Page 33 of A Thirst for Franc

“Maybe,” I said, then moved my gaze to Quinn. “But that would be up to Quinn.”

A smile spread wide across her face, and she bounced down the steps, rustling Gio’s hair. I noticed he didn’t squirm from her touch or try to swat her hand away. “We’ll see,” she said. “I have a lot of other things planned, and your dad has to work.”

“He always has to work.” Gio’s lip jutted out, and guilt hit me like a freight train.

I kneeled, resting my hands on Gio’s arms. “Hey bud, how about we do something fun this weekend? We can go to the Big Foot Museum.” It was the dumbest museum, but Steve, the guy who ran it, was a trip, and Gio loved that place.

His eyes widened, and his lips curved upward. “Can Quinn come? Please. Please. Pretty please with sugar on top and a cherry?” He pouted his damn lip again, and I swore that thing was lethal.

“Quinn doesn’t work on the weekends. I thought it could be just you and me.”

“But Quinn’s never been, and she’ll love it.”

“Then that’s entirely up to Quinn.” I hated to put her on the spot, but when my son wanted something, I found it impossible to say no. “Quinn, are you free this weekend?”

Her eyes darted between me and Gio. “I uh… You know what? I was going to go to the lake and read, but I’ve been saying that for weeks. The Big Foot Museum sounds so much better.”

“Is that a yes?” I asked.

“That’s a yes.”

“Yes!” Gio bounced up and down and zoomed into the house.

Quinn laughed. “I thought after a day of swimming he’d be tired.”

Now that she was closer, I could see the slight bags under her eyes, the exhaustion in her smile. “You know, you don’t have to come with us this weekend. I know he’s hard to say no to. I can tell him something came up.”

Her lip quirked. “Oh no. I am completely intrigued and need to see what it’s all about.”

Relief settled into my bones, and I was surprised to realize how much I wanted her to go. I motioned for her to walk ahead of me and followed her into the house.

“Gio wanted chicken nuggets for dinner, so I got him to compromise with chicken legs and mashed potatoes. There is a plate in the microwave for you. Just take off the plastic wrap before you turn it on.”

“Thank you,” I said, putting my keys on the kitchen counter. “If I’d known you cooked, I would have come straight home.”

“It’s fine. Gio worked up an appetite swimming all day, so I figured it was better to get him fed before he got cranky.”

“Smart.”

“So I’ve been told.” She gave me a wink, and the gesture went right to my dick as if she reached out and touched me.

“I should go,” she said, grabbing her bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Go ahead and just let yourself in,” I said, like I did every night.

She laughed. “I’ll knock.”

One day, she’d feel comfortable enough to let herself in.

“Hey,” I said as she walked toward the door. “Have you ever seen the original Ghostbusters?”

“Of course,” she said with a smile as she turned to me, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. “My mom had a weird crush on Bill Murray.”

“Bill Murray, really?”

“Like I said, weird. So Ghostbusters, Groundhogs Day, and What About Bob were staples in our house. Mom had the VHS tapes and eventually upgraded to DVDs when she won a DVD player at one of my school raffles. She still won’t part with them. Why do you ask?”

“Gio hasn’t seen it yet. It was one of my favorites growing up.”

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