Page 96 of Craving Francesca

He waited until he knew I was done. “Want you to come to dinner at my parents’ asmine.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll stay at your place whenever you want, but I’d appreciate if we could spend time at my place, too. I like the quiet.”

“I like your place.”

“That’s easy shit—now for the big one.”

I stiffened, wondering what the hell he could want.

“You don’t hide shit from me. You don’t lie to me. If you’re dealin’ with somethin’, you read me in on it.”

I nodded slowly. That would be harder. I was used to taking care of things on my own and telling people about them later. It had worked for me since I was a kid.

“I want to be exclusive,” I said, countering.

He stared at me like I’d lost my mind. My stomach churned.

“Baby, what the hell do you think we’re talkin’ about right now?”

“Our relationship if we decide to have one.”

“No.” He shook his head. “We’re talkin’ about ourlife. Together. Of course I’m not gonna fuck anyone else. I don’t wanna fuck anyone else. You shouldn’t want to either.”

“I don’t,” I replied quickly.

“I don’t know where you’re at with this,” he said slowly. “But this is it for me. The end. I’m not gonna want anyone else. I want a life withyou.”

I swallowed hard.

Dating had always been easy for me, and of course I’d always imagined I’d eventually find theone, and we’d just stay together and eventually get married. The normal progression. I hadn’t been actually looking for it, I’d just assumed that it would happen at some point.

I’d never imagined I would be sitting topless on a man’s lap, after having sexoncemonths ago, discussing a future together like it was the most normal thing in the world. It made sense, though. If we were doing it, if we were actually going to be together, we had to be sure. If we weren’t, we could pull a whole lot of people into our eventual breakup, and that wasn’t fair to anyone.

It was especially not fair to Gray, who I knew didn’t have a ton of friends. If the people in our lives felt like they had to choose, I could leave him with no one. Not that I thought that would ever happen, he was a member of the club after all, and I was just a friend—but the possibility was there. The stakes were higher for him.

“You want a life with me,” I whispered, my breath catching.

“Gettin’ a front-row seat to all the crazy shit you pull would be a life well spent.”

My chest tightened so much it ached.

“Careful. You’re going to make me fall in love with you.”

“That’s the goal.”

Chapter 10

Gray

Iwasn’t surewho leaned in first. Our mouths met somewhere in the middle. Frankie’s tongue slid along my bottom lip before thrusting into my mouth. I wasn’t any better. I held her head in place as I kissed her harder.

Holding back hadn’t been easy, but I refused to push her or go further than she was ready for. It’s why I’d pulled away in the hot spring. Why I hadn’t fucked her last night, even though I’d been so hard it hurt. I didn’t want to be a distraction from the problems she was dealing with.

When I left her in bed asleep that morning, I knew I’d done the right thing. She’d been so worn out that she hadn’t even noticed me leave. I’d been up for hours and had even left to pick up breakfast before she finally woke up.

I’d damn near swallowed my tongue when she’d unself-consciously stood up from the bed and walked toward me, her breasts swaying a little with the movement.

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