Chapter Two
FRANKIE
Something’s off with Addison. I’m not sure what it is, but the confident, bubbly, sunshine creature I couldn’t take my eyes off a few months ago is missing, and in her place is a confused, stammering, lost little puppy.
Still hot as fuck, though.
I shake my head, needing to get my mind out of the gutter.
I try not to check her out, but it’s nearly impossible.
She’s my every temptation, and that off-the-shoulder tee showing off a collarbone I want to taste is not making things any easier.
I shift on my feet as she shuffles toward me and slides into the passenger seat.
It’s not my business, but I’m having a hard time not demanding to know what’s on her mind, what’s happened to her relentless smile.
I round the truck and take us out of the airport, turning on the radio and settling in for the drive back to Stone Ridge. I’m bopping along with my tunes, wind weaving through my hand out the window, when Addison practically yells at me.
“Can we put the windows up?” she shouts to be heard over the music and wind. When I glance over at her, I feel like a jerk.
I was trying so hard to avoid ogling her—to avoid even thinking about her—that I didn’t notice how uncomfortable she was.
Her beachy hair is a windblown mess and her cheeks are stung red from the breeze, or maybe the heat.
I roll up the windows, apologizing as I turn the music down and put on the air conditioning.
The relative silence that descends is awkward, and I struggle to figure out why. How do I bridge this gap between us? Before I can figure it out, Addison starts chattering.
“I can’t believe how hot it is, how do you not have the air pumping 24/7?” she says, fanning herself.
I bump the fans up a couple notches.
“I guess you get used to it,” I shrug, “sorry for not thinking of that. Feel free to adjust it anytime.” I gesture to the dash and she nods.
“Thanks,” she says. “And thank you for picking me up. I hope it’s not too much of a hassle, I know it’s a long drive and especially having to go both directions. I feel so bad for hijacking your day. I’m happy to help out at the coffee shop to pay you back!”
I toss a bemused smile in her direction.
“No worries, it’s about time I got out of Stone Ridge anyways,” I say.
“What do you mean?”
I glance at her, trying to gauge her reaction. “I’ve never left. This is the first time.”
“Wait, what?” Addison says. “You’ve never been out of town?”
“Nope.”
Addison blinks at me, and I shrug again, turning back to the road.
“I mean… why not?”
“I’ve just never really cared to. I like our little town, it has everything I need. Nothing has ever given me enough reason to leave.”
“Wow, I can’t believe you’ve never left Stone Ridge.
Do you want to stop anywhere? I’m not in a rush, I mean besides having to let Moose out, so we can’t take too long, but if there’s anywhere you want to go,” she trails off, glancing at my fingers tapping along to the beat on the steering wheel from the corner of her eye.
I shake my head. “Nah, I’m good, we can just head back. ”
“Okay. Cool.” Addison bobs her head a couple times, and I hold in an amused grin, relaxing back into my seat as I drive.
“So, how’s work going?” she asks.
“Yeah it’s pretty good, same as usual. Just coffee shop stuff,” I reply. “How about you?”
I know she does something in the business world, but I’m not clear on exactly what it is.
To be fair though, we didn’t do much work talk when she showed up in town a few months ago, the only time I’ve spoken to her in over eight years.
What I don’t expect is for her to launch into a full blown rant about the work drama she’s currently dealing with.
Something about wanting a hybrid position, but her boss being unsure about the feasibility of it.
I’m doing my best to follow, but I don’t think she’s making complete sense.
Regardless, my brain jumps into hyper focus when I hear her mention an ex.
“I just don’t want to work with my ex anymore.
He keeps coming on to me even though we’ve been split up for years now, and he’s been dating someone else.
I don’t get why he won’t leave me alone.
I mean I’ve tried to set boundaries, and I’ve talked to HR, but they don’t seem to care.
Everyone thinks he’s such a nice guy who just wants to help and it makes me seem like a dramatic brat not wanting him around me. ”
It takes all of my willpower not to interrupt and ask for this asshole’s name, but what am I going to do? Jump on a plane and go beat him up? No.
Maybe.
“So anyway, I put in an internal transfer request, but haven’t heard back yet. I just really want to get out of there, you know?”
Her big blue eyes turn on me and I’ve never been more tempted in my life to pull the emergency break. I want to kiss that forlorn look right off her face, then pummel her ex in the throat, then whisk her away to my loft and keep her there forever.
That’s completely unhinged.
I force myself to look back at the road. I clear my throat and widen my eyes at myself, trying to get a grip .
“Yeah, that sounds crazy. I’m really glad you’re getting out of that situation. When are you supposed to hear back about the transfer?”
If it’s not in the next two hours, I fear my spleen might rupture from how badly I want this for her.
“I was supposed to hear back today, but,” she pauses to check her phone, “nope, nothing yet.”
Addison sighs as her hands fall to her lap, dejected. My heart falls right along with them.
“What do you like to listen to?” I ask, willing to listen to anything that will bring her smile back, and before I know it, I have her singing along to Chappell Roan with me as we fly down the desert highway toward home.
~~~
“Thanks again for the ride. I really don’t know what else I would have done,” Addison says.
Her eyes are an impossible shade of blue. Wide and round as she gazes at me from the passenger seat, bright as the sky on the outside with a ring of lighter, pale blue around the center.
“Okay, um,” Addison shuffles in her seat as she breaks eye contact and opens her door.
“Right, yeah, no problem,” I say, shaking myself out of whatever trance that was as I unbuckle and step out of the truck. I think she might have been casting a spell on me.
I open the back and reach out to grab her suitcase when my hand closes over hers on top of the handle. I look up right as she turns in my direction, and I instinctively squeeze her hand in mine. She’s a few inches taller than me, so when her throat bobs with a hard swallow, it’s impossible to miss.
“Frankie?” Addison whispers, and I want to hear all the different ways she might say my name.
“Yeah,” I say, my own voice quiet and laced with want.
“Um,” Addison looks down at our hands on her suitcase, and I jolt, then decide to make the best of it.
I stroke my thumb along the soft skin on the back of her hand, then slip my fingers around and under hers. Addison’s eyes shoot back to mine, wider than they were before. I lean forward, and her body mirrors mine until my mouth is just below her ear.
“Let go, sweets,” I keep my voice low and soft, eager to see how she’ll react.
Her hand springs open, letting go of the suitcase, and I shift my grip to her wrist before she can pull away. Her eyes dart between mine, the moment stretching as she wonders what I’ll do.
I quirk my lips into a half smile as I squeeze once, then loosen my grip, allowing her to slowly pull away.
Addison’s cheeks flush and she pulls her hand into her chest, then tucks an errant strand of wavy hair behind her ear.
I whistle the last song we were listening to as I pull her bags out and pile them up on the porch for her, right in front of the door.
Addison stares at me the whole time until I shut the tailgate and lean against it, crossing my arms.
“I let Moose out and fed him this morning, the key is in the lockbox, you have the code?” I say.
She blinks a few times before registering what I’ve said and I bite my lip to keep from chuckling.
“Yep, got it right here.” She waves her phone as I nod.
“Alright then, let me know if you need anything else. You know where to find me.”
“Right! Thanks again,” Addison says.
I get back in the truck with a wave, and she returns it a little too enthusiastically, throwing on the fakest smile I’ve ever seen as I pull out of the driveway.
It makes me angry for some reason, thinking about her soft lips stretched around a fake smile, and I clench the steering wheel as I navigate into town.
Addison shouldn’t have to fake anything around me.
I want the real version of her, not the one she gives to people she doesn’t know.
My thoughts stumble when I realize that I am one of those people, though.
We don’t really know each other. We haven’t for nearly a decade, despite her being my best friend’s little sister.
Still, I never want to see that smile again.
I’m planning how to remedy this problem when I unlock the coffee shop’s back door to find another unaddressed envelope has been slipped under it.
My head jerks up as I whip around, my gaze darting up and down the alley as I walk around the building to check the main street of our quaint little town, but there’s no one suspicious to be seen.
My lips pinch with irritation as I step inside and quickly shut the door behind me, locking it while I stoop to snatch up the envelope.
I already know what I’ll find inside. I have a whole stash of them locked in my desk upstairs.
I know I shouldn’t open it, that I should probably take it to the police, but I also know there’s nothing they can or will do, since it’s only a letter.
Against my better judgement, I slip my finger under the corner and rip it open.
I unfold a piece of white printer paper, the words typed in a plain black font:
No one wants you here. You’re just a dumb bitch with no future. I’m going to tell the world what a stupid bitch you are. I’m going to scratch your ugly eyes out. Your little “business” is a failure and a stain on our town. You’ll get what’s coming to you. And it’ll hurt. Wait and see. I dare you.
My jaw clenches in frustration. I have a healthy suspicion that I know who has been sending these letters, but I can’t be sure.
They all arrive at different times and days, with no name or return address, and they’re never postmarked, just slipped under the back door off the alley so I can’t even check the street cameras.
I want to crumple it in my fist, but instead I shove it back in the envelope and write the date on the outside, then stomp upstairs to my apartment loft and stick it in the desk drawer with the others.
With nothing left to do but prepare for tomorrow, I plod back downstairs to the coffee shop. I take my anger out on the tables and counters as I scrub them down, turning my hand in hard circles against the wood and hoping the satisfaction of a clean space will settle my emotions.
Before I get very far, my frustrated thoughts screech to a stop when I glance out the window and catch a glimpse of light brown, sun-kissed hair.
My head jerks up and I straighten with a smile starting to curve my lips, but when I turn to look, it’s a stranger.
My heart sinks with disappointment as she flounces down the street with an ice cream cone, laughing as she runs across the road to her friends.
I pinch my lips and return to my task, ignoring the fact that I’m already desperate to see Addison again.