Page 92 of Rules, Roses, and Rivals
A long sigh tore out of me, but it did nothing to ease the weight.
After draining the coffee, I washed out my cup, then checked Mom’s messages. She wasstillaway on business and wouldn’t be back until Wednesday or Thursday.
Shocker.
I would need to do the shopping. There were a couple of things she wanted me to take care of, including dropping a couple of her dresses off at the cleaners. Rolling my eyes, I just sent a thumbs up to her so she would know I’d read them. Somehow, I doubted she was going to care much about a response right now. Done, I sent a message to Mathieu to let him know I was on my way.
By the time I made it outside, the day was already warm enough to make me sweat. The inside of my car was a damn furnace but I rolled all the windows down so I could let it out while the air conditioner coughed up some cooler air. Summer in Texas, even late summer, was its own personal circle of hell. If not for swimming pools, water parks, and ice-cold malls, it would be unbearable.
Mathieu was outside when I pulled up. It was funny, he looked cool and crisp like the weather didn’t faze him. Grinning, he slid right into the passenger seat and leaned over to cup my chin with his hand. A brush of a kiss, light as butterfly wings, and then another, firmer kiss that had me curling my toes in my shoes.
“Bonjour chérie,” he murmured against my lips before nuzzling another swoon worthy kiss.
“Bonjour,” I answered with a little smile.
“Good day?” he asked as he pulled on his seat belt.
“It’s definitely better now.”
With the door closed and the a/c chasing out the swirl of warmer air he brought in with him, I could enjoy the crispness of his cologne. He didn’t crowd me or reach for my hand, just settled back while I started driving.
It had only been a few weeks but it was already familiar and easy. That felt a little dangerous. Shaking that uncertainty off, I glanced over at him when we reached the light at the entrance to his host family’s subdivision. “Where are we going?”
“I found a place,” he said, a smile curving his lips. “It’s a bit odd, but according to the reviews, it serves Vietnamese coffee and waffles shaped like dinosaurs.”
Odd? I blinked. “That sounds like a fever dream.”
Mathieu chuckled. “The reviews were all positive, though they mentioned the owner wears the obscenely bright Crocs and likes to speak in puns.”
A real snort escaped me. “And you’re sure all the reviews werepositive?”
“Want me to put in the address?”
“Please.” I handed him my phone after I unlocked it. The silence that followed as my phone directed me out to the highway. The place wasn’t close, and I was okay with that. We had time.
The silence that followed wasn’t awkward, though. It was… calm. Like we’d both earned a breath after surviving the storm.
Still, I had to say it.
“Mathieu?”
“Yes?”
“About last night.”
He didn’t flinch. Just waited.
“I’m sorry it got messy.”
He shook his head. “Youdon’t owe me an apology. Jake does. The rest of them do.”
“But I didn’t want that for you,” I said quietly. “To be dragged into my drama.”
I took the onramp and Mathieu waited for me to merge with the traffic as I floored it before he answered.
“You’re notdrama, Frankie,” he said. “You’re someone worth showing up for.” Then he smiled—small, quiet, but honest.
And I felt it all the way to my ribs. I didn’t answer right away. It just didn’t seem fair. For him. “I want to say I don’t know why they are behaving that way.” But that would be a lie. “A few months ago, I had no idea that they chased off any guy who might have asked me out.”
