Page 58 of A Shot at Love
“How do you know all of this?” Behind them, the bartender set their drinks down on the bar top and Frankie nodded in thanks before handing Jules her vodka. “You’re like a women’s sports encyclopedia.”
“Hah, I wouldn’t go that far. My mom loved sports, and she loved supporting women in sports, so we watched pretty much any and every sporting event we could if Canada had female athletes competing.”
Jules thought of her mom and smiled to herself. She had her brother to thank for a lot of what she had in life but without their parents love of sport, neither she nor Cam would be where they were now.
“She was a big champion of equal opportunity and her love kind of transferred to me, I guess. She would probably be starstruck if she ever got to meet you.”
Frankie jokingly scoffed. “Please. I’m just some girl from the middle of nowhere Alberta who somehow wound up here.” She took a sip of her wine and they both admired the group of skilled athletes they were sharing the same room with. “I’m nothing like any of the athletes here tonight.”
No, Frankie wasn’t like any of the other athletes in the room because what she was doing now, her job and the platform it gave her, was bigger than where they were tonight and who they were with. The women around them alreadyhad their groundbreaking moments of fame and Frankie was living in hers right now.
“I really wish you gave yourself more credit and saw yourself the way I see you.”
“And how do you see me?” Frankie turned slightly to face Jules and the rest of the room fell away, leaving only them as Jules considered the question.
“I see a skilled, strong, confident woman who has worked her ass off to get where she is today, who had to give up on her dream when an injury stole it from her but who never gave up on the sport she loved no matter what obstacles she had to face. I see a woman who has made an extraordinary life for herself despite spending so much of it on her own and I see a woman who gives me butterflies when she smiles at me, who makes me feel seen and appreciated, and who deserves to feel the same in return. I see a woman who is worth being proud of and who should be incredibly proud of herself."
Frankie’s green eyes watered slightly and her throat bobbed as she looked down, unable to hold Jules' stare. It was the most emotional Jules had ever seen her, and while her intention wasn’t to make her date cry, she wanted to be honest, wanted to make sure Frankie really knew how amazing she was.
“You see all that when you look at me, huh?” Frankie wiped a stray tear off her cheek before it had the chance to roll down her face. She laughed and huffed out a breath. “Wow, who knew.”
Jules slid her hand down Frankie’s arm to take her hand, intertwining their fingers. She grinned. “I see all of that and more, but we’re in averypublic place right now so I can’t quite be as forthcoming as I would like.”
The rest of the room flooded back into focus and Frankie nodded. “Thank you,” she said, and something about the way her bottom lip trembled, the way her voice cracked as she spoke, told Jules that her words were something Frankie had been needing to hear for a very long time.
They didn’t linger by the bar for much longer, and instead made their way to tables covered with an impressive spread of appetizers. They filled two plates with small bites then found place cards with their names on them at a table nearthe stage and took their seats as a woman took to the stage to thank attendees and patrons alike for their donations that evening.
Jules didn’t know how Frankie managed to pull off getting them into the event on such short notice because it had only been a week since their trip to LA, a week since their first kiss, since the night Frankieofficiallyasked Jules to go on a date with her.Frankie, as it turned out, had been planning on bringing Jules to the event as her plus one since the first time Jules had even brought it up.
“I knew how badly you wanted to go and it didn’t need to be romantic. I was going to ask you to come just because I enjoy your company and I knew being here would make you happy, it would be something you'd enjoy” Frankie had said when Jules asked her about it as they roamed the room after they finished eating.
People knew who Frankie was and many of the recognizable faces filling the event space were excited to meet her, to talk to one of the only women to ever coach in the most famous men’s hockey league in the world, and Frankie was always courteous and polite in return, speaking about her job with professionalism and passion despite its recent stresses.
And when she introduced Jules to whomever it was they were speaking with, it was always as one of her close friends, a skilled woman in her own right who also worked in sports, and never as Cameron Clarke’s sister.
A few hours later, after Jules had been introduced to a whole host of women her mother would have loved the chance to meet, after Frankie had led her around the room, almost never letting go of her hand, they finally made it back to their condo building.
The elevator ride was filled with a comfortable silence and expectation neither of them acknowledged.They didn’t acknowledge it until Frankie had walked Jules to her door and pressed her against it, kissing the breath from her lungs. The kiss had left her so flustered that her hands trembled as she dug around in her purse for her key and when she finally got the door open, Frankie followed her inside with an unspoken invitation.
Jules hung up her jacket and her purse on a hook by the door and walked to the fridge. “Would you like something to drink?” She opened it to look inside, staring at its contents, her heart racing and then…
“Jules.”
The fridge doors closed and Frankie took her hands, spinning her around and backing her against the kitchen island.
“We don’t have to do anything. I had a great time tonight, okay? I can kiss you goodnight and leave and I will be happy with that..”
“I don’t…" Jules swallowed hard. "I don’t want you to leave.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to stay.”
With those words, Jules cupped Frankie’s face and pulled her down to meet her lips in another kiss and then their hands were everywhere.
Frankie was untucking her shirt, skimming her fingers over the skin above the waistband of her jeans and Jules was slipping the buttons of Frankie’s green suit jacket out of place, sliding it off of her body so it pooled on the ground by her feet.
The journey to the bedroom left behind a trail of discarded clothing and by the time they reached the bed, they were laughing as they both tried to step out of their pants without falling over.
