Finding The 10

12 - Stumble

Eli's POV

"There is no way that actually happened!" I accuse Frankie as she nods frantically to prove her point.

"It did! I fell face first and not only broke my collar bone but I also had a black eye for two weeks. I had the principal asking if my father was beating me." She blurts out in hysterics.

I laugh along with her. I have met Frankie's dad before and once you get past the hard exterior of an army officer, he is as docile as a kitten. He would never lay a finger on his children let alone break their bones.

"Your dad must have been pissed. He is such a nice guy. I bet you miss him."

"He is the best. I miss him like crazy but I needed to spread my wings I guess. The only reason he agreed to let me move so far away from him was that at least I would be close to the rest of my family."

"Do you see them often? Your aunties and grandmother I mean."

"I try to visit nonna every second weekend but it's been a few weeks since I saw her. But knowing my Auntie Josie, she will be forcing Marco and Beth to have their engagement party within the next 3 weeks. So I guess it will be a family reunion all in one." She says laughing.

"Really? That quick you think?"

"Oh yeah. He is the oldest and will be the first to get married. I can gaurantee my nonnna and aunties have been planning this since they first met Beth. Everyone in the family loves her and have been begging Marco to hurry up and marry her."

"What about you?"

Her eyes grow wide as she tries to understand what I mean.

"What about me?" She asks.

"Don't they ever hassle you over getting married?"

"I would have to take a guy home for them to meet before they started planning my wedding for me."

"Wait, you have never taken a guy home to meet your family?"

Frankie shakes her head wildly like a small child and it makes me chuckle.

"Why not?" I ask.

"I only want to bring home someone I want to eventually marry and I haven't found Mr right yet. Although I have met Mr commitment issues, Mr fetish, Mr alcoholic and Mr beats up women." She lists, using her fingers to count them.

"Mr fetish?" I ask trying to keep the conversation light.

"Don't ask." She says and finishes the last of her beer before heading to the kitchen for another.

We made it home over three hours ago and have stayed up talking and drinking ever since. Frankie is honestly an absolute blast to be around. I feel like I can not only talk to her but I can also be myself around her.

"Oh I forgot to tell you, I am working on my own list as per your advice." She says as she hands me another beer.

"That's awesome. What have you got so far?"

"Someone who won't try to kill me." She says with a drunken giggle.

It's good to see her laughing about the situation she managed to escape from but I can't help but feel that she isn't over what happened. I want to talk to her about it but I'm afraid that she will close up and not want to talk to me ever again. Now that we are finally talking and having fun, I don't want to jeopardize this new found friendship. Call me selfish, but I love this side of Frankie.

"But seriously, what are you looking for in a guy?"

"I'm still trying to figure that out to be honest. But I want something like this. A guy I can sit around drinking and talking with for hours on end without getting bored. I want a friend first and a lover second."