“Thank you, I will need to put them in water.” I looked around my room as if a vase would appear. Then one did and Vicki reached out, taking them from me.
“You two go out and have fun. And as they say… don’t do anything I would do.” Then she wiggled her brows. “Or do?”
Frankie reached his hand out to me, and I took it. He laced our fingers together as we walked out of the room and down the hall to the stairs.
“You look beautiful, Clare.” I blushed as we walked past another girl on her way back to her room. She did a double take at Frankie, when she met my eyes I glared at her.He’s mine.I mentally yelled at her.
Frankie held my hand all the way to a parked car. It was old and a little banged up. I could sense from the way he was acting, he was embarrassed by it, but I wasn’t. It was a car, it got you to where you needed to go. When he opened the passenger door for me it made a loud groaning sound.
“Sorry,” he muttered, and I squeezed his hand.
“Don’t be sorry, I’m excited to see where you’re taking me today.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I wanted it to. I wanted him to feel comfortable with me, and not worry about what he doesn’t have, only what he does have. Which was a sexy smile, a fun personality, and he really was the best kisser. That was all that I cared about.
“I wanted to take you to come see my brother, and Bagheera. Show you where I live, where I grew up. My favorite place to eat… my life. The real me.”
My mouth dropped open slightly, he wanted to show me his life? This was huge, for him… and me. I couldn’t believe he wanted to do this, I thought he was just going to take me out for dinner.
But to meet his brother and see his home - the place he grew up i - I knew this was big for him to show me. Vicki had told me only a small amount that she had learned about him, but from what she said I gathered he didn’t have the best home life. I had to school my emotions, Vicki had talked about not reacting straight away. To let things soak in a little. That was easier said than done.
He let go of my hand and closed the door. When he got inside the driver’s side and put his seatbelt on, I reached over and took his hand.
“Thank you.” I whispered. He nodded.
We drove for around twenty minutes, past houses and then factories until we turned a corner. There was a distinctive change in the area, I tried to keep my emotions settled, I didn’t want him to think I was scared. But there were a lot of places with smashed windows, overgrown lawns, cars without their wheels parked on the street and some kids running around without shoes.
I could sense the change in Frankie as he turned another corner. This time slowing down. He turned into a dirt driveway, there were about eight trailer homes here. Frankie pulled up to one closer to the back and parked his car.
It was off white, rust had stained some of the outside and there were light blue curtains in the windows.
Frankie let out a deep breath and turned to me. His eyes looked so sad, so worried. I hated that he felt that way, he had nothing to be ashamed of, this was his home. I watched as he cocked his head and his brows furrowed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him. But she shook his head.
“My mom’s here, I wasn’t expecting that.” I nodded. Okay, so his mom was here. That would be okay, right? Meeting his mom. Hell, he met my parents and they were horrible to him. Didn't think it would be worse than that.
I opened the door, it protested, and I liked it. It was a little quirk. I had to use a little extra muscle, but I got out. Frankie rounded the car and took my hand in his, closing the door to the car I could see the curtain move. Someone knew we were here. Then I remembered they had shifter hearing so they would have heard us the minute we pulled in.
He led me up a few stairs and opened the door.
“Well, hello there, come on in.”
Chapter30
Frankie
Iwasn’t expecting my mom home today. She said she was off running errands and I was glad. I knew this would be a shock to Clare as it was, meeting mom was a big step. She wasn’t sober most days. So, I didn’t know who I would get on the other side of that door. When I turned up and I realized she was home, I wasn’t happy. But there was nothing I could do about it now.
“Well, hello there, come on in.” Mom said in a sing-song voice.
I was taken back by what I saw. Mum had showered and washed her hair, she was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.
Even Alex was surprised, he raised his brows at me but then under his breath said, “she hasn't drank anything all morning, when she found out you were bringing Clare here.”
Clare smiled at mom, as she moved into the trailer. I looked around to make sure everything was still where I left it. I'd spent most of the morning cleaning, while mom was sleeping. Or apparently, listening to me and Alex discuss me bringing Clare here later.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Clare.” She stretched her hand out to mom, but mom just shook her head and hugged her. I think I was more surprised than Clare.
