I licked my lips, so sure he was going to do something. I felt like my skin was on fire where he touched. But instead of coming closer, Frank leaned back. He pulled himself up, and I felt like someone had punched me in the gut.
I tried not to let the feeling show on my face as he offered me a hand. I let him pull me up, and Frank sighed. “Well, that went well. You learned some things. Just practice with the dummy, and you'll be perfect in no time.”
I wanted to voice that I didn't want to practice with the dummy. I wanted to say I wanted him to keep doing what he was doing, but I didn't. I just nodded my head. Maybe everything I had just felt was all in my head, and he was just trying to be nice. Maybe he wanted me to stay safe, and it was simply just that simple. But I couldn’t deny that this felt different, like maybe we were turning a corner in whatever relationship this was.
“I'm going to go shower, and then I need to head into the office for a meeting with my brother. You going to be good?”
I nodded slowly, forcing a smile. As badly as I wanted Frank, I knew this was a step in the right direction.
For the next couple of weeks, Frank and I found a new rhythm in the house. It wasn't as awkward as it was, but we were still learning how to live together, especially sleeping in the same bed. We quickly learned to roll away from each other and keep our backs turned.
Frank was always out of bed before I was. He was an early bird who was up and out of bed quickly, while I wasn't. Frank was the first to go to bed, while I stayed up later, enjoying a book or watching a show.
Frank spent a lot of time out of the house with his duties. I quickly found myself needing something to do, so I applied at the lawyer's office Jillian told me about. I had an interview, and it sounded promising.
I practiced with the dummy as Frank asked. I wasn't good at first, fumbling with my kicks and punches. My muscles screamed for me to stop every day, but I pushed myself. After a week, I started to adjust to it. I didn't move so stiffly as I had when I first started. I was proud of how well I'd done in a short amount of time.
I worked on some final touches on the greenhouse, turning it into my own little slice of heaven. I made a nice sitting area with a few couches and a TV near the corner. Plants were all over, and a coffee cart sat in the corner. When you walked in, the greenhouse had a calming feeling, and I knew it was all the plants. The light always shone in, warming the space.
I was lounging on the couch when I heard someone in the kitchen. I sat up and found Frank looking in the fridge. Iwatched as he shut the fridge, and his eyes went over towards the greenhouse. His eyes widened as he stared at the changes. Frank had been out of the house so much that he'd not seen everything I'd done.
The couch and TV were from the storage unit. I figured both pieces would be nice in the room, but I hadn't asked him about them. I didn't think I needed to, considering it was my area.
He walked to the doorway, and his eyes scanned the space. I swallowed, suddenly nervous. “Jesus, this place doesn't even look like what it used to.”
I blushed. “In a good way?”
Frank walked into the greenhouse. He ran a hand over a vine that was hanging above and looked at me as he nodded his head. “I guess. My mother decorated it like this. It's been empty since she left.”
My stomach sank at his words. Had that been why he acted so coldly about me using it? I chewed on my lower lip and pulled my legs up as I turned fully towards him. “You said before that your mother and stepmother were manipulators, but you never said how.”
Frank walked around the greenhouse, taking in the plants as he moved. He nodded. “They were.” He ran his hand over the coffee cart for a moment before moving to a few pictures I had set on a low shelf.
I licked my lips. “Not that I'm asking what a manipulator is, but how did they do it?”
Frank looked at me. “My mother was a soft woman who promised me the world. She was the type of woman who bakedyou cookies and made sure we had activities and friends. She always said she wanted the world for us.”
I looked at him, confused. “I don't understand how that's bad. It sounds like she was sweet.”
He nodded, turning to the window. “She did it to cover up the fact that she was sleeping with her trainer. She'd have him over, and to cover the smell, she'd bake. She'd wear strong perfumes, so my father couldn't sense it. He thought she was a loving mother when, in truth, she just didn't want to get caught. She wanted us out of the house so she could bring him over. She planned everything to cover up her cheating.”
My stomach sank slightly. “I'm guessing she did get caught?”
He shook his head and turned back to me. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “No. She didn't. She just up and left. She constantly told my father that she loved him and would never want to leave him. She told me I was the perfect son and never wanted me to change. My father didn't even know she was cheating until he found her journal.”
His face darkened. “She wrote how she hated living here and hated having to cover it up. She felt suffocated under the pressure. That whoever she was with made her feel like a woman again. She explained that she loved us but that she didn’t sign up for this life. She never wanted to be an Alpha’s wife.”
I frowned, not wanting to imagine how his father felt finding that. Imagine thinking you had the perfect family, only to find out your wife had faked it all. “I'm sorry, Frank. I imagine that was hard.”
He shrugged. “It wouldn't have been bad if my stepmother weren't the same person. My mother's love-bombedme before she ripped it apart, while my stepmother promised she would be better. But she wasn't. She was worse.”
I knitted my fingers together. I didn't want to know what his stepmother did. Not right now. Knowing what his mother did was enough, and I could see why it was hard. I could also tell most of this anger and hatred was from the past, and likely from his father.
“I'm sorry that happened. No child should have to feel unwanted.”
Frank watched me for a moment before he walked closer. “And what about your folks?”
I hadn't thought about my folks since I was a young adult. I had a decent upbringing and had loving parents. They had died in a car crash when I was twenty.
