Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Finch
We wandered home side by side, staring up at the stars. Frankie and I had left staff drinks at the Salty Dog before most of my siblings, which had garnered a few curious glances. Normally, I was the last one to leave, but Frankie had looked tired and it had been a good excuse for me to make an early exit. After a slew of late nights feeding a baby bird, there was nothing I wanted more than to walk Frankie back to my apartment and watch TV until we fell asleep again.
“The girls were fawning over you hard in there,” Frankie mused, staring up at the silvery, glowing moon.
“Apologies for using you like a human shield at one point,” I quipped. “It’s nice having a girlfriend to fend people off.”
Her shoulders rose and fell with silent laughter. “I got a few pretty serious death stares, you know. I don’t think the ladies of Prickle Island are too happy about Finch Lachlan being off the market.”
I grimaced. “Yeah. Sorry about that.”
I hadn’t expected so many women would be disappointed, but now I was coming to realize they viewed me as some sort of sapphic rite of passage. I hadn’t thought about that before. They all just wanted one night with the zoo vet to tick off their summer bucket lists. It had seemed so fun a few years ago, and now it felt a little more like I was being used. But navigating the Salty Dog with Frankie on my arm had been a kind of relief. I hadn’t needed to be on my game. I could just relax and enjoy the evening instead of jockeying around potential dates to see who I could take to bed that night. Although, I was really missing the having someone in my bed part.
“So, do you even need pickup lines, or do the girls just flock to you?” Frankie joked.
“Mostly flocking.”
She laughed as she put her hands in her pockets. Frankie looked like some sort of 70s painter in her blue daisy-print overalls and a striped knit top. She had a cute, creative vibe—a little vintage, artsy, and colorful. Anyone could tell just by looking at her that she did something beautiful for a living.
Frankie’s eyes dropped to my scrubs and she trailed a mindless finger over my arm. “The scrubs and vet jacket don’t hurt, I’m sure. Everyone loves a woman in uniform.”
I grinned, wondering if “everyone” included her too. “They love it a lot less when the uniform is covered in animal feces,” I added with a chuckle. “All of us go to Tuesday drinks in our work clothes, my siblings in their khakis and me in my scrubs . . . unless I’m particularly covered in bodily fluids, in which case I change into a clean pair. Working with wildlife is a stinky profession.”
“Good thing you naturally smell so good,” Frankie said.
I’d wondered if she remembered the way she’d drunkenly sniffed me on that yacht. There was something incredibly sexy about her liking my scent.
“I don’t know, the smell of kangaroo piss can really get things going.”
“Apparently. The girls seemed to be chasing you down like you’re Harry Styles or something,” Frankie teased. “Go on, tell me your secrets.”
I shrugged. “I have a few charming lines in my back pocket.”
“What is one of your tried and tested Finch Lachlan pickup lines?”
I paused and turned to her. “Did you know a group of finches is called a charm?” I waggled my eyebrows as Frankie laughed.
“ That is your pickup line?” She cackled. “Does that even work?”
“Honestly, it’s about 50/50.”
We both laughed harder, wandering down the road to the zoo. “You’re lucky you’re gorgeous and smart and smell good,” Frankie said through her belly laughter. “Because that’s the only thing selling all that cheese.”
I snorted. “I’m a cheesy person. What can I say?”
“Animal dork.”
“Baking nerd.”
“Here,” Frankie said, passing me a plastic bottle that was tucked in the deep pockets of her overalls. “Water.”
“Wa-ter?” I asked incredulously. “What is this mysterious liquid you speak of?”
Frankie rolled her eyes and playfully elbowed me. “Can I ask you something?”
I took a swig of water and screwed the cap back on. “Anything.”
“Did you ever come close to a real relationship?”
I frowned at the bottle. “My life is too busy for real relationships,” I said. “I can barely keep up with this fake one.”
She hummed contemplatively. “Maybe one day you’ll find someone who can keep up with you or, better yet, make you slow down.”
“There is no slowing down,” I said, the drinks loosening my tongue. “I’m going to work until it kills me according to my mother.”
“That sounds very healthy.”
I swayed drunkenly on unsteady legs despite only having three drinks the whole night. I hadn’t slept more than two hours consecutively in weeks and the effects had me feeling like I’d just swigged down an entire bottle of vodka. “My job is my life. My life is me. It’s all too intertwined to separate,” I said. “That’s why casual things are easier.”
“How many casual things have there been?”
“You want my body count?” I asked with a laugh. “How forward of you.”
“Well, seeing as you’re my girlfriend . . .” Frankie gave me a little, secret smile as the ocean wind tousled her hair across her face. “It seems like the sort of thing I should know.”
“Mm-hmm.” I gave her a knowing look but finally gave in. “I really don’t know. Somewhere in the mid three digits I’d guess.”
“Oh dear lord,” she said. “I don’t know if I should be impressed or horrified.”
I clicked my tongue. “We don’t slut shame in this house.”
“We’re not in a house.” I gave her a look. “And no shame,” she added with a shake of her head. “I just . . . don’t really see the point to it.”
“What does that mean?” There was clearly some subtext there I was missing. “What don’t you see the point in?”
“It just seems like a lot of effort on your part to be with so many people,” she said. “I mean, no one actually enjoys sex?—”
I jolted involuntarily, flinging the water bottle into the air like a haunted mansion clown had just jumped out at me. Frankie paused and looked at me, confused, as I scrambled to pick up the flung object.
“I’m sorry. I think I just had a stroke,” I said, retrieving the water bottle. “ What did you just say?”
“It’s just movies and books where everyone is so turned on all the time,” Frankie said with a shrug. “Like, sex isn’t actually that much fun in reality. I don’t get why anyone would choose to have it all the time.”
My jaw unhinged, my mouth opened so wide at the statement. Snakes had nothing on me. I wasn’t sure we were even speaking the same language. What sort of crazy pig Latin was coming out of her mouth right now?
Finally, I found the words. “Fuck, Frankie, what kind of sex were you having?”
She folded her arms defensively. “The normal kind.”
“Not my normal,” I said with a shake of my head as we carried on up the hill to the zoo.
“Maybe it’s different with women?—”
“I’m going to stop you right there,” I said, holding my arm out to the side like Mom when she hit the brakes too hard. “It is most certainly different. Especially for someone who’s gay, like me,” I added quickly. I didn’t want Frankie to think I was labeling her sexuality. There were lots of different corners of the rainbow community that she might belong to. But I did know many women with similar revelations as Frankie, myself included, although mine happened at sixteen and not twenty-nine.
“How do you know?” Frankie asked. “Have you ever been with a man?”
“A few times in school,” I said. “Nice guys, but it was definitely not for me. I don’t blame you for hating it.”
“I just don’t understand all the hype,” she said.
“Well, we’ve got to find you someone to help you understand the hype then.” The thought instantly made jealousy rise in my belly, something that was swiftly replaced by guilt. I had no right to be jealous of the person who got to rock Frankie’s world.
“That sounds awesome for one day. I would very much like to be proven wrong,” she added with a breathy laugh that made me ball my fists to keep from touching her. “But I’m not really thinking about dating again so soon after everything with Jake,” she replied, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Who said anything about dating?”
That seemed to pique her interest. She looked at me sideways, a wry smile on her lips. “You mean just a casual hookup with someone?”
“Yeah.” I playfully nudged her. Keep your hands to yourself, Finch. Don’t complicate this fake relationship! “I think you’d enjoy yourself. A lot.”
“Maybe.” She chewed her bottom lip more, and I wished I knew exactly what she was daydreaming about. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t feel comfortable with a stranger.”
“Well, if you change your mind, I’ve got a phone full of people who would definitely be interested,” I said, feeling like I deserved a gold medal for not volunteering myself.