Page 27 of Draco

I swallowed hard at her choice of words. “What about them?”

“Will they be… special like you?”

“Yes, and we’ll teach them how to handle being… special. Unlike my childhood, they won’tbe raisedwith a chip on their shoulders. Love will surround them.”

She giggled. “In a motorcycle clubhouse?”

“Trust me. Sometimes, that’s the safest place to be.”

I couldn’t stop myself from pressing my lips into hers. My hands caressed her long locs while hers pulled at the chain around my neck. She didn’t pull away when I slipped my tongue in her mouth though her body grew stiff.

“Breath, baby,” I declared before christening her button nose. “Don’t be scared, Frankie. I got you. In this lifetime and in the next. Believe that.”

For the last month,I had been so wrapped up in Draco’s world, I damn near abandoned mine. Though I had sold most of the pieces on my website, I wanted to get back to doing hair. It took some convincing, but Draco let me return home for a few hours to do Sammi’s hair without insisting on setting up a driver for me.

At first, I thought my fight at the clubhouse would make him overprotective, but Draco had become more relaxed. He offered me information without me having to pester about it, and he crept into my room and held me like he couldn’t be away from me. As an adoptee, I wasn’t used to someone craving my affection. I still couldn’t define how I felt about our atypical love affair, but the more time we spent together, the more I believedwe were destinedto be together.

I stepped into my home, instantly hit with the potent scent of citrus. An overwhelming sense of gratitude swept from my feet to my forehead as I looked around. My quaint little spot wasn’t as luxurious as Draco’s home, but thanks to him, it was officially mine. Since Sammi would be here in twenty minutes, I straightened up my workstation and wiped down the living room with Clorox wipes.

As I moved things around, I lay eyes on Ms. Green’s vinyl records. I didn’t bother changing the vinyl before putting the needle in place. “Love” by Musiq Soulchild played. The classic would always conjure the image of Draco andIkissing for the first time. Aside from everything written in the stars, my desire to save my mama’s home, or even Draco’s thirst for normalcy, our lips colliding awoke something inside of me that only Draco could ignite.

The sound of the doorbell broke my trance. I pulled my locs into a bun on the top of my head then pulled the door open.

“Hello, gorgeous!” I cheered.

“Mm. Hello,stranger.”

I rolled my eyes. “I prefer the name beautiful, but that works.” My teeth sank into my lip as I stared at the second person on my porch. “I see you brought... company. Hey, Jasmine.”

“It’s good to see you, Frankie. I heard you’ve been living under a rock.”

I peered down at her feet. “And it looks like you rescued your ankles fromabag of flour.”

I stepped aside and let the pair into the house along with their judgment.

Annoyed by Sammi’s standoffish attitude, I gestured for her to have a seat.

“Did you bring the hair?”

She lifted a plastic bag in the air then dropped it on the table.

“All right.” My hands latched onto my hips. “Go ahead. Tell me what’s your problem.”

“Oh, nothing. One day, I ran into my best friend in the streets with a member of a dangerous motorcycle club, and the next, I don’t hear from her for weeks.”

Instead of answering her question, I draped a cape over Sammi’s body and undid her wash and go. Iexpected her to havequestions, but I still didn’t know how to answer. Sammi and I had been close for years. Any event or milestone I experienced, she was aware of it, but this go around, I didn’t want her judgment to pollute my warped fairytale.

“Do you want a beehive or cornrows?”

Sammi pursed her lips. “Francesca!”

“Okay. Okay. Here’s the short version. I met Draco?—”

“Draco?” Jasmine chimed in. “He owns the barbershop on Pacific Ave?”

A wave of jealousy fattened my nostrils.

“Yep. That’s him. Anyway, we met at the bank. I was on my way home, and he stopped me and asked if I needed a ride.”

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