Page 82 of Unwanted

Jordan glances guiltily down at the empty wine glasses.

“It was drugs, not alcohol. But I steer away from it all anyway.”

Jordan nods, clearly trying to find the right words, and I fear I’ve probably fucked up this dinner way before it started.

“But Frankie can drink if he wants to.” I turn to face him and he’s shaking his head. “It’s fine, honestly.”

“No,” he says firmly. “I don’t want to.”

I know it’s a conversation for another day, but the wire between my brain and my mouth seems to have short circuited and I can’t seem to wait for a more appropriate time to assure Frankie he doesn’t have to sacrifice anything for me.

“You know there’s no expectation, right? I know the others choose not to drink at home, but that doesn’t mean they’ve given it up completely.”

Frankie glances up at Jordan, who is watching us intently. “Can you give us a minute?”

Jordan quietly exits the room and I look at Frankie with wide eyes. “Did you just kick the guy out of his own dining room?”

“Trust me, he wanted to leave.” He reaches out, touching my hand. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” I say honestly. I scrub a hand over my face. “I wanted to make sure they thought I was good enough for you and now they’re probably wondering who this mess of a man is you’ve uprooted your life for.”

Rising up off the chair, Frankie moves toward me and comes and settles between my legs. “Firstly, there is nothing you need to prove. Not to Jordan and Gael. Not to anyone. Secondly, I should’ve given up alcohol a while ago.”

“You—”

He places a hand over my mouth. “Don’t argue with me about this, okay? Accept the decision, okay?”

He drops his hand, waiting on me expectantly. “Okay.” I sigh. “I accept the decision.”

“Perfect. Let’s go tell Jordan and Gael they can come out now.”

* * *

Thankfully the rest of the evening goes a lot more smoothly than the start, Gael and Jordan playing the perfect hosts.

Frankie was right, whatever took place between him and Jordan is a nonissue. When Gael moved, Jordan’s eyes followed. Each and every time. Their love is so obvious.

“So, how long have you two been together?” I ask Gael after Jordan and Frankie head to Jordan’s office to talk shop.

“Just over a year, but we were best friends long before that.” He pulls his wine glass closer to him. “And I was engaged to a woman.”

My jaw drops. “Okay, that’s a twist I didn’t see coming.”

He chuckles. “At least we can laugh about it now. It definitely wasn’t all that funny at the time.”

“It’s crazy how it works out, isn’t it? One day you’re going on your fourth year without the person you love and the next he’s right there like he never left.”

“Is that what happened with you and Frankie?”

I didn’t want to wax poetic with someone I just met about how crazy the last two months had been for me and how madly in love with my life I was right now.

It almost felt too good to talk about. Like I would jinx us somehow.

“It wasn’t as scandalous as almost marrying a woman,” I tease. “But our story holds its own.”

“For what it’s worth, his smile finally reaches his eyes.”

Whether Gael knew it or not, that piece of information was worth everything.

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