“You still haven’t told me what else you can do.”
Frankie shrugged. “That’s ’cause I’m not sure what else I can do. I never practiced much. I always just wanted to cook.”
“Well, what do you know you can do?”
“Charm things, clearly. I’m pretty good at affecting peoples’ emotions. That’s actually not as elementary as it sounds. People are complex. I can move things, you know, telekinesis, but usually only when I’m feeling a strong emotion like panic. I can talk to my family in my head.”
“Can you do that transporting thing?” Addison thought that was pretty cool. Certainly more useful than making sexy pudding, anyway. Not as much fun, but useful.
Frankie sighed. “No. That takes a lot of practice. I never managed to get more than a few feet.”
“Can you transfigure things?”
“Do I look like Harry Potter?”
Addison chuckled and poked at Frankie’s side. “I don’t know. You might be kinda cute with glasses.”
“Oh, shut up.” Frankie laughed, though, and laid his head on Addison’s shoulder. “Are we almost home?”
They'd been to Addison's house every night for the past two weeks. His belly melted a little when Frankie called it home. “You know as well as I do how far away we are.”
“Yeah, but I thought it would be fun to ask.” Frankie grinned impudently. Then he leaned over and bit Addison’s neck, just for good measure, Addison assumed.
* * * *
When Frankie woke in the middle of the night, it was raining, pouring hard and fast and bouncing off the windowpane. The air shook with thunder, and warm gusts of wet air spilled in through the open window—a real summer storm, rare on the West Coast. Frankie smelled it, all wet and green tinged with that odd scent of energy, like the earth was growing. It was when Frankie was his strongest.
“Addie.” He pushed against Addison’s sleeping form.
Addison rolled over and flopped his arm across Frankie’s waist. “It’s night still, babe. Go back to sleep.”
“You want to see something I can do?”
“Right now?” Addison’s eyes opened, but he stayed sleepy like he wasn't sure he was really awake. He was so hot when he first woke up rumpled from sleep and sex and still groggy. It didn’t hurt that every time Frankie looked at him, he remembered all the dirty things Addison whispered in his ear when they were making love.
“Yeah, right now.” Frankie couldn’t resist kissing Addison’s chest. “I can only do it in the rain, and it’s probably best if no one’s watching, yeah?”
"What exactly does this spell involve?" Addison's eyebrow raised.
"Nothing like that." He bit down lightly.
Addison groaned. “Okay, okay. Getting up.”
Frankie enjoyed the white flash of Addison’s ass as he rolled out of bed to pull his pants on. He looked back at him over his shoulder.
“This was your idea. You better be getting up if you expect me to.”
“I was just admiring the view.”
Addison snorted and pulled his sweats back down for a moment to moon Frankie. Then he raised his eyebrows once again. “Well, c’mon. I want to see this demonstration. What are you doing?”
Frankie smiled. “You’ll see.” It had been one of his favorite things to do when he was a kid, something he thought every witch could easily do. It had been years before anyone saw him do it. That’s when he’d realized it wasn’t a common talent. Even his mother had been impressed.
After they dressed and shoved their feet into shoes, he led Addison to a small park, which was luckily only a couple of blocks from Addison’s condo. Addison shivered theatrically, but Frankie just laughed.
“It’s like seventy degrees out. You’re not cold.”
“It’s all wet,” he whined. Addison whining might have been the cutest thing Frankie had ever heard.
“Uh-huh. Weenie.”
“Hurry.”
Frankie held out his arms. “Come stand close to me.”
Addison moved right next to him. He poked Frankie in the side. “Can you do this without your spoon?”
Frankie had been concentrating, but he opened his eyes long enough to see Addison’s teasing grin. “You know what? Just be quiet. No mocking the witch.”
“Sorry, babe.”
“You’re forgiven because you called me babe. Now, hush.”
Frankie closed his eyes for a moment and then raised his hands. He started moving them, waving back and forth. He could feel that rush, old and familiar. He hadn’t done it in a very long time, but it was like getting back on the proverbial bike.
The raindrops froze for a moment, crystalline and shimmering in the air. Then they began to dance. Slow, fast, in loops and figure eights, sparkling patterns that dazzled even Frankie, who’d seen it many times before. The rain moved around them, soaring out far in trembling droplets and then drawing close again before he set it on a new course. The air inside his self-made bubble was still damp but filled with the rushing of warm wind and tiny misting particles of captured rain. It was so pretty, there in the dark, water droplets shining only with the lights from the street and the park lanterns. Frankie couldn’t believe how long it had been since he’d done this. It had always felt like he was in the middle of a diamond—every direction Frankie turned was more sparkling and beautiful than the last.
Addison spun around in their dry dome, laughing in utter childish delight. “It’s gorgeous!”
“No one else in my family can do this. Not very useful, but…”
“Amazing.”
Addison came over and wrapped his arms around Frankie. He kissed him on the lips, little biting kisses on his jaw, a soft lick on his ear. Frankie lost concentration altogether and let the rain fall on them with a soft giggle.
“You can’t kiss me when I’m trying to pay attention.”
“Yeah, that’s how we ended up with laughing sauce, right?”
Frankie grinned. “Yeah.”
Addison shivered.
“Are you cold?” Frankie asked. He was warm, but any large-scale charm usually made him sweat.
“Sort of. It’s pretty wet out here.”
Frankie slipped his hand into Addison’s and laid his head on Addison’s slightly higher shoulder. “You want me to make you hot cocoa when we get in?”
“What kind of hot cocoa?”
Frankie was confused until he saw the grin on Addison’s face.
Oh. That’s nice
. His stomach heated. He’d not expected Addison to be playful like he was, to accept everything so seamlessly, to have a sexy wild streak that was hidden and gorgeous and hot as hell.
They ran, not even bothering to attempt cover, back for Addison’s condo. Inside they stripped and made cocoa naked. Addison cuddled him from behind and kissed and licked until the cocoa nearly scalded in the pan. Frankie charmed it with desire and a bit of naughtiness. The second wasn’t his fault. He happened to be concentrating when Addison’s hand slipped around to cup his growing erection.
When the cocoa was done and poured into cups, they took it to bed, where they sipped and kissed and tasted chocolate and each other’s skin until the cocoa was long forgotten and they were locked together in the darkness with the wet rushing patter of the rain streaming through the open window.
Afterward, when their breathing had calmed and the pounding rain with it, they slept, all tangled and curled and twined around each other, like if they got close enough their skin might just bond together.
* * * *
The morning was met with shy happy smiles and small kisses. They cuddled in the wet morning light with the window open and birds chirping cheerily even through a misty drizzle. Addison stretched their hands up into the air and twined their fingers so closely together that they looked like something else entirely: one being instead of two. It was right then, in the new morning and the warmth of Addison’s bed, that Frankie realized he knew for sure. He was in love with Addison, and not just with the vision with the house on the beach and the cute dog, but the real Addison. The one who was still a little uptight but possibly the sweetest guy Frankie had ever met. The one who was learning what it was like to really be with someone. Frankie saw the happy surprise in Addison’s eyes every time they took another step closer to a real relationship. It warmed his heart.
He reached up to toy with a wheat-colored wave of Addison’s hair and sighed before he realized how silly and lovesick he sounded.
Oh well. In for a penny, in for a pound, right?
Addison squeezed him closer and smiled. “Do you want to sleep awhile longer?” he asked.
“Sure,” Frankie replied with a smile. He knew he wouldn’t; he was still energized from his spell the night before, but it would be nice to hold Addison for a while. “Let’s go back to sleep.”
* * * *
“Don’t you ever work anymore?” Frankie asked with a laugh.
Addison could tell he was just teasing, so he smiled. “I just got done with lunch at Fuego.” He slung his bag on the floor and flopped down onto his customary stool. He marveled again at how casual he felt with Frankie.
“And?”
Frankie looked immediately interested. Addison supposed he’d always be interested in a critic’s opinion of his competition.
He shrugged. “Not horrible. Good spices, good use of cheese…”
“Good use of cheese? What the hell does that mean?”
Addison laughed. “I don’t know what I meant,” he answered. “I guess I thought I’d see if you were really listening.”
“Of course I was listening. It was about food.”
Frankie gave him that crazy gorgeous smile that he loved so much. Addison couldn’t help scooting his stool closer and wrapping his arms around Frankie’s waist so he could nuzzle into his chest.
Frankie chuckled. “Some of us are working here.” But he pulled Addison closer and dropped a kiss on his head so Addison didn’t take him too seriously.
“What’s for lunch? It smells awesome.”
“Baked pasta primavera, fire-roasted veggies, white cheddar, mascarpone, and Brie, orecchiette pasta. Oh, and cheesy rosemary-garlic bread.”
“What’s orecchiette?”
“It’s just a shape. It means little ears.”
Addison made a face. “It sounded good before that fun fact.”
Addison had settled in happily and was busily stealing chunks of cheddar when his phone rang, chirping and vibrating in his pocket. He hoped it wasn’t work calling him in to do some menial task. He tugged the phone out and flinched. It was worse.
Julia.
Addison hit the Ignore button as quickly as he could and shoved the phone back into his pocket.
“Who was that, babe?”
God, he loved when Frankie called him that. Still, guilt sank in his stomach hard.
“No one.”
It was over. He’d ended it—more than once. He wasn’t cheating on Frankie, not with his heart or anything else, but Julia didn’t seem to get the picture.
In the past week and a half, he’d tried to tell her three different times that it wasn’t going to happen, that they weren’t going out socially, and that he was in an actual relationship, not just some dumb boy-on-the-side situation. Situation. That was the word she kept using for it. “We’ll work out this situation,” she’d said. It made him want to scream. He didn’t want to confess to Frankie that he’d been in a relationship when they’d first met, but he thought he should at least tell him that Julia existed. She just refused to go away no matter how many times he evaded her or outright told her he was with his boyfriend.
“Doesn’t look like no one. You seem pissed.”
Addison opened his mouth to explain the whole thing, then froze. He realized that he couldn’t.
Damn
. “I’m just hungry. I didn’t eat much at Fuego.”
“Addison…”
“Sometimes I hate that you can read me so well.” He needed to tell Frankie about Julia. The last secret he’d kept from his boyfriend hadn’t broken them apart, but he was worried another one would.
“Yeah.” Frankie ruffled his hair. “Hey, do you want to go to that wine bar again tonight? Meet Dom and his new boy toy?”
Addison was relieved but a bit let down that Frankie wasn’t going to push it any further. It would’ve been easier if Frankie had wheedled it out of him.
“Yeah, let’s go. What’s the new guy’s name? I’d hate to call him Kenny.”
In the month or so that he’d been with Frankie, Dom’d had a few different guys, and he and Frankie usually managed to meet them. It was weird to be back in the same boat of meeting another couple for a date. Addison waited to feel trapped, thought that he might start to feel like a sweater couple again, but it hadn’t happened. It was actually nice to be in public with Frankie, holding hands and showing people he was in love. Every day he learned more and more what it was like to be a real couple—not one that was just for show. He’d already introduced Frankie to some of his friends from work. They’d never even known Julia existed, so that wasn’t much of an issue. It felt good.
Frankie hesitated. “Shit. I forgot. I’ll introduce myself first.”
“’Kay.” Addison tilted his head up for a kiss. “Hey, one of the customers out there looked pretty stressed when I walked in. Can you do anything for that?”
Frankie snorted. “I’m not Xanax, you know.”
“I know, but…” He wiggled his fingers like he’d seen Dom doing.
“Yeah, yeah. What table is she at?”
“The one underneath the blue flowered thingy.”
“That’s table eight.”
Right when Frankie said that, Owen came rushing in. He usually looked at least mildly worried, but now he’d progressed to full-on panic.
“What’s the matter?” Frankie didn’t look too concerned.
“Bethany just called. She’s not coming in. Like ever. Her boyfriend is moving to LA to start a band, and she’s going with him.”
Frankie's mouth dropped open, and he froze where he was standing. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. It’s not crowded yet, but in an hour or so— Shit.”
Addison took off his suit jacket. “Hey, I’ll do it. If we can number the tables with tape or something, I’ll be fine. Owen will have to help me with the pricing.”
“Have you waited tables before?”
Addison grinned. “Not exactly, but I can figure it out, right?” He couldn’t believe how quickly he’d jumped into trying something new.
Frankie thought for about two seconds before he pointed to a rack in the corner. “Grab an apron.”