Page 18 of Amore
Present Day
“Not everyone losestheir virginity to their first love.”
I was dumbfounded, too stunned to find words to reply like a normal human being.
“So, anyway,” she continued. “I didn’t know how you felt, and I freaked out.”
“You freaked out?” I grunted sarcastically. “You left me in the treehouse and chose to avoid me when you visited your parents.”
“I know.”
I leaned back in the chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “And you came back a few months later for Thanksgiving and didn’t bother to say anything to any of us. Let alone respond to any of my calls or texts.”
“I know. I was embarrassed.” She looked out the window again.
I stared at her for a few beats and then it hit me. “You hated it. Hated what we did.”
“No!” she boomed, looking back at me. She lowered her voice. “It was what I wanted, and I would never want to change what happened that night.”
“But it makes no sense. Why did you stop speaking to me and hide when you came to town?”
“I was still in love with you, and it was easier on my heart because I knew that if I saw you, it would be awkward, and I didn’t want that. I wanted to remember that night as …” Frankie trailed off, then shrugged, looking back out the window. “I don’t know. I was young and dumb, and I thought seeing you again would hurt me.”
I grabbed her hand, needing to touch her. “Not seeing you hurtme. I was so in love with you, Franks.”
Her gaze flicked to me again. “You were?”
I smiled warmly. “How did you not know?”
She snorted and said again, “Because I was young and dumb.”
We stared at each other for several moments until I realized I was caressing the back of her hand with my thumb. “Sorry,” I said, removing my hand from hers.
“It’s—” She looked down at her phone. Her eyes grew big, and she sucked in a breath.
“Everything okay?”
She looked up at me. “Someone just opened the back door of my house.”
“And there shouldn’t be anyone there?” I pressed.
Frankie shook her head. “No, I live alone except for my dog.” Her eyes widened, and she stood, the chair scraping the tile floor. “My dog! Someone was following us today. What if …”
I stood. “How far do you live from here?”
“Just down the street.”
“Do you have an alarm or just a sensor for the doors and windows?” We headed to the door of the coffee shop, leaving our half-drunk coffees on the table.
“Alarm too.”
“Does it notify LAPD?” I opened the door for her.
“I think so.”
“Mind if I drive you home?” I wasn’t sure what we would walk into. If she was right and there was a police response feature on her alarm, it could take close to twenty minutes before a unit arrived because of the lag time. “I’ll bring you back to your car once we have everything square at your house.”
“Sure.”
