Page 68 of A Slice of Love

Jonas wraps his arms around me, protecting me and holding me together all at once.

“Get me out of here.”

He nods, ushering me toward the exit, not stopping when my parents call after me.

He helps me into his car, dragging the seatbelt over my limp form and buckling me in safe. He presses a quick kiss to my forehead before shutting me inside and rounding the front of the vehicle.

Firing up the engine, he glances my way. “Where to?”

“Can we go to your place?”

“My parents are there. Probably still awake too.”

“I don’t care. I just can’t go to my apartment right now. It’s the first place my parents will look.”

He nods, understanding. “You got it, Frank.”

We pull out of the fairgrounds, speeding toward anywhere that doesn’t feel like heartbreak.

Slice Eleven

Jonas

Icringe when I see the light from the TV flashing inside my childhood home as we pull up the driveway.

“What’s wrong?” Frankie asks when she notices me not moving to exit the car.

“My parents are still up.”

“So?”

“Well, you’ve never met them, so you don’t really know what that means.”

“Jonas, I just told half the town I’m not a virgin anymore. I think I can handle your parents just fine.”

“Fine,” I say, unbuckling. “But you can’t say I didn’t warn you.”

We climb out of the car and I grab Frankie’s hand as we head up the short walkway to the front door.

“You doing okay?”

We didn’t talk the entire ride here. I was too afraid to bring up the debacle that just took place.

Not because I’m scaredofFrankie, but because I’m scaredforher.

It’s clear she’s in turmoil over what happened tonight.

“I’m not ready to talk about it,” she says.

I respect her decision, pushing open the front door.

Aside from the noises coming from the TV, the house is otherwise quiet. I guess they just forgot to shut it off before bed.

I hold my finger up to my lips, mouthing, “Sleeping.” Frankie nods, and we silently make our way down the hall.

As we approach the living room, the sounds from the TV grow more audible, and I’m concerned about what my parents were watching because it’s clearly sex noises.

I glance at Frankie, lifting my brows in a silentAre you hearing this too?

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