Page 36 of The Ex Effect
“See this?” Frankie asked the couple, pointing at her arms. “There’s a flow, a glide, to the movement.”
My God, Frankie had moves. Fluid, swaying moves, and I wanted more. When Frankie fanned her fingertips across my hips, I fell into a daze. A tender, incredible daze and I didn’t want it to stop. What was happening here? Everything was warming and tingling, the sun making my skin dance, but the fingertips making my body flush. I needed to stop these thoughts, and yet…maybe…no. We couldn’t, right?
“And then, what if you added something like this?” Frankie spun and dipped me. Deep, quick, and for a second, I felt like I was falling. But I wasn’t. I was safe in those arms, and when my eyes fluttered up to meet Frankie’s, her breath hitched. Frankie’s gaze dropped just a second to my mouth, and I felt that look in my toes. Frankie’s eyelashes dipped and grazed her upper cheek, before she scooped me up and stepped a solid two feet away. It was a fleeting moment, but a definite,definitemoment.
“So, there you go.” Frankie cleared her throat as she moved to grab her camera off the bench. Her phone rang and whenshe peeked at it, she tensed and declined the call. “Does that make sense?”
“Yes, I think so.” Tommy stood and wrapped Olivia in his arms.
For the next thirty minutes, Frankie continued snapping photos as I called out instructions. Frankie’s phone rang a few more times, and every time it did, the couple broke their stride. Finally, she put it on silent and tossed it next to her helmet.
The couple started understanding, and the harder I tried to concentrate on them, the more I kept stealing glances at Frankie. This was completely bananas, right? Yes, we had a fleeting moment on this random Tuesday afternoon, but was this flicker, thisrumblingin my belly really warranted? I should let it go.
Or…maybe I could offer to buy Frankie a drink and have a talk? Despite spending almost a month together, we still hadn’t hashed out our past issues. Was it silly to focus on that, or smarter to seek some closure that I clearly still needed? But…then what? Entertain a friendship, maybe more? No. No definitely not. I didn’t want more. I was pretty sure. But that mouth, though. That look that Frankie passed me meant something, and maybe a conversation wouldn’t be the worst thing.
The obnoxious sound of an alarm cut through my thoughts, and both Tommy and Olivia switched from smiling wedding prep mode to medical school mode.
“Thank you so much for this, both of you. We have some work ahead of us, but this feels like a really good foundation.” Tommy grabbed his backpack and water bottle. “We’ll practice at home and make you proud.”
“Or at least make you not cringe with embarrassment.” Olivia chuckled and tossed her bag on her back. “We have to run to get to a lecture in ten minutes, but I’ll email you later.”
“Sounds great,” I said, gathering my bag. “I have faith in you two.” A white lie never hurt anyone.
Frankie, who clearly didn’t actually silence her phone but put it on vibrate, flinched when the phone started buzzing against her helmet. She tapped it off again and packed up her camera into the case.
This was the time. I should ask her out for a drink. A talk, arealtalk. I didn’t know how to say it without making it sound like a date, when my insides were screaming at me to actually ask Frankie for a date.
I couldn’t believe I was going to ask Frankie Lee on a damn date. I’d lost my mind.
I wiggled my toes inside my shoes and waited until Frankie finished packing. As I strolled quietly next to her through the courtyard, I froze. Frankie had turned down my offer for dinner after she fixed my car. God, that was so embarrassing.Do I really want that humiliation again?Definitely not.
But this…this was different. There was alook. An absolutely, without a doubt, clear and definite look. No one tosses that unless they are interested in the other person. “I have some good news. I’m going to make an appointment with Delilah at the florist shop for Thursday afternoon, so we can take that morning to recover from working at the barn.” I grinned, but my smile dropped when Frankie said nothing and stared straight ahead. “Also, we have confirmation from Zoey about the cake tasting—” Frankie’s phone rang again, and I swore to God if Frankie didn’t just answer the call, I was going to answer it myself. Clearly, whoever it was had some sort of emergency, so why didn’t Frankie just pick it up? “Jesus Christ, who keeps calling you?”
I wasn’t sure how to define the look that passed over Frankie’s face. Sadness maybe? Sheepishness? A touch of nausea? But whatever it was, the energy coming from Frankie wasn’t good, and my insides heated.
Frankie stopped walking and focused on the ground. She looked up, faced me, and inhaled a sharp breath. “My wife.”
And the world stopped. No way did I just hear Frankie right. Herwife? Frankie wasmarried? My stomach turned inside itself, and I thought I was going to puke. Oh God, I was the cheater-estof the cheaters. Every childhood Sunday school class my parents forced me to attend smacked me square in the face. The good Lord was looking down on me, shaking his head and wagging a finger. Even though it’d been twenty years since I stepped foot inside of a church, the second I got home, I would scour the parish directories to find a priest on call for confession. “Your…wife?”
Even saying those words out loud cut in a way I didn’t expect. Not an overwhelming jealousy, although some was there. More of a recognition that Frankie truly lived an entirely different life away from me. That, for better or worse, Frankie got over me in a way that I never got over her.
The silence grew between us, with unreadable expressions and a chin dangerously close to trembling. “You…you’re married?” I choked out. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were married.”
Frankie shrugged and resumed walking. “You never asked.”
And now my face flamed. “Really? We’re going to play this game now?” I probably didn’t have the right to feel as upset, or as lied to, as I did right now. But I couldn’t help it. No matter how talented, or how good at dancing, or how many ice creams she may bring me, Frankie hadn’t changed. Not one damn bit. Lies and secrets, just like back then. When Frankie refused to respond, I whipped my keys from my purse and kicked up the pace. “Whatever. I guess you don’t owe me an explanation.”
Frankie maintained the stride and straightened her shoulders. “You’re right. I don’t.”
With that, she spun on her heels and walked away.
FIFTEEN
FRANKIE
Five miles outside of the campus was as far as I could go before I knew I needed to pull over and get off the bike. I pulled into the parking lot of a small diner and killed the engine. Distracted motorcycle driving was dangerous as hell, and no matter how shitty I felt, I didn’t want to die on the road.
The blinking, cheeryFreshly Made Pie!sign was in direct contrast to my insides. I bit my trembling lip, fighting back tears. A while back when I made the fork-in-the-road decision with Morgan, I knew that I first had to take care of something back home. And now I needed to finish this, for good. I exhaled a shaky breath and called back. The phone call lasted less than two minutes, and none of it was a shock.
