When they all thought it was wise to fucking talk about my sister.
When they thought they fucking had the backbone to whisper her name. I shut that shit down before it could even echo off the walls.
She was the only one I cared about out of all these people. Her and Olly and Carson. They were my family. All of these other people were just noise.
If Cami hadn’t been so good to Frankie, if Frankie didn’t care for her so much, I would have cut her off just like the rest of them.
My phone rang in my pocket, and I glanced down at Frankie’s picture before I quickly answered.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Beck. What are you doing?”
I ran my hand through my hair. I didn’t really want to tell her I was at a party, but I wouldn’t lie to her. “I’m at Josh’s house.”
She knew exactly what that meant. Josh was a party boy, and no one would even be here if it wasn’t for the epic parties he threw constantly.
“Oh. Okay.” She hesitated, and I hated that she did. I hated that any part of her had been diminished. “I’ll let you go.”
“No.” I said it so quickly I had no doubt I shocked her. “What are you doing?”
“I’m just hanging at the house. Me and Mom were watching a movie, but she’s already passed out.”
I laughed because that’s how our mom always was. I don’t think the woman had ever finished a movie if it was after nine o’clock. I had watched my father carry her to their room more nights than I could count. Back when he could still do so.
“You want to do something?” I pulled my keys out of my pocket, and I was already on my way out the door. I would drop anything for her.
I would do anything.
“No. You enjoy the party.”
“I’m already heading to the car. Let’s go for a swim.” It was one of her favorite things in the world to do. It always had been.
“It’s already eleven.” She rustled around, and I wondered if she was already in bed.
“So? Get ready and grab my shorts. I’ll be there in fifteen.”
“Are you sure?” There was a spark in her voice that told me she was excited, and even though once upon a time, I was a shitty brother who would have taken that sound for granted, I didn’t anymore.
“Yes, Frank. I’d much rather hang with you than these assholes.”
“Okay.” She laughed. “But stop calling me Frank.”
She didn’t mean it. I had been calling her that since we were little, and I was the only one she allowed to do so.
We hung up the phone, and I started climbing into my SUV just as Olly came jogging from the house.
“You leaving?”
“Yeah. I’m going to go hang with Frankie.”
I didn’t know what it was about him and her, but he took last year almost as hard as I did.
“I’ll go with you.” He climbed into the passenger seat before I could tell him differently.
“Where’s Carson?” I started the car and pulled off. Carson rarely left a party unless it was with a girl.
“He was making out with two different girls when I left.”
He wouldn’t be missing us then.
Olly and I barely spoke on the way to my house. He seemed stuck in his own head, and I knew that I was stuck in mine.
Frankie stood outside as we pulled up, and there was a bit of shock in her eyes as she watched Olly climb out.
“Was the party that bad?” She laughed, but she knew as well as I did that Olly didn’t give two shits about that party. He wouldn’t have even been there if it weren’t for me and Carson.
“A complete bore.” He chuckled and tucked his hands in his pockets as he stared at her.
It was weird.
The way the both of them were looking at each other was fucking weird.
“Let’s go.” I linked my arm in hers and led her through the back gate. We passed by our perfectly clean pool, the lights shining brightly beneath the water, and I unlocked the gate at our property’s edge.
The smell of saltwater was so clear and pure, and Frankie and I both took a deep breath as our feet hit the sand. The ocean was black with a sliver of moonlight dancing across the surface.
The water was harsh and deep, and God only knew what hid beneath the surface, but this beach and this water had been an escape for Frankie and me ever since we were old enough to go to the beach alone.
It was our place.
It didn’t matter who else was with us. It belonged to the two of us.
Frankie squished her bare toes in the sand, and I kicked off my tennis shoes and threw them to the side. Olly was standing beside her doing the same, and he was still watching her. I didn’t know what he expected her to do, but he didn’t seem to be able to look away.
I threw on the shorts she brought me before grabbing her hand and walking into the water with her. A year ago, she would have run headfirst into the water without a worry in the world, but that time was gone.
That wasn’t who she was anymore.
She hadn’t been that girl since Lucas fucking Vos.
My hand tightened on hers, and I tried to calm my temper as she looked up at me. I couldn’t think about that asshole without an all-consuming rage.
He had been my friend. I had fucking trusted him.
I trusted him.
And I regretted every moment of it.
If I didn’t know that it would hurt Frankie, I would kill the motherfucker. I had thought about it more times than I could count, but it would hurt her.
I had hurt her already when I had let my rage take control, and nothing mattered to me except not letting her get hurt again.
Not by anyone, but especially not from him. I refused to even allow him to look her way. It
