Page 28 of Amore
She sighed on the other end of the phone. “Of course I do.”
“Nothing is going on with me and Frankie. I’m just here to make sure some asshole doesn’t break in again.”
I wasn’t sure that was entirely true.
9
FRANKIE
I triedto focus on making the spaghetti, but I was also listening to Luke’s phone call. From what I could tell, his girlfriend was pissed, and I didn’t blame her. I would be angry too if he were my boyfriend.I was imagining Luke as my boyfriend?It had been years since I’d envisioned him as mine. I needed to stop. He had a girlfriend, and I was causing problems despite what he’d said before.
Turning up the music, I stirred the meat in the pan. Once it was browned, I drained the fat, then mixed it with a jar of pasta sauce and a sprinkle of sugar. The water started to boil, so I put the dry noodles in the hot water.
The back door opened, and Amore rushed to greet Luke as though he were his new best friend. Luke immediately petted my dog’s head.
“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes.”
Luke stopped rubbing Amore’s head. “You made it all?”
I held up a finger and opened the oven door. The garlic bread was almost done. “Yep. Just a few more minutes on the bread and noodles.”
“I thought you didn’t know how to cook?” He set my laptop on the island.
“Only this meal.”
“We made more than spaghetti and meat sauce back in the day. Surely you know more?”
I lifted a shoulder. “I’ve honestly never tried, and you only taught me how to make my favorite meal.”
“Then we shall fix that.” He winked.
I smiled and turned back to the oven, taking the bread out before it burned. “Everything okay with your girlfriend?”
“It’s fine.”
I didn’t press him further. Instead, I said, “Mind draining the pasta?”
“Of course.”
Grabbing my phone, I switched the music to “That’s Amore” and pressed play. Turning up the volume, the song surrounded us as we sang along to the words and finished preparing dinner. Luke laughed at me when I sang the wrong lyrics.
“You still don’t know the words?”
“I know the words,” I confirmed. “But mine are better.”
We chuckled again. Taking our plates and fresh glasses of wine, we sat at my dining room table. “I’ve never sat here before.” I twirled noodles onto my fork.
“Really?”
“I’ve only lived here about six months, and I was filming for a few of those. Plus, takeout is better on the couch in front of the TV.” I stuck the bite into my mouth.
“I can’t give you shit because I eat in front of my TV too.”
“Then why the hell are we sitting here?” I questioned, swallowing.
“It’s your house. I was just following you.”
“Come on.” I picked up my plate. “I have a movie for you to watch.”
