Page 41 of Love You A Latte

ADDISON

I shriek again as the truck swerves and dips, hitting a massive bump in the rocky sand of the desert and narrowly avoiding a saguaro before finally coming to a harsh stop. My body rocks forward and then slams against the backrest, the seatbelt tightening against me as one of Frankie’s arms flings across my body in a valiant effort at keeping me safe.

“Are you okay?” they say, chest heaving for breath as they turn to me.

Their eyes search my body as their hands start patting every inch they can reach.

“Holy shit,” I say, panting.

I hold a hand up in front of me and it trembles as adrenaline courses through my veins.

“Addison!” Frankie’s hands bracket my face, turning my eyes to theirs as they search my head.

“Yeah!” I say. “Yeah, I’m fine. You? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Frankie says, running a hand over my hair to check for bumps as I realize with dawning horror and euphoria what just happened.

“Holy shit!” I yell, a manic grin spreading across my face.

“What?” Frankie says, panic lacing their voice. Their gaze searches me frantically, but they freeze when it lands on my smile. “Addison?”

“I got it!”

“Sorry?”

“I got the job! The email! Oh my god, I almost killed us, I’m so sorry,” I say.

My emotions are going haywire, jumping from thrilled to horrified and back to ecstatic, then to doubt. My eyebrows pull in as I try to recall the email and can’t picture it clearly. My memory of the last couple minutes is all fuzzy chaos.

“I mean, I think I got the job.”

I start patting around, searching the seat and floor for my phone. Frankie calls it when I can’t find it, and we hear it ring from deep under the seat. I bend over and snag it, then open my email again, my eyes searching for those magic words.

When I look up from my phone, biting my lip against the massive grin threatening to take over my entire face, Frankie is wearing a look I can only describe as cautiously hopeful.

“You…” They pause to clean their throat. “You really got it?”

I nod, my head bouncing so hard I can’t see straight. Or maybe that’s the tears starting to blur my vision.

“I got it,” I whisper, then turn my phone so Frankie can see it.

They clasp one hand under mine, steadying my shaky hold as they read. I watch their face transform. As the doubt turns to confidence, the caution turns to eager anticipation, the hope turns to joy and pride.

“You got it,” they say.

Rich, hazel eyes, glowing in the desert sun, look up from my phone and snag me in their depths. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

Frankie drops the phone in my lap and yanks me in for a hug. “You fucking got it! I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Frankie,” I say, wiping beneath my eyes before the tears can fall. I’ll never have to see either of my horrible exes again. I don’t have to even think their names if I don’t want to; with this transfer, I shouldn’t have to work or correspond with him ever again.

On top of that, Frankie and I can be together.

“Oh my god,” I say, my breath coming faster again as those thoughts settle in. “Holy shit.”

“Addison?”

“We can do it,” I say, beaming at them, the tears in my eyes for a completely different reason now.

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