Where the hell did this girl get off, being vulnerable like this? Had I given off the impression I wanted to dissect these things?

My face must have been contorted into one of aversion, because Frankie’s cheeks reddened before her eyes dropped to her lap.

“Look at me. Feeling sorry for myself again.”

“Hey, no self-deprecation on my watch.” I tried to make my voice sound lighter than I felt. But Frankie still wore a small frown. Shit. We were rapidly wandering into uncharted territories for me. I didn’t know how to help Frankie work through her crisis any more than I knew how to help myself and my own suffocated emotions.

I was the guy for a laugh. Not a shoulder to cry on.

But the last thing I could handle was how alone she looked right now. So small in front of me. Right here, yet so far. I hated it. I’d already given her so little of myself, despite the fact that she clearly wanted more. Which was maybe why I said what I said next. Something I’d barely thought. Something I never dreamed I’d say out loud.

I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. When I pulled back, I said, “I get lonely too.”

FOURTEEN

Frankie

“I’m bored,” I whined, my head draped over the arm of the chair, hair splayed out and brushing the wood floor. I had no interviews scheduled today, Oliver was busy with lessons, and for once I wasn’t working at Marie’s tonight. I was completely restless.

My sister sighed with contentment. “And isn’t that a lovely feeling?”

I turned my head so that I could make out her right-side-up figure, curled up on the couch, pouring over a book.

My phone vibrated on the coffee table and I scrambled to a seated position, almost toppling over, before snatching it and opening the notification. I sighed in defeat when I saw that it was my mom checking in. “It’s just Mom,” I groaned.

“I’m sure she would be thrilled to know that’s how you react when you receive her messages.”

I ignored Mattie, firing off a quick response.

“We should really plan a trip down to Florida to visit them. It’s been forever since we were all down there other than for Christmas,” she said.

“I think the last time was when you moved out of that apartment with your shitty ex after the epic cheating scandal and stayed with them for a few weeks.”

Mattie threw a pillow at my head, hitting me square in the face.

“Hey!” I yelled, tossing it back at her. She caught it.

“I can’t believe you’d bring up the most humiliating time in my life.” She glared at me.

I held up my hands. “What? It was literally the last time we were there together aside from Christmas. That’s just a fact.”

“A depressing one. And all the more reason to visit them.”

“It’s already April, and it’s too hot in the summer,” I protested. “And who knows what the vacation time will look like when I get another job.”