Page 37 of Winning You

“I think so,” Fallon said quietly.

“Then that’s his dad.”

Fallon sucked in a breath. “Oh.”

Frankie knew where this was going, but he also knew that it was a bad idea. Fallon was going to need time to recover. And he didn’t think Charlie was going to give up so easily. “I want to call Fenton in the morning and see about you staying with him. I think you should probably move.”

Fallon squeezed his eyes shut. “I hate moving.”

“I know. Change fucking sucks, but you only have what? Three months on your lease? I don’t want him to be able to find you so easily. If he could hit you just like that, if he could get violent with you and try to force you to leave with him…”

“No,” Fallon said softly, “I get it. It makes sense. I just need time to process. My jaw hurts and my head hurts and I miss my bed.”

“Take mine,” Frankie said.

Fallon gave him a flat look. “Your body needs a bed more than mine.”

He elbowed Fallon. “Excuse the fuck out of me. I’m not ancient. I can handle the couch for a few days.”

Fallon laughed softly, then yawned, wincing when the pain became too much. “You have Advil, right?”

“Bathroom mirror,” Frankie said. “You want me to come tuck you in? Read you a story?”

Fallon stood up and flipped him off. “Be normal, please. It’ll help.”

He held up his hands in surrender, and Fallon’s whole body relaxed. “Fine. Go to bed. We have breakfast plans in the morning.” Fallon looked momentarily horrified until Frankie said, “If we get up early enough, you can see Gage before he has to leave for work.”

“I can be up,” Fallon said quickly.

Frankie held in his laugh until his brother was out of the room, and then he chuckled low in his chest as he tucked his legs up and curled under the blanket Fallon had left behind. As he began to drift, he felt the ghost of Lucas’s arms around him. Even the memory of them made him feel good.

Comforted.

Stable.

Safe.

And that feeling carried him all the way to sleep.

CHAPTER NINE

LUCAS

Lucas’s routinewas completely thrown off by the incident in the hallway. And Gage was back to shaking and angry, a different person than the one Lucas had always known. This Jonny and Sara—or whatever the fuck her name was—they had scarred his friend. They’d created a darkness in him that Lucas wasn’t used to.

And it scared him.

They returned to their little pillow nest after Frankie went back to his place, and Lucas braced himself for Gage to fall apart. Instead, his friend turned toward him and took his hand, tracing the lines on his palm.

“Do you like him?”

Lucas’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“The guy. The health inspector asshole. I was ready to set his car on fire, but…”

“Don’t set his car on fire, please. The last thing your dad needs is his firefighter son going to jail for arson.”

“And you don’t change the subject,” Gage said sternly.