Out of the Ashes (The Game 5)

I was mainly kidding—and I understood him. After all, I’d put him in a similar category myself.

“I’m messing with you, Franklin. I know exactly what we’ve been to each other.”

“Oh. Okay. Good.” His shoulders lost some tension, and he twirled pasta around his fork. “I truly hope you will let me make amends for how I’ve damaged our friendship, Tate.”

I hummed around a mouthful of food and studied him, and I decided right then and there not to drag things out. There was no point. We’d both suffered enough.

“Good heavens—this is amazing,” he muttered, surprised. “You could be a chef.”

I smirked. “Lee and I have a few dishes we’ve mastered over the years that we continually come back to when we’re having people over. This is one of them.”

On an everyday basis, we were a mix of playing it safe and “let’s see what happens.” Which had resulted in everything from unbelievable success to ordering takeout.

“I’ve never understood cooking,” Franklin admitted. “But Lily and I make a great team for French toast and grilled cheese.”

I could see that, especially since Lily had very particular tastes, and it fit Franklin’s personality to make sure he could cook the few things she loved. Bread you could toss in a skillet was pretty much Lily’s base for every meal.

It took plenty of creativity to get her to eat somewhat healthily.

We could talk more about Lily later, though. I wanted us to get back on track.

“I’m not mad at you anymore, Franklin.”

His gaze found mine at the speed of light, and hope and wariness mixed in his eyes.

I took a sip of my wine before I continued. “We’re not always the best friends we can be. Sometimes we’re even shitty toward those we’re supposed to treat well. Whether we’re going through something that robs us of energy or will to make the right choice, or we lose control some other way.” Sometimes we fucked up, plain and simple. “In our case, I have two options. I can either hold a grudge and push you out of my life—or I can broaden my perspective and take into consideration that you’re much more than one mistake. You’re the awkward guy who listened to me when I went on and on about my breakup. You’re a fucking amazing dad to Lily. You’re kind and generous.” I reached over and squeezed his hand. “And I know you wanna set things right.”

“I want nothing more.” He rushed out the words. “I’m so very sorry I hurt you, Tate.”

I nodded with a dip of my chin and withdrew my hand. “I know. And we’re okay, I promise.”

“You forgive me?” he pressed.

I chuckled. “I forgive you, Franklin.”

“Oh, thank—” He cut himself off and blew out a heavy breath. The relief was so thick, I could almost feel it. “Thank you. I can’t—I can’t thank you enough. And I understand it might take time for you to trust me, but I will never cross a line like that again. I care for you too much—I respect you and your boundaries.”

Well, that was certainly nice to hear, because if this happened once more…

Oof.

“Glad to hear it.” I shoveled more food into my mouth and snatched two napkins from the dispenser next to me. “I’ve missed our coffee dates. I hope we can get back to that next week.”

“First thing on Monday, I propose.” The relief lingered in his smile, and it was sweet. He’d really felt bad, hadn’t he? “Perhaps we can upgrade it to lunch? Start a new tradition?”

I liked the sound of that.

After we’d eaten, Franklin requested a tour of the apartment.

The kitchen, the dining area, and the living room kind of blended together into one big space divided by a few load-bearing pillars. I told him Lee’s uncle owned the building and that this was once the attic, hence the tiny rooms along the northern wall. Rooms more aptly called big closets.

“The plan is to knock down a couple walls,” I said, opening the door to my storage space for instruments. I had some moving boxes I hadn’t bothered unpacking yet too.

“Great potential, as they say.” Franklin peered inside the room and smiled. “When I had lunch with Kingsley yesterday, it’s possible I asked if you two had your own dungeon at home.”

I laughed.

“That was his reaction, too,” he chuckled. “Then he said the only playroom he was planning on building was one for your future child.”

Oh, fuck me. He’d said that?

Aw, man. Oh hell. Now I wanted to track him down and hug him for all I was worth.

“Look at you.” Franklin was smiling down at me. “I’ve never seen you so happy.”

Well, right now, that was a problem. I had to pull forth other memories if I was going to make a move on Franklin.

“I really loved fucking him in front of you. Your jealousy made me so goddamn hard, Tate.”