Page 95 of Winning You
His shoulders sagged. “Oh my god, baby. I am so sorry. Do they hate me?”
Lucas stood up and carefully made his way around Elodie before holding his hand out. “Find me?”
Frankie took three steps closer and took his hand, and Lucas traced a touch up his arm, resting his hand against the side of his neck where his pulse was pounding. They stood there a moment, still with each other in ways Frankie had never been still with anyone.
“They don’t know,” Lucas eventually said. “They came over, and we had dinner and talked about my work and how I was feeling better about being back in the truck, and how I wanted to start looking at loans to start my café.”
Frankie had known about that too—vaguely. But he’d been so distracted lately. He felt like the world’s shittiest boyfriend, and here he’d been about to impromptu propose. “I’m going to be better at listening.”
“Sighted people aren’t the best at it, but I won’t hold it against you,” Lucas said with a grin. His hand trailed downFrankie’s back and squeezed his ass once, playfully, laughing under his breath. “It’s okay. Nothing is ruined. We’re going to try again, and I’m telling you now when you’re not all—” He leaned into his ear to whisper, “—fucked out and distracted.”
Frankie took him by the jaw and kissed him. Hard. “You can get me fucked out and distracted after Elodie is in bed. Deal?”
“Mm. Deal. For now, go eat the meal I worked hard on and unwind. I’m going to read to Elodie and then help her with her bath.”
It hit Frankie like a damn freight train how domestic this all was. How very much it reflected the truth when he told Lucas that he was his home. Because this was it. “Can Ells come to dinner too?”
Lucas scoffed as he sat back down on the couch. “Like I would have dinner without my favorite bug?”
Elodie lifted her head. “I want chicken nuggets!”
Lucas leaned forward and squished her in a hug. “Chicken nuggets it is.” He was kissed for that answer too.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
LUCAS
He was sonervous he thought he might throw up. The dinner had gone from a nice, quiet, intimate thing at his apartment to a big dinner over at Adele and Kash’s place. He had half a mind to say no, but he couldn’t do it without looking suspicious, and he realized this would be the best time to just…rip the Band-Aid off.
Frankie, out of the kindness of his heart, fucked the nerves out of him in the hour before he had to pick up Elodie, and then Lucas was left to his own devices in his kitchen, preparing several trays of enchiladas for everyone. He knew in his heart that no matter how worried his family might be over him and his choices, ultimately, they would respect him.
They loved him. They trusted him. And he was far from the only person to fall for a man much older than he was.
Maybe he had the biggest age gap of them all, but he was never the sort of man who did things by the book. He was born different from all of them, and he planned to keep it that way. It was his thing.
By the time he was finished getting everything into travel containers, Frankie was knocking at the door. He came in, and Lucas could hear the little noises that Elodie’s walker made asshe crossed over the threshold and made her way to the low coffee table Lucas had picked up.
He’d taken to leaving out containers of floam and kinetic sand. They had been an amazing way to keep his own hands occupied when he was little, and he was glad to know the same tricks worked on Elodie, so he had time to kiss his boyfriend while she was distracted.
“You look amazing, princess,” Frankie said, running his hand down the front of Lucas’s shirt.
He’d taken care with getting ready. He’d even combed his hair before twisting it into his bun, and he was wearing his softest pair of jeans. “What color is my shirt?”
“You don’t know?”
“Meh. A lot of people have a system, but it involves safety pins and buttons and other shit. I cannot be assed,” Lucas confessed.
Frankie laughed softly and kissed the side of his neck as he toyed with the cuff on the rolled-up sleeve. “It’s green. Like fresh shoots from a jungle floor.”
He liked that description. “And you?”
“We don’t match. I’m in jeans and a black shirt.”
Lucas ran his hands over it. It was short-sleeved with a collar, and it was very, very soft. “You look hot.”
“Thank you,” Frankie murmured. “Now, let me get everything loaded in the car while you keep Elodie distracted. She’s been kind of in a mood today. I’m a little worried about how everything’s going to go.”
Lucas scoffed. “Trust me, there’s going to be kids there to distract her, and everyone is a dad so if she’s feeling pissy, they’ll get it.” He almost said except Gage, only that might not be true. He hadn’t done the paternity thing yet—he was still weighing his options—but Lucas couldn’t call that the truth any longer.
