CHAPTER 22

Wilder

 

Even though Frankie was safe and sound asleep in my bed, I was restless. I felt out of control, and until she went back to the doctor and got the all clear, I knew I’d continue to feel the same way. It was rare that I drank, but that night I sat on my porch with a bottle of whiskey.

So much had happened in the span of thirty-six hours, and as hard as it was to appreciate how much worse it could have been, I was trying to do just that. A set of headlights shone, and when Maverick parked his truck and got out, I was surprised to see him.

“Everything okay?” I asked as he got closer.

“Yeah. Dixie’s sleeping and said she wanted to wear her princess dress home tomorrow, so I came back to grab a shower and get it. Remember Janice Martin?”

“She was in my class, right?”

He nodded. “She’s a nurse now. Promised she’d stay in Dixie’s room until I got back.”

“That’s cool.” Again, a perk of small-town life.

“I need to get back, but I thought I’d stop by to see how Frankie’s holding up.”

I handed him the bottle when he sat next to me, apparently not in that much of a hurry to return to the hospital. “She’s good. Doesn’t seem to be in any pain and took the sling off her arm this afternoon because she said it was overkill and her shoulder was fine.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah.”

“I know it’s not the best time, but I wanted you to ask her to press charges against Brenda.”

I took the bottle and threw back a swallow. “I can talk to her, but I’m gonna wait until after the checkup in a week.”

“Fair enough. I just want everything I can thrown at Brenda. The more ammunition I have, the better my case.”

“I’m pretty sure her driving drunk with Dixie is about as good a case as you can get.”

“I don’t want pretty sure, Wild. I want to know for certain that fuckin’ bitch won’t ever be able to be alone with my daughter again. She almost killed her,” he seethed.

I didn’t need to be a dad to understand where he was coming from, but even knowing I was going to have a baby changed things. “I feel you, Mav. And I promise I’ll talk to Frankie as soon as I know she’ll be good.”

“Appreciate it.”

He got to his feet. “Dixie keeps talkin’ about Frankie. She remembers seein’ her before she crashed. Said she heard her calling her name and tellin’ her everything was gonna be okay. Think we could stop by tomorrow so Dixie can visit? So I can see her… I need to thank her face-to-face.”

“Plan on it. But just you two. I don’t need everyone all up in her space and stressin’ her out. If somethin’ changes, I’ll call you. Otherwise, just shoot me a text when y’all are on the way.”

He jerked his chin and then took off, and I waited long after the dust settled before I headed back inside. In that time, I used it to finally allow myself to process everything that had occurred.

With me not giving a choice to Frankie about coming home with me, I just realized that it might be something I regretted if she ended up regretting it. I knew she was it for me, but I didn’t want her to feel as if she was forced to be with me. And although right now I didn’t care because she was carrying my child, and I wouldn’t allow her to be anywhere else, it was something I’d have to address in the future.

Deciding I’d spent enough time in my thoughts, I headed inside and toed my boots off, leaving them at the front door, and then went to my bedroom to check on Frankie. She was on her side, hands folded in prayer and her cheek resting on them. Her glasses were crooked, and I took them off stealthily so as not to wake her and then set them on the nightstand.

Her short hair fell when I removed her glasses, so I gently pushed it back and froze when she moved. But after a sigh, her breathing went back to deep, and I crept out and closed the door behind me.

It was probably because I had some whiskey, but I wasn’t tired at all even though I barely slept last night. So instead of tossing and turning in bed and potentially waking her up, I went downstairs to my office and opened my desk drawer. The leather-bound journal was familiar in my hands, the pages and binding worn from how often I looked at it. I brought it with me to the living room, where I sat on the couch and opened the first page.

Frankie’s drawings ranged from beautiful flowers to flaming skulls. Her thoughts were random and poignant. She alternated between colorful and black and white. One thing that remained steady was her dreams. Always. I’m going to travel the world and eat all the food, and find a way to combine my love of art with baking. She wrote that consistently as if it were a mantra.

I ran my fingers along the block letters of my name, feeling the indentations of the pen marks and appreciating the intricacy of the patterns in each letter.

When I turned the page again, I swallowed, having already memorized the words, but I reread them anyway.

He was looking at her even when he thought I couldn’t see. But I knew, just like I always did, that he thought Piper was prettier than me. Everyone does. He probably wishes he’d have gotten to ride next to her instead of getting stuck with me, but I think once he realized he didn’t have a choice, he didn’t bother even trying.

But then we started talking, and he made me feel like he cared what I had to say. I felt funny around him, in a good way. A way I hope to always remember. But what I know I’ll never forget was the way he actually made me feel pretty.

I didn’t realize she felt that way the first time I saw her, and I was glad that I made her feel pretty because she had been. She still was. But her insecurities stemmed deeper than that because that wasn’t the only time she wrote about the way she felt insignificant compared to Piper. As I continued looking through the pages, I came across another entry.

I got contacts today. I think they make me look older, even though my eyes itch. Piper and I don’t look alike at all, but we do have the same eyes and everyone says how pretty hers are. Maybe without glasses people will think mine are pretty, too.

On the back of that page was a drawing that was burned into my brain. It was of a girl, and she was turned to the side looking into a mirror. You could see that she was in a turtleneck wearing glasses and had short hair, but in the reflection, she had long, wavy hair and no glasses, her eyes were lined in black with long lashes, her shirt was cut to a v, and her breasts were large and displayed cleavage.

“That was what I thought everyone saw when they stared at Piper.” I whipped my head around when I heard Frankie’s voice. “Because to me, that’s what I saw. She was the complete opposite of me.”

She sat next to me and I braced for her anger. The last thing I wanted was to upset her, so I was racking my brain to try to think of ways to calm her down and explain why I was looking at her journal… why I kept it in the first place. I’d grazed the topic, but I wasn’t sure she fully understood. “Frankie, I—”

“I grew my hair out for an entire year. And when I saw you again, and we were alone by the flowers, I could tell you wanted to kiss me.”

“I did.”

“And I thought part of that was because I got rid of my glasses and grew my hair out.”

I shook my head. “It had nothing to do with that, but everything to do with you.”

“I know that now. I mean, as soon as you saw me again at the reception with short hair and glasses, you kind of mauled me against the barn.”

“Again, that had nothing to do with your hair or glasses, and everything to do with you being you and me not being able to resist you.” She tried to cover a yawn. “Let’s get you back to bed.” I lifted her into my arms and carried her down the hall. Once I had her situated, I flicked the light and then stripped down to my underwear before sliding in beside her. She immediately rolled over and rested her face on my chest and threw her arm over my stomach. I kissed the top of her head and wrapped her up, pulling her even closer to me. “You comfortable like this?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”

“Night, Wilder.”

I closed my eyes, letting her soft, sleepy voice penetrate and warm my heart. “Night, Grace.”

* * *

My dick stirred, and I opened my eyes to find Frankie in the same position she was in when we went to sleep. I didn’t have any work to do since Dad told me he and Hunter would take care of everything until Frankie was better. Normally, nothing would stop me from gettin’ my ass outta bed and putting in a day’s work, but things were different for Frankie.

I’d do anything for her, or not do something, as it were.

Including letting her sleep and focus on nothing but rest. I slid out from the bed and pulled the covers back up to her chin and then grabbed a quick shower. It was still early as hell, and even though I wasn’t leaving her to work the ranch, I still had shit to tend to in my barn. After leaving a note on the nightstand, I ate a bowl of oatmeal, then went to feed my horses.

I wasn’t surprised that she was still sleeping when I went back in, so I kept busy putzing around until I heard her stirring. Not sure what she was in the mood for, I went into the bedroom to ask her, but heard the water running for the shower. A gentle knock on the door caused it to swing open, and there she was. Naked, wet, so fucking beautiful. Her hair was tied in two little pigtails to keep it from getting wet, and water was cascading down her body as steam slowly filled the bathroom. She turned as she reached for the bar of soap and squeaked when she saw me standing there. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry, I would have let you known I was here, but I was struck speechless at seeing you naked.”

“I’m glad you’re here.”

My zipper pressed into my hardening dick. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. My arm hurts when I move it too much. Can you wash my back?”

She wasn’t supposed to be on her feet for more than a few minutes, so I went over to the walk-in shower. Reaching for the soap, I ran the bar over her skin. “You do know that in any other situation, I’d take my time doing this, right? I’d lather up the soap on my hands and rub every inch of your body before I dropped to my knees and ate your wet, clean pussy.”

Her upper body shivered. “Was that last sentence a question?”

“Not really.”

“Well, that’s good to know.”

I chuckled as I bent down and ran the soap over her feet. When I was done, I rinsed my hands off. “Get the suds off you, honey. You need to get back in bed.”

“I’m okay for a few more minutes.”

“Let’s not take any chances.”

She angled her head back so her neck elongated, and I gritted my teeth as I watched the bubbles slide down her chest, exposing her pointed, dark nipples. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Sorry.” I jerked my head. “What do you want for breakfast?”

As she shut the water off, I grabbed a towel and held it open for her. “I’ll just make some toast.”

“I’ll get it for you. What do you want on it?”

“Just butter please. And maybe some juice.”

“I can do that.”

She wrapped herself up and kissed my chin. “Thank you. Do you have something I can wear, I forgot I don’t have clean clothes.”

“Be right back.” I pulled a Ryder Ranch T-shirt and a pair of old boxers from my dresser drawer and brought them to her. “I’ll ask Molly to bring something for you to wear until we can get you back to your place to get some of your things.”

“That would be great.”

I really didn’t want her to waste any more time on her feet, so I left her to get dressed and then made her some toast. She ventured out and went right to the couch, where I brought her breakfast. I was just putting the plate and her glass in the dishwasher when I heard footsteps on my porch. And then the door was pulled open, and Mav walked in carrying Dixie. She looked tired, and her leg was bandaged up, but her princess dress hid almost all of it.

When we were at the hospital, I spent all my time with Frankie, but I did sneak away to see Dixie. She was asleep and covered up to her chin in blankets, so I wasn’t able to get a good look at her, but I knew she had some gnarly scratches on her face.

“Hey, beans.” I dried my hands on a towel and walked over to her. She didn’t lift her head from Mav’s shoulder, and I was afraid to touch her, but I couldn’t resist running my finger along her cheek. “You tired?”

She nodded. “Frankie.”

“She’s still out of it, but that was the first thing she said when she woke up,” Mav said.

“She’s waiting for you in the living room.” I smiled when Dixie did. “Come on.”

They followed me down the hall, and when we got to the living room, Frankie’s eyes got wet, but she sniffled and fought back the tears. “Hey, you.”

Dixie wiggled to get down, and Mav brought her over to the couch where, despite being sore and in pain, she crawled right into Frankie’s lap and started crying. Mav cleared his throat, and I lost sight of my woman’s face when she hugged Dixie back and whispered what I imagined were encouraging and loving words into her ear.

We backed away and let them have a moment, and when I saw the look on my brother’s face, I reached up and clasped the back of his neck. He was so tense that when I squeezed, it was as if I had my fingers wrapped around a rock. “What do you need?”

“She’s not here.”

“Who?”

“What I need.”

My arm fell away, and I blew out a breath, wishing to God I could take some of his pain away. He rolled his shoulders and peeked back into the room, and I followed his gaze. Dixie was lying down with her head in Frankie’s lap, where she was gently running her fingers through Dixie’s tangled hair. “Doesn’t look like you’re leaving anytime soon.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“I’ve got that dead oak in the back that needs to get chopped down.”

He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s go tear that fucker down.”

We made sure the girls were okay and then went to cut down the tree, checking on them every twenty minutes or so. I left Mav to chop on his own since he clearly needed to take his aggression out. While he was doing that, I made lunch for everyone and hung out in the living room until he was finished.

It was actually a bit of a fight to get Dixie to leave, but she reluctantly agreed after we promised she could come back tomorrow.

I wasn’t used to sitting around so much, but because I knew it was what Frankie needed, I tried to just enjoy the break from work while we scrolled through the channels on TV. She dozed off until the sound of a motorcycle vibrated the walls. “That’s my dad,” she said as she sat up. “Sorry, I forgot to tell you they were coming.”

“It’s okay, honey. They’re welcome here as long as you want them to be.” I kissed her forehead and got up from the couch. “Don’t move.”

She rolled her eyes but minded, and when I pulled open the front door, her parents were walking up the steps. I shook hands with Zee, and Dorothy hugged me and thanked me for taking care of Frankie. Their visit was quick and anti-climactic, and after they left, I went inside and found Frankie throwing out the empty bottles of beer. I was just going to chastise her for getting up, but she turned to me. “I’m on my way to the bathroom. I can throw out a couple of empty bottles of beer.”

“Okay, honey. But hurry up and get off your feet.”

“Why don’t you drink?”

Her question wasn’t unusual. I’ve been asked before, but I just always blew it off and never really explained myself because I never felt it was anybody’s business. But Frankie, I’d tell her everything. “It’s not a shock to you that I like to be in control. Drinking hinders that, and I don’t like that feeling.”

“When have you felt like you didn’t have control.”

“You know when, honey.”

She leaned against the counter. “Do you feel like that now?”

“Yes.”

“All the time?”

“No.”

Her eyebrows scrunched together. “When don’t you?”

“When I’m inside you any way I can be.”

She bit her lip and bowed her head, thinking she understood what I was saying. But she had no clue.

“My mother walked out on her entire family with absolutely no warning. My dad was a mess, my brothers were angry, my sister was sad, and my life sucked. Except for when I thought about you, I was fucked in the head.” I swallowed down the acid in my mouth. And then I grinned. “Being inside you is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. You make everything make sense in a way I never knew I needed or if I dared to wonder, never thought I deserved.”

“I like it,” she admitted bashfully. “A lot.”

Christ, my dick was getting hard with just a few words out of her mouth. “I know. I like it with you, too. No… I love it with you.”

“Too bad we have to wait a week.”

That did suck. “Yeah, it really is too bad. But when we finally can again, it’ll be worth the wait. You were worth the wait.”

“So were you.” I didn’t respond to that, and she tilted her head. “You know how wonderful you are, right, and that I’m the lucky one?”

I’m glad she thought that, but she was wrong. I was the one who was lucky. “Let’s get you in bed. We can snuggle until you fall asleep.”

Her lips wrinkled, and she bit back a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“You saying snuggle.”

“Why is that funny?”

She held her hand out and pointed at me. “You’re all broody, sexy, alpha male, but you like to snuggle.”

“Only with you.”

“It’s just cute to hear you say that.”

“I thought I was sexy?”

Her feet padded on the floor when she came to me. “You’re that too.”

“Yeah?” I wrapped my arms around her back and held her waist. “What else am I?”

“Sweet and funny and kind and hot and smart and hardworking and hot and—”

“You already said that.”

Her fingers slid along my scalp until she fisted the strands. “It bears repeating.”

“It does, huh?”

“Yup.”

“God,” I said in disbelief. “You’re so fucking gorgeous it makes me insane.”

Her fingers slid down to my neck. “I feel the same way.” Then she pressed into me and rubbed herself against my erection. “I feel something else, too.”

When she started to drop down, I held her still. “No, Frankie. You’re supposed to be in bed.”

“Then take me to bed so I can suck your dick, Wilder.” She pulled my head down so our eyelashes were brushing. “You’re not the only one who feels like everything makes sense when we’re together. And right now, I need—”

I pressed my lips to hers. “Okay, honey. That’s all you have to say. You need to wrap that mouth around my cock and make me come, I’m not gonna stop you.”

“Good.”

Good didn’t describe it. Frankie didn’t just suck my dick. She worshipped it. And when she was finished, I pulled her up and rubbed her clit over her panties until she came. And then we both passed out before we even had a chance to turn the TV on.