Page 26 of Matthias’s Protective Embrace (Cardinal Falls #3)

Chapter Seventeen

FRANK

I can’t put it off any longer. I did everything short of faking smallpox to get out of this family dinner, but my mom kept insisting.

It’s not like I haven’t seen them recently. Thanksgiving was only two weeks ago. That’s nothing. Especially knowing Christmas is right around the corner. But my mom gets what she wants. Always.

So it’s Friday night, and instead of being on a date with Matthias, I’m in the kitchen with my parents and Ethan.

“I’m so glad you could make it, Ethan. I know it’s a long drive,” my mom says, placing her hand on his shoulder as she walks around to take her place at our small kitchen table.

“It’s no problem.” Really, it isn’t. They act like a ninety-minute drive is some great feat.

“I wouldn’t miss this.” I stop myself before I laugh.

Seriously? Part of the issue in putting this together is that Ethan didn’t want to give up his Friday bro night.

The first fifteen times that were thrown out for this were nights I have class.

It took a lot of whining on my part to get them to do this on a weekend instead.

This close to finals, I can’t afford to miss a minute of lecture.

“Well, we’re happy you could make it. How’s Criselle?”

“She’s great. Probably happy to have me out of the house for the night.” For once, I agree with him. I spent much of our childhood looking forward to the days he was out of the house for extended periods of time.

“Give her our best.” My mom grabs the pan from the table and scoops a big helping of her famous casserole onto his plate.

“Of course.”

The table is silent while everyone loads up their food. Except me. I have my own plate, made separately because the casserole is full of things I can’t eat. I have some strange deconstructed version, pulled from the pan a little too early before all those ingredients are added. It looks… sad.

It’s edible, though, so I busy myself eating to tune out the conversation.

“Frank, how’s work?” I practically freeze at the question.

“Uh, it’s pretty good. We’re most of the way through our current backyard job.

” It’s a bittersweet position. I’ll miss being so close to Matthias’s house every day.

Even though he’s not there, I can feel his presence.

A part of me worries about what will happen to us when we switch to a new location at the beginning of January.

I’ll miss out on my morning coffee, my secret lunch, and my water bottle.

Hopefully, that’s all that will change. The two of us are finding our rhythm; I don’t want anything to interfere with that.

“Will there be another job after that? It’s winter. There can’t be that much landscaping to do.” I can sense a trap in my father’s question, but I can’t quite figure out what it is.

“We’ll be remodeling a couple of rooms in a house.

” After two years, they should know the range of jobs that we do.

We’re not close, but it’s not like I haven’t mentioned them several times.

Given how cold the winter is turning out to be this year, I’ll be thankful to work inside every day for a few months.

“Oh, I’m sure that’ll be nice.” The way my father says nice sends a chill up my spine.

“I like getting to work on different projects. It keeps things interesting, and I learn new skills.” The new skills have started to slow down now that I have more experience. There’s always something I haven’t done before or a new technique, though.

“Wouldn’t you like to put some of those skills to work at something else? Like in an office?” My mom is gentle with her words, but I’m suddenly sensing this is a setup.

“I’m happy working for Sam.” It’s the truth. I might not want to do it forever, but I’m satisfied for now.

“We know that he’s been good to you, but I think it’s time for you to move on.

Put yourself in a position to advance. You can’t work construction for the rest of your life.

” I ignore the comment, biting my tongue until I hear where this is going.

“Your brother’s offered to find you an entry-level position in his company. ”

“His company?” I ask. It’s not like he owns the fucking place. He works there, but I’m not sure he has that much pull.

“Frank, I know a lot of people. If I put your name in as a suggestion, they’ll take it seriously. You’ve got enough skills that we should be able to find you something.” Enough skills . Is that supposed to be a compliment?

“I’m fine where I am. When I’m ready to move on, I’ll look for something else.

” I leave out that I don’t expect to be ready to find something else until I finish my degree.

At least with my associates done, I’ll have a few more credentials to my name that I can use to get something at least semi-relevant to my field.

If I take Ethan up on this, I’ll be stuck at that place for who knows how long, the whole time with everyone knowing that I’m only there because my big brother called in a favor. No fucking thank you.

A series of knowing looks pass between everyone at the table.

“Frank, you know we’re thrilled to have you back home.

” I can’t hold back the scoff at my mother’s words.

I’m not sure thrilled is the right word for their sentiment.

“We’re worried you’ve derailed your life.

You spend all your time out of the house, doing God knows what.

Now you’ve got this older boyfriend. We’re not sure what to think. ”

“I thought you liked Matthias?” He’d been nothing but a perfect gentleman when he was here. He decorated cookies, for fuck’s sake. As far as potential partners go, Matthias is what most parents dream of. He’s got manners, a stable job, and a good family.

I won’t mention the whole Daddy thing. I don’t think that would help my case.

“He’s very nice, but…” I can hear the question in my father’s voice. What’s Matthias doing with someone like me? The only answers to that question are not good.

“We want you to take the next step. Take your brother up on his offer. It’ll be good for you.”

“No,” I say defiantly. Am I exhausted from work and school? Absolutely. But for possibly the first time in forever, I’m genuinely happy.

“Then you leave us no choice.” My father looks to my mother for support. “If you don’t do something to find a new job—either on your own or through Ethan—by the end of the year, we’ll have to ask you to move out.”

My jaw drops. I knew they were after me for something, but I didn’t expect them to kick me out of the house. “That’s in less than a month.” There’s no way I can find a job or a home in that amount of time.

“Well, we wanted to have this talk a while ago, but you weren’t available.”

Seriously? That’s what they have to say for themselves. “It’s Christmas. No one’s even hiring.”

“Well, what if we gave you until the end of January?” My mother offers. I can tell by my father’s face that he’s not happy with this turn of events.

I mentally do some math. My first tuition payment for next semester will be in January.

Even if I pinch pennies until then, there’s no way I’ll be able to afford my own place before then and tuition.

If I took a semester off, I could probably afford an apartment and get a second job to build up some savings.

It’ll put me back on my plans by a lot. Some classes are only offered in the spring, so I might have to take a whole year off before I can get back on track.

What’s another year at this point? It’s not like I’m on some four-year plan to graduate on time. At least that gives me a little time to plan and save. “Fine.”

“Fine?” my father asks, raising an eyebrow.

My throat is too tight to say anything else, so I nod.

“I knew he’d see the sense in our plan,” my mom says, grinning like they won the lottery.

I sink into my chair, pushing food around on my plate.

I’m not hungry anymore. All I want is to curl up with Matthias and have him tell me that I’m doing a good job.

Instead, as soon as Ethan gets in his car to go home, I make up an excuse to hide out in the basement.

It only takes me a few hours of going through my financial statement to figure out how fucked I am.

Guess that means all the math classes are paying off.

I fall asleep slowly, my mind spinning out of control, trying to figure out my next steps.

MATTHIAS

“I’m so excited.” Frank practically vibrates in the passenger seat of my car as we pull into the parking lot of the club I frequent. Or used to frequent. It’s been a while since I made an appearance. First, because I was busy with work, then because I was pining after Frank.

“I can tell.” I wasn’t sure how Frank would take it when I suggested hitting up the club that did a regular Daddy/boy night on Saturdays.

Even if I see him as a boy, I’m not sure it’s a moniker that he would use for himself.

Although, he takes to the role perfectly.

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks slowly working out a dynamic that works for both of us.

There are still plenty of things we’re going to need to talk about and work on, but for now, he seems content to let me take the lead on most things.

After our first date, most of the time we’ve spent together has been in my house.

Not that I’m complaining, since it has plenty of privacy and easy access to the bedroom.

It’s convenient around our work and his class schedule, plus it gives me the chance to ensure he’s spending enough time on studying.

No more all-nighters for either of us. That said, it’s not the best way to show him how much he means to me.

A fun night out, away from equations, is a move in the right direction .