Page 77 of A Thirst for Franc

A smile toyed at the corner of his mouth. “Did you learn that in a Snapple cap?”

“I’m not sure where I learned it from, but for some reason it stuck.”

“I’m continuously impressed by your breadth of knowledge.” His voice dropped to a low timbre, so Gio couldn’t hear. “I find it quite sexy.”

Heat blossomed in my cheeks, spreading toward my ears. My intelligence had never been anything that I’d assume to be sexy. If anything, I’d been made fun of for being a nerd, so for Franc to find my brain sexy, it felt good. It felt right.

Hefelt right.

Franc pulled into the ice cream shop parking lot. I might have taken a few detours, but I was getting my butter pecan ice cream.

Before I could get out of the car, Franc had come around and helped me up, taking my elbow on my good side and giving me the support I needed to stand. Gio, impatient as always, launched out of the backseat. He slammed the door, and Franc groaned.

I assumed because of the accident Franc didn’t scold him. We walked into the ice cream shop, Gio leading the way. Franc kept a protective hand on my lower back and held the door as we entered.

Gio immediately ran to the counter.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked, his breath caressing my ear.

“The pain meds have kicked in, and I’m still processing everything that happened, but for right now, I’m okay.”

“Will you tell me if you’re not?”

I swiped my finger over my chest making an x. “Cross my heart.”

He kissed my forehead and met Gio at the counter. The man behind the counter, a teen probably no older than seventeen, held up the large scoop cup.

“Absolutely not,” Franc said.

“But Dad…” Gio pushed his lip out. “I was in an accident.”

This kid. What were we going to do with him?

“I was, too, and I’m only going to get the small,” I said.

“Okay, fine,” Gio muttered, and Franc mouthed a thank you.

Franc ordered my butter pecan and cookies ‘n cream for himself before we sat at a small table in the corner.

Gio happily scooped birthday cake ice cream into his mouth, though I wasn’t sure how much of it made it into his mouth.

“Slow down before you give yourself brain freeze,” Franc said.

“Did you know that women are more likely to experience brain freeze more than men?” I said.

Under the table, Franc took my hand, interlocking our fingers. We sat there, hand in hand, until the ice cream was gone.

We pulled up to the house, and Gio immediately ran for the door. “I’m going to check on Sally and tell her all about my day.”

He was safe. He wasn’t hurt. Everything was fine. They were little reminders I told myself all afternoon, but no matter how many times I repeated the facts, my brain kept trying to show me inaccuracies. Kept showing scenarios that were far worse than what happened.

I took a deep breath as the world around me spun, and not in a beautiful way like when Franc kissed me, but in an uncontrollable, chaotic way I couldn’t stop.

Franc let Gio in the house, and he turned to me. I couldn’t focus on him. Not when I had a million thoughts running through my head.

“You coming?” Franc said.

I looked around, trying to find a way to ground myself, trying to keep from spiraling. I needed to be strong. I couldn’t let the both of us crumble. Who would be there for Gio?

---