Page 110 of Degrees of Engagement

“Frankie invited me to the Dodger game tonight, if you want to go?”

“Sure, that’d be fun. I’ve . . .”

“Never been? Five years in this city and you literally just spent it on campus, didn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“LA doesn’t do anything for you?”

“It’s got its charms, like any other city.”

She tries not to take it personally, but it’s her home and it feels he’s talking about the city and she’s talking about . . . something else.

“Okay, we’ll just drop this stuff back off at Frankie’s.”

When they pull up to her house, Frankie’s car is still in the driveway, which is . . . odd. She’s always up and gone before eight and it’s almost nine.

“Frankie?” she calls, after knocking on the door.

It takes almost a full minute, with Bianca’s stomach in knots while Xavier peers through the front windows, before they hear footsteps and the door unlocking.

“Hey,” Frankie says, dressed for work, but . . . clearly not actually going anywhere, her hair hanging limply down to her shoulders and her face bare of any makeup, eyes red-rimmed.

Bianca furrows her brow. “Are you – are you sick or something?”

“No, I . . . Well, maybe, I don’t know . . .”

She steps back and invites them in without a word, just gestures them toward the door and wanders back into the house.

“What happened?”

“I called in to work,” Frankie says, curling up in a gray armchair in the corner of the living room. “I . . . never do that.”

“You’re not going in?” Bianca asks, sitting on the couch across from her, close enough to reach out and touch her if she needs to.

“I . . .” Frankie starts to respond, but then shakes her head. “I’m going in late. We have a night game.”

Bianca snorts. “You should just take the day.”

“I can’t take the whole day off. That’s not how it works.”

“Okay,” she allows, for now, because clearly hustle culture isn’t what’s bothering her best friend. “So then what’s up?”

“He’s getting married and she’s pregnant.”

“Who? What?” But she already knows the answer before Frankie responds.

“Shane and the girl he was fucking before we split. They’re engaged and she’s pregnant.”

“I’m just gonna . . .” Xavier trails off, waving back over his shoulder with his thumb to the front door. “I can wait in the car.”

“No,” Frankie cuts him off. “You should stay because I need . . . I need a man’s opinion. Bianca will just tell me that it’s all his fault and I . . .”

“Itisall his fault.”

Frankie manages to crack a smile. “See?”

Xavier sits down next to Bianca and his knee knocks against hers in solidarity. “I can weigh in, but I don’t know you that well and I don’t know him at all. I don’t know how much help I can be.”

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