Dark and Dirty Like You've Never Seen

What Are You Doing to Me?

I lay on Franks bed on my stomach watching TV, my arm propped up on a pillow. The pain killers started to wear off and it was bothering me. Frank sat next to me on the bed, cross legged with his hand rubbing my back slightly. I let my eyes flutter close as I felt him trace along my shirt, sending shivers down my spine and causing the hair on my arms and neck to stand up. I stretched and rolled over to my side, propping myself up on my good arm. I looked up at him and smiled. Not many words were said in the past hour or so since Frank asked me out. It all flooded back to me and I swallowed a lump that was forming in my throat. I’m almost sure that it actually happened, but it just felt so surreal. This whole day was so bipolar with everything that had happened; it was hard to grasp most of it. Frank and I are dating. Frank punched my dad. I broke my hand. Aaron wants me dead. My dad most likely wants Frank dead. All before dinner time. That’s when I heard my stomach growl. Frank looked down at it then back up at me.

“Hungry?”

“I guess so.” I sat all the way up now, throwing my legs over the side of the bed. I felt him put his hand under my chin and pull my face towards him. He placed a light kiss on my lips and I savored every second of it. I don’t know how long it will take me to get used to that or his touch or if I’ll ever get over it. I prayed that he didn’t feel me shaking.

“We can see what we have here.” He rose from the bed and made his way to the kitchen, and I followed suit. We walked down the hall and back through the house before returning back to the kitchen. I leaned against the counter while Frank rummaged around the cabinets and the refrigerator. He returns with a box of pasta noodles and a mason jar with “Sauce” written across the top. “How does pasta sound? We still have some of my mom’s homemade sauce.”

“Sounds great.” I smiled and pushed off the counter. “How can I help?”

“Oh, no. You just get to sit back and enjoy. This is Café Iero, and the special today is Gemelli.”

I gave him a questioning look. He rolled his eyes in response.

“I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I can cook. You’d be amazed at some of the things I can do. They might surprise you.” He winked at me and I felt my face flush.

“Ok, chef. Do your work.” I hoisted myself up on the counter and sat back and watched the magic that was Chef Iero. Whatever it was that he was making didn’t take more than a half hour. He pulled the pan out of the oven and sat it on top to cool.

“Alright, you can help me now.” He pulled out plates, bowls, and utensils from various cabinets and handed some of it to me. “Wanna set the table?”

“Sure.” I started placing the plates and bowls on the table. I turned to see what he was getting, and I saw him pull out some lettuce and dressing from the fridge. That must be what the bowls are for. My mouth was water from the smell of the food and I realized how hungry I actually was. Frank came over and put some salad in each of our bowls and sat out a few different types of dressings to choose from. He pulled out my chair and motioned for me to sit down. I smiled and took the seat he was holding out for me. He went to take the seat across from me but had a sudden realization.

“What would you like to drink? We have tea, soda and … water pretty much. Or beer.” He chuckled at me and I couldn’t help but laugh back.

“I’ll just take some tea.” He came back with two glasses of tea and sat them on the table in front of us before he finally took the seat across from me. He grabbed the bottle of Italian dressing, and I went for the raspberry vinaigrette. I went to pick up my fork to dig in when I saw Frank staring at me out of my peripherals. I returned his gaze and cocked my head to the side. “What?”