Page 22 of Love You A Latte

“Genius, right?” They grin, and I grin back, nodding my head. I think I like this plan.

Frankie asks for my phone, somehow already knowing I haven’t turned it back on yet, and I dig it out of my bag. When I pass it to them, they angle it away from me, and raise an eyebrow in question before continuing.

I nod and turn away, looking out the window as I sip my coffee. I nearly moan at the taste, I have got to ask Frankie what they put in it this morning.

“Alright,” Frankie says, an indeterminable amount of time later, as I spaced out a bit with my eyes closed and the warm sun bathing my face.

I turn back to them, not liking their serious expression.

“I think you should block them,” Frankie says. “I also think…” but they trail off, not finishing the sentence.

“You think, what?” I’m apprehensive, assuming I’m not going to like what they have to say.

“I think you should keep proof of their shit, but I don’t want you to have it. I propose that you let me take some screenshots, send them to myself, then delete all evidence so you never have to see it.” Their words fly out rapid fire and it takes me a moment to catch up.

“Okay,” I say. That’s not so bad. I already told Frankie pretty much everything, and they saw enough when I was in the bathroom last night to know how bad it can get. I don’t want to hide anymore, especially not from Frankie.

“Okay?”

“Yeah,” I shrug.

“You’re much more chill about this than I thought youwould be,” they say, almost suspicious.

“I’m sick of it. I’ve thought about blocking them before, but…” I don’t want to say the next words. I already know how it’ll sound and what Frankie’s response will be, but they wait for me to finish. “It just seems mean, and I feel bad.”

“Setting boundaries and protecting yourself isn’t mean, Addison,” Frankie says, laying their hand on my forearm. “What those two are doing is horrible, and byyouallowing it you’re also harming yourself. Blocking them, that’s not mean. You’re not doing anything wrong. They can still send whatever shit they want to, but they don’t have a right to you. They don’t get unsolicited access. There’s nothing mean or wrong or bad about that.”

“I know. You’re right, and I know that, it’s just hard to actually do it.”

“Do you want me to do it?”

I consider for a moment, tempted to accept, but this feels significant and I want to do it myself. I shake my head.

“No, I want to, but I’d like you to do the other part first.”

“The screenshots?”

“Yeah,” I nod. “But, I don’t want to see it. Maybe you could take my phone for a bit so I’m not as distracted by everything.”

Frankie’s hand squeezes where it still rests on my arm, then they tangle their fingers with mine. I look at their darker bronze skin, a soft contrast against my own sun-tanned coloring, and I like how we look together. I like their hand in mine, our fingers twisted together so there’s no telling where one starts and the other stops. I squeeze back, then meet their steady gaze.

“I’ll take care of it,” Frankie says, standing with a chin jerk toward my coffee. “You focus on getting that beautiful brain online so you can get some work done and we can play later.”

They smirk at the color I’m sure is tinting my cheeks. I don’t know what “play later” means to them, but if it’s anything like what it means to me… yes, please.

~~~

Frankie returns when they catch me leaning back in my chair a few hours later, arms stretched out to my sides. I got a decent amount of work done today, likely due to not having my phone.

“Get your work done?” Frankie asks. They lean one hip against the table next to me.

“For the most part. I’ll have to head back so I have some privacy for phone calls, but that’s it for today.”

Frankie is holding my phone, tapping it lightly against their open palm, and I grimace when my eyes snag on it.

“Ready for this back?”

I take a breath and straighten my shoulders.

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