Page 55 of Repluse

“Mils…”

“What happens when one or both of you get bored? When something sweeter, juicier, newer, shinier walks into your club?”

“Mils…”

“Where’s that gonna leave me? Because the way I see it, between my husband, and your dicks, in one way or another, all I’m going to end up being is well and truly fucked, and not a lot else.”

“Mils! What the fuck happened? You were fine when I called to check in last night. Sam said you were fine when he dropped you off, already half asleep when he called to say goodnight. It’s six fucking thirty in the morning. What the fuck has happened since then and now?”

I don’t have an answer. Instead, I burst into tears. I don’t cry. I swear, I am not normally a crier, but for the second time in less than forty-eight hours, I’m in tears.

“I’m scared. I’m fucking scared,” I sob.

“Of what?” Frankie asks quietly.

“Of what’s going to happen to me.”

“Mils, I keep telling you, we’ve got you. Sammie and me, we’ve got you.”

“But what about when you don’t?”

“Get showered, get dressed, and meet me wherever it is Sam meets you in an hour. I’m coming to get you.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want you on your own like this. Wear something nice. We’ll get lunch later.”

“I don’t have anything nice. Logan dropped me here with no clothes, and I have to be at the fracture clinic at half three.”

“Then, wear whatever, and we’ll go shopping for something nice. Go shower. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

I sniff down the phone.

“Mils?”

“Yeah?” I say as I wipe my nose on the back of my hand.

“Love you, beautiful girl. Everything’s gonna turn out fine, I promise.”

Frankie ends the call.

I’m left in stunned silence.

He loves me?

Is that what he just said?

I don’t remember the last time someone except my sister said those words to me.

I don’t remember the last time I ever felt truly loved by anyoneotherthan my sister, in fact.

I sit on the edge of the bed and cry for another twenty minutes as I process what Frankie said, or what I think he said, before finally making my way to the shower.

CHAPTER 16

Sam.

I tap my ear buds to answer the call when Frankie’s name shows on my screen.

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