right.”

I didn’t bother saying goodbye to anyone. They’d be full of questions and try to convince me to stay later. I’d see them all soon enough, I was sure. Within minutes, I was in the passenger seat of Lou’s car as we headed back to our house.

“You’re sure that this is a good idea?” Lou asked tentatively as we pulled into the driveway.

I sat for a moment, wondering how to explain it. She wouldn’t understand unless I told her the whole truth. Without it, the decision to just take off seemed impulsive and reckless. I’d been accused of being both of those things, usually I took a little pride in it, but when it came to important things I’d never been a risk taker. Lou knew that.

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