Page 20 of Unwanted

He straightens his spine in the seat, looks away from me and out the window, and doesn’t say another word.

The rest of the trip is made in silence, and when I reach the hospital entrance, he opens the car door but looks at me over his shoulder.

“Are you coming up?”

I hesitate, knowing I’m agreeing for all the wrong reasons but do so anyway. “Yeah. I’ll just park the car and be right there.”

I see the reluctance in his exit, and I find myself blurting out reassurances I have no business guaranteeing. “Everything will be okay,” I state. “With Lennox. He’ll come around.”

“I hope so,” he says, his back to me, his voice low enough I almost don’t hear it.

I watch his shoulders rise and fall a few times before he actually steps out, and the urge to be close to him returns.

Thankfully the slam of the door puts a stop to those thoughts and I will myself to get a grip as I look for somewhere to park.

By the time I reach Lennox’s floor, I’m grateful that the waiting area is empty. But when I notice Clem and Remy flanking Frankie, in comfort, just outside Lennox’s door, my pulse begins to quicken in panic.

I reach them in record time, standing just behind Frankie. I inhale the smells of his shampoo and soap, the closeness calming me down. I raise a hand to place on his shoulder, and I catch Clem glance at me curiously from the corner of her eye.

Her gaze locks on my hand, the look in her eyes neither encouraging nor deterring, but it’s enough to have me drop it to my side and settle on announcing my presence verbally. “Is everything okay?”

7

FRANKIE

The immediate change of pace in my heartbeat at the sound of Arlo’s voice has the alarm bells in my head blaring.

This is not the time to find comfort in his presence.

This is not the time to want him near.

His kindness from earlier is just that. Kindness for someone he once knew and kindness for Lennox.

Nothing more, nothing less.

“Why don’t we all go in together?” Clem says. “Like an intervention. He can’t just throw things at you every time you’re in the room.”

I’d never seen Lennox act so petulant, and I wasn’t sure I had any right to tell him to act any differently. But Ineededto talk to him and I needed to talk to him alone.

“I don’t think that’s a great idea,” Arlo interjects, knowing exactly what it is I need to talk to Lennox about. “Let me go in with Frankie and I’ll help with Lennox.”

I glance over my shoulder, catching him right behind me, his body only inches away from mine.

Clem looks between us. “Okay, what the fuck did I miss?”

Arlo shakes his head. “Not now.”

Unimpressed, she folds her arms over her chest and Remy chuckles. “Come on, you, let’s go sit down and you can grill them with questions later,” he says and then looks at Arlo and me. “I have to leave in half an hour, so if I don’t get to say goodbye, I’ll see you all at home or back here, at some point.”

He drags Clem away, who is still glaring at us, her face scrunched up like she’s just taken a bite out of a lemon.

If I wasn’t so wound up it would be comical.

“Are you okay?” Arlo asks when we’re alone, neither of us moving.

“I just can’t get over how mad he is,” I say honestly.

Large hands land on my shoulders and I tense in surprise. Arlo must mistake my response for something negative and he quickly lifts his hands off me, but I manage to grab his fingers just in time, pushing his hand back down, waiting for the other one to dutifully follow.

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