Kurt walked into the kitchen with a sly smirk on his lips. “The only ones who didn’t drink were Rose, Ash, and Brooks.”
“Well, as much as Ash would like to think that he’s a grown up, he’s not, and it’s time for Rose’s bath so it looks like Brooks is going to George’s.” Violet stood up and grabbed her empty wine glass off the counter. “He’s going to need someone to go with him, though.”
Leelee, Kurt, and Violet all looked at me. “No. No, no, no. I am not going anywhere with Brooks.” My own family was conspiring against me. I should have seen this coming, but one doesn’t anticipate their family to turn against them. This wasn’t Game of Thrones, after all.
“Come on, Frank. It’s for George’s ice cream, and it’s only ten minutes away. You can totally handle being with the guy for that long,” Leelee insisted. “You’re a badass bitch.”
I rolled my eyes. “Nice try.” This shit was not going to happen.
Brooks walked into the kitchen, and I glared at him. Of course, he wouldn’t have drank during dinner. “I can go. Just need a car and some directions.”
Kurt tossed him his keys and pointed to me. “Take the GTO, and Frankie can be your navigation.”
Brooks snatched the keys from the air. “Sweet.” He looked at me and smiled. “You ready, doll?”
Fuck, no. I wasn’t ready for any of this.
*
Chapter Five
Brooks
“You want me to carry one of those?”
Frankie glared at me over her shoulder and thrust a dripping, melting cone at me. “Here,” she growled, “it’s yours anyway.”
I grabbed the cone and licked it. “Shit, that is pretty good.”
“Pretty good doesn’t even cover it,” she mumbled.
She stepped to the side to grab a stack of napkins, and I slipped the fifty dollar bill I had in my hand to the girl working behind the cash register. “Keep the change.” The girl’s eyes lit up, and a huge smile spread across her lips.
“Are you insane?” Frankie whispered. “You just gave her a twenty-two dollar tip.”
I shrugged and grabbed the carrier with four sundaes in it. “It’s good ice cream,” I explained. I always tipped well because I didn’t want to do the proper math in my head. I just gave as close to half of the bill as I could. So far, I hadn’t pissed off any waiter or waitress that I knew of.
“You are insane,” she replied. She pushed open the door and held it so I could walk through.
“Not really, doll.” I pushed past her, and my arm brushed against hers. Then I walked over to the car I had parked in the back of the lot. She may think she knew me and could judge me by the little bit of interaction that we had in the past, but she was way wrong. She also judged me by my father, and he was one person I strived to not be like.
I stood by the passenger door and nodded at it. “Either you grab the keys out of my pocket, or you need to hold this.”
She snatched the carrier out of my hand before I could get the last word out and stood back. “Just take me home, Brooks.”
Instead of doing what she asked, I took a step toward her. “I get why you hate me, Frankie,” I said quietly. “I did things wrong. I have a lot of shit on my plate right now, and I was trying to get everything done at once. Going to Roc about everything and giving him the praise was easier than telling everyone individually. I’m sorry, Frankie. I can’t say anything that will make it better, but I’m sorry.”
I needed to get that out. I knew I had fucked up. The pressure of winning, my dad on my back twenty-four-seven, and my mother slowly slipping away had taken its toll on me the past months.
“We all have things going on in our lives, Brooks. That doesn’t give people the right to be huge douche canoes.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I get that, doll. That’s why I just apologized, and I hope you’ll let me make it up to you.”
She shook her head and took a step back. “You don’t just get to say sorry and I’m supposed to come crawling back to Cummings Racing. You say I don’t know you, well you really don’t know me if you think what you just said is going to change everything for me.”
I followed her retreating step with two steps, putting me close enough to her that the carrier hit my chest. “But it changed something, right?”
She glowered at me but didn’t say anything.
I might not have completely thawed her glacial hatred toward me, but it might have melted a little bit. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I always win.” I pulled Kurt’s keys out of my pocket and beeped open the locks. “We should get going before all of this ice cream melts.”
She ducked around me and yanked open the passenger door. She had the door shut and was buckled in before I had the chance to open my door.
I licked the ice cream that was dripping down my hand and looked into the car.
She was mad at me.
Pissed.
But I had just given her a lot more to think about. I had fucked up before, but I was going to fix it.
*
Frankie
The man was maddening.
I hated him. I truly did.
Well, at least, I had.
Now my brain was trying to figure out what shit Brooks Cummings could have going on in his life. He was the prodigal son of Roger Cummings. Sure, he might have had to prove he was just as good as his dad, but that shouldn’t have been hard since he is as good as his dad was.
My eyes darted over to look at him.
What was going on with Brooks Cummings?
And why in the hell did I need to know?
I hated him, right?
*
Chapter Six
Frankie
“I’m really sorry.”
I pushed my sunglasses on top my head and watched Leelee and Kurt hustle over to her car. “Uh, why?”
Kurt laughed and slipped into the passenger seat.
Well, that wasn’t a good sign.
“Nos called in sick today,” Leelee explained. Nos was the parts guy who took care of the front office for Leelee. I had planned on staying back in the bays with the cars and not having to deal with anyone. But, no.
I was on my own for the rest of the day. “You really need to get someone else to help out, Lee.”
She looked at the shop and shrugged. “Uh, I’m sure you’ll be fine today. I left you notes about everything that needs to be done. It’s not a lot.” She ducked into her car and took off like a pack of demons were chasing her.
I turned to look at the shop and sighed. Kurt better have left me some damn donuts since he had left me take care of the shop by myself, and those notes Leelee left better be short. Three cars were parked on the side of the building, and I could see through the windows on the bay doors that all of the lifts were full of cars.
I pushed open the front door and was thankful they hadn’t left any actual customers there. I dropped my wallet on the countertop and spotted the box of donuts on the back counter. I made a beeline over to the box and flipped the top back to see that four donuts were still left. “There is a God,” I mumbled as I grabbed one covered in white powder sugar. “Heaven.” I inhaled the sweet scent of the donut and sighed. Maybe this day wouldn’t be as bad as I had thought.