Definitely yanking my chain.
“Then you know that you’re my muse,” I stated. “You’ve heard the songs. You know.”
Frankie played with my sobriety coin and didn’t reply. I assumed she was embarrassed to have me confirm that she was the reason I wrote so many songs. She was too modest to take credit so I knew that was why she was quiet.
“I think you should post something about me,” she then said. “You know, something about me being an old girlfriend so your fans can relax. I know May posted that picture of us and called me his sister from another mister but I think your fans need an update from you.”
“You’re not just an old girlfriend though,” I said. “You’re the only girlfriend I’ve ever had. That’s why that video is making the rounds so much.”
Frankie rolled her eyes and the action took me back.
“What the hell was that for?”
She tried to take her phone back from me, but I held it out of reach.
“Answer me and I’ll give it back to you,” I said. “What’d you roll your eyes for?”
“C’mon, Risk,” she grumbled. “I’ve seen magazine covers over the years and I’ve heard Hannah and Anna talk about you. You have been with models, the real ones and the Instagram ones as well as actresses, singers and I think Anna even said you dated a famous zoologist before.”
The fucking media twisted everything. I didn’t date a zoologist, nearly all animals scared the shit out of me. I went to dinner with that woman to prove to May that I could sit near a woman who took handled snakes, lions, bears and a bunch of other animals that would make me piss myself on sight.
“God’s sake.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Frankie, I just have to be pictured with a woman to make headlines about being in a secret relationship.”
“So you’re telling me you’ve never dated any of the women you’ve been pictured with?”
“I’ve gone on dates with a lot of them,” I admitted. “But I’ve never dated any of them. You’re the only girlfriend I’ve had. Ever.”
She looked me in the eye when I spoke.
“Okay,” she said. “I believe you.”
“Look,” I smoothed her curly hair back. “I don’t want to talk about the shit people post. Chris will call me any minute now asking what the hell I’m doing. It’s not a big deal, this shit happens every other day and it always blows over. I just wanna be with you. All day, here in this bed. Just the two of us.”
Frankie ran her fingertips over my jaw.
“Well, I’ve left Oath his food and water so I can stay with you all day, rock star.”
“How about going one step further for me?”
Frankie blinked. “How?”
“You don’t work on Mondays, right?”
“Right.”
“Come to London to see us play at Wembley.”
Frankie’s jaw dropped. “Risk . . .”
“Please?” I nudged her head with mine. “You’ve never seen us play live.”
Frankie looked down.
“C’mon, Frank.” I tightened my hold on her. “I want to look side stage and see your face when I play my first show sober. It will mean a lot to me, Cherry.”
It will mean everything.
Her eyes found mine and when she smiled, my heart skipped several beats. This woman. I was weak for her. She truly had no idea just how happy she made me. She didn’t know that I would give up every little thing in my life for her to be mine again. She didn’t know I was still in love with her. There was no point in denying it to myself any longer. I held on to Frankie for nine years. I found myself in a dark hole because I was broken without her.
I fucking loved her . . . and she had no idea.
Her arms came around my neck and her lips hovered just over mine. I looked into her emerald green eyes and I saw my whole life reflected within them. When she smiled, I mirrored it.
“You’ll come to London? You’ll watch me play live?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, rock star.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
FRANKIE
“Hello, pretty girl.”
I opened my eyes when her gentle voice roused me. I sat upright. I lifted my hands to my tired eyes and rubbed them thoroughly. When I dropped them, I smiled. Warmth wrapped around me at the sight of her.
“Hi, Mum.”
Mum stared at me and, as usual, I saw the gears in her mind turn as she tried to place who I was. She gave up after a few seconds and said, “I’m cold.”
“We can’t be having that now, can we?”
“Nope.”
I chuckled as I stood up and tucked her blankets back around her body, giving her a kiss on the head as I went. I retook my seat and winced. God, I was sore. After all the protesting I did about how tender I was to Risk earlier in the day, I was the one who ended up begging him to love my body until I couldn’t think straight. I spent the entire day in bed with him at May’s house. When we weren’t upstairs wrapped in one another’s arms, we were playing Guitar God and making food in the kitchen with the guys. It was one of the most peaceful days I ever remembered having and because of that, I wanted to go and spend some time alone with my mum.