Page 99 of Winning You

Lucas knew his dad had pulled Frankie aside at some point, but he didn’t think the talk had gone wrong or weird. Frankie stayed close when he got back from his too-long bathroom break and didn’t hesitate to kiss him on the cheek in front of everyone.

It was kind. Soft. Careful.

Lucas was still reeling from Gage’s situation, but he allowed it to flow to the back of his mind as he undressed and crawledinto Frankie’s bed. He didn’t ask anymore. The space felt like it was partly his, the feeling even stronger when Frankie walked into the room and let out a happy sigh to find him there.

“Don’t move,” Frankie said.

Lucas heard clothes hitting the floor, then the light switch going off. The bed dipped with Frankie’s weight, and then his naked body—warm and easy—slid up and curled around Lucas.

They were chest-to-chest, their breath finding a matching rhythm, and then Frankie leaned in and took a kiss that made Lucas’s toes curl just the way he said he liked.

“I’m madly in love with you. And your family is wonderful,” Frankie murmured when he pulled back.

Lucas settled against his chest and drew lines around the knobs of his spine. “My dad wasn’t mean?”

“He was…nervous. But he’s so fucking proud to be your dad. And he…” Frankie went quiet for a beat. “He asked if he could have a place in Elodie’s life.”

“He wants to be a granddad,” Lucas said quietly.

Frankie sighed. “I want that for her. It feels so fast. Scary fast. But I don’t want to slow down.”

Lucas clung tighter. “Me either.”

A long pulse of silence passed over them, and then Frankie said, “We’re going to need a second adoption party.”

“What? Why?”

“For after I marry you. When you’re ready, I want it to be official between you and her.”

“Oh,” Lucas breathed out. “You—you’re that sure? About me?”

Frankie pulled back a bit more and traced a touch over Lucas’s mouth. “My heart’s beating in your chest now, Lucas. It’s yours to take care of. I don’t want it back.”

Lucas allowed himself to feel the weight of those words. And then he smiled against Frankie’s finger. “My poet.”

He heard Frankie’s smile in his voice when he said back, “My princess.”