Always Only You by Chloe Liese (z-lib.org).epub

have fallen out of my wallet. I didn’t mean for her to see that. Not yet.
Faster than you’d think, she snatches it up, and spins the worn paper between
her fingers. But I’m fast, too, and my hand clamps over it.
Her eyes narrow at me. “What?”
“It’s…private.”
“A private fortune?” She tries to pull her hand away, but my grip is solid.
“What’s the big deal?”
“Please, Frankie. It’s a souvenir of sorts. It’s special to me.”
She frowns. “Why won’t you let me read it?”
The lightbulb goes off over her head. Her eyes widen. “Souvenir? Is this
from that night? When you came over and ate all my Chinese?”
“Excuse me. We split that food fair and square, Miss Revisionist History. In
fact, I think you stole one of my wontons, maybe even two.”
Wrangling the paper out of her grip, which I feel a little bad for—late in the
day, Frankie’s hands get stiff and, in her words, “sloppy”—I flip open my wallet
and slide it back inside.
I’m saving that fortune paper for a day in the future. One involving a sparkly
ring and me hiving with anxiety.
Giving me a scowl, Frankie lifts a fork to dig into her cake, then pauses as
she sees the solitary candle. Her face blanks. “Why the candle? It’s not my
birthday,” she says.
“I told him we were celebrating you. I think he misunderstood.”
Frankie peers at the flame, as if it holds a secret. “What do I do?”
I rub my knee against hers, knowing touch is sometimes all she needs for a
little reassurance. “It might not be your birthday, Frankie. But you can always
make a wish.”
She glances up at me and holds my gaze. The sunset blazes in her eyes, sets
her skin on fire. I soak in every detail I can when she closes her eyes and blows
out the tiny flame with one powerful breath.
As smoke curls in the air, my heart says its own wish, too.
ONCE WE PARK IN MY GARAGE AND GET INSIDE, PAZZA’S THRILLED TO SEE US.
Frankie doesn’t even scold her when she jumps up and tries to lick me. She’s far
away, her brow furrowed. Gears turning.
Following Pazza out onto the deck, Frankie watches her run down to the
sand and wander the shore, sniffing and digging. I’m right behind her, plugging