Rules and Roses: Untouchable Book One

by Long, Heather

  “He has a name, Coop.”

  “I know, but he’s still French. Make sure I get all the deets on the ride home.” Then he waved as I headed for the hall toward my car. At least with the head start, I’d be there to meet him.

  The heat slapped me in the face on my way out the door, so I got the car open and the engine on to get it cooling then took the time to admire Bubba’s bike. It really was a pretty bike.

  Mathieu took a little longer than I expected, but then he was there—a little flushed like he’d been running. “Sorry, Francesca,” he said, catching my hand and pressing a kiss to each of my cheeks. “I had to stay a moment after class to discuss an assignment—it uses spreadsheets and interest rates, all boring, trust me.”

  “No problem, hop in.”

  We headed over to one of the fast food chains. Fun fact, despite coming from the land of to die for cuisine, Mathieu was a fast food addict. More, he was a salty french fries with lots of ketchup kind of guy. Not that I minded them, but I wasn’t a fan of ketchup on anything that wasn’t my burger, which seemed to shock him.

  “I thought all Americans loved to drown their food in ketchup.”

  “You gotta be careful about painting all Americans the same. We’re wildly different.”

  “Perhaps. I like this getting to know you better part… So, what is your favorite food?”

  “I don’t know, it kind of changes? I like trying new things. There’s always pizza? But I eat that all the time. Used to like roasts and roasted potatoes and stuff.” I’d had a chicken sandwich rather than a burger. “I think that’s why I had so much fun making the cake.”

  “And here I thought it was because I helped.” The teasing note in his voice made me smile.

  “You were definitely a perk.”

  “Have you put your video together yet?”

  “Nope, gonna try and do that tonight. Otherwise, I’ll have to do it after the weekend. I get to make another opera cake to bring in to sample”

  “I’m excited. My host family was very impressed with the one you made. They also made me a birthday cake with all the frosting and trimmings. It was a good evening.”

  Lunch was quiet and nice. Maybe too quiet. The weirdest part was I kind of missed the guys being there and teasing. Considering how irked I’d been with them, that was kind of weird.

  “Did you get to talk to your parents at all?”

  “We email and use WhatsApp to chat often.” He pulled out his phone and then showed me the text with the photo of the cake. “I sent her a picture of your cake and told her it was almost as good as hers.”

  “Almost…” I laughed.

  “She is my maman. I am not telling her anyone’s cake is better than hers.”

  Made sense.

  Still, it was kind of sweet.

  “You should do the foreign exchange,” Mathieu told her. “Come to France next semester. We could be your host family.”

  My laugh was a lot louder. “First of all, it’s expensive to do those programs, and it might be risky if I did it right at the end of my senior year.”

  “Then over the summer. You can just come visit, and I will show you around. We won’t have to go to school.”

  Not committing to anything, I said, “That could be fun, too.” Going to France would be fun. I’d always wanted to travel, but travel was expensive, and college had to come first. College. Graduation. Get a good job. Then… then I could do the fun stuff.

  I had a plan.

  “Francesca,” Mathieu said as we walked back to the car. “I am going to persuade you.”

  “To go to France?”

  “Yes.”

  “You do realize we have only known each other a week, right?” I’d just hit the unlock on my car when he leaned close and my breath caught. The kiss the other night had been just a brush…

  A car horn blasted, and I jerked back. Course, he jumped, too, and we both looked at the street, but it was pretty packed with lunchtime traffic. Blowing out a breath, I tried to crush the nerves fluttering through me. “We should probably get back.”

  The moment had pretty much crashed with the sudden adrenaline surge.

  “Yes,” he said, brushing my cheek with his knuckles before he opened the driver’s door for me. “Next time?”

  Next time, what? Next time we would get a real kiss in?

  Why not? “Next time.”

  Wearing a wider grin, he moved to the passenger side. Back at school, I lucked right back into my spot next to Bubba’s bike. But the bell rang as we got out of the car, so we both had to hurry.

  Jake was just stepping out of study hall when I got there to check in. He waited for me then we walked to the library together. I dug out my lit homework and the government reading I hadn’t done the night before. Instead of sitting across the table, Jake sat next to me foot hooked into the rung of my chair.

  “How was lunch?” the quiet question pulled me out of the Federalist papers, which really weren’t riveting reading.

  “It was fun,” I told him. “We got burgers…talked. It was good.” Taco Tuesday would have to wait until the following week

  He nodded slowly. “Do you have a lot of homework?”

  “Well, I have some reading. Didn’t get it done last night. People kept showing up.”

  With a smirk, he said, “You could have kicked us out.”

  “Yeah, but you brought food, and Archie brought ice cream.”

  Jake snorted. “Well, if all it takes is food and ice cream, what time do you want me to come by tonight?”

  “I’m going over to Bubba’s tonight. Calculus, remember?”

  “Yeah, calculus takes the two of you a few hours alone.”

  I wasn’t going to have this argument. “He asked me first.”

  “Yeah,” Jake said, then hooked two of my fingers and tugged my hand over to hold it. His palms were a little rough and callused. His skin was warm, and his hands seemed a lot larger than mine, too. “So…”

  “So?” I was not going to be doing homework. That much was clear.

  “You said yes.”

  All the earlier flutters at the fast food place had nothing on the jitters erupting in my system. We were going to talk about this here? In the library? Granted, we’d both been whispering, and we were in a corner away from the librarians, but still. “I did.”

  His slow smile sent a thread of tension all the way through me, and I damn near squirmed in my seat. All of the guys were good looking; I’d have had to be blind and dead not to notice their attractiveness. Jake had always been more rugged than the others, with Bubba being the closest to matching him physically. I’d seen them turn their charms on other girls plenty of time, but this…

  “How tired are you when you get off work?”

  The question was not where I thought we were going with this. So I gave a little shrug, vividly aware of the fact he was drawing circles against my palm with his thumb. “Depends. Sometimes, if we’re really busy, I can be beat by the time I get out of there.”

  “But you never work past ten, right?”

  “Nope. Most of the time they try to get me out of there at nine.” It was a four-hour shift from five to nine every Wednesday and Thursday.

  “Think your mom would mind if I came over after work tomorrow?”

  Would she mind? Maybe. Course she’d have to be there to even know. “I don’t know. I can ask…”

  “Would you?”

  “Okay.” Then with a glance around to make sure we were still alone, I looked at him. “Dumb question?”

  “Sure.”

  “What do you want to do that late?”

  “See, the girl I like. She’s really busy, and she’s got these other dates planned, but I still want to see her.” Jake gave my hand a squeeze. “I don’t care if we do homework or watch videos. I’ll grab a pizza and bring it, then you and I can hang out.”

  The jitters turned into little knots. “That’s really sweet.”

  “But I’m putting in
my request right now. Your next full free evening… you and me. Real date.”

  My next semi-free evening was Sunday. I’d been… “Are you busy Sunday?”

  He grinned. “I am now.”

  Face heating, I went to lean back in my chair, but Jake kept ahold of my hand.

  That was pretty much how we spent the rest of our study hall, holding hands while we both pretended to read. But Jake spent most of that time watching me rather than reading, and I couldn’t stop the stupid grinning.

  AP Euro wasn’t much better. Though, we pretended to quiz each other. Jake wanted to do a scoring system so that whoever got the highest score picked our date on Sunday.

  Our date.

  A niggle of guilt wormed through me because I wasn’t going to have as much time for Mathieu, but I was taking him to the party.

  After class, Jake walked me out to my car, hand in hand. We breezed right past Maria and she did a double take. Mentally, I sighed. Rachel Manning spotted us, too. It would hit social media anytime now. As tempted as I was to pull my hand out of Jake’s to save us both the grief, I didn’t want to. It was—nice.

  As with the day before, Coop and Bubba were waiting for us next to my car, with Archie. There on the top were two roses, both white in a fresh vase. Jake let out a grunt. “That’s two days in a row.”

  “We noticed,” Bubba said, turning to glance at us and just like the day before, he looked to where Jake was holding my hand and then narrowed his eyes at Jake. They’d left the roses sitting on the roof of the car with another note attached. Tugging away from Jake, I jogged the last couple of steps and reached for them. The glass was just a little warm and like the other vase, it was weighted at the bottom. The flowers showed no wilting.

  “And this isn’t any of you?” I glanced at the four. Bubba held up his hands.

  “They were there when I got here, but then so were Coop and Archie.”

  Glancing at the note, I read the four lines and then laughed.

  White roses signify innocence and new beginnings. They also mean I’m thinking of you. Now that I’ve typed that it sounds creepy. It’s not. I promise. I just want to see you smile.

  The roses smelled great and the petals were still soft. But when I looked at the guys, I found no answers. “Well, I like ‘em.”

  “What does it say?”

  “Something for me,” I teased. “But it’s funny,” so I read it to them. Neither Jake nor Bubba laughed.

  “That is kind of creepy, Frankie,” Bubba pointed out and I shrugged.

  “They’re roses. I like ‘em.” I dropped my backpack in the backseat and Coop took the roses for me. “You’re following?” I turned to look at Bubba.

  He nodded.

  Archie scowled. “Is there a reason the calculus study session is closed? You know, some of us also have math homework.”

  “Because we get distracted when it’s all of us, and I need to pass this math class.” Bubba’s logic was sound.

  “And you want Frankie all to yourself,” Archie pointed out.

  Bubba didn’t deny it, he just grinned as he straddled his bike. “Like you don’t, Mr. Friday Night?”

  I opened my mouth then snapped it shut because heat rushed in, and I was pretty sure my face caught on fire. “I’ll talk to you guys later.”

  Then I slid into the car and got it started. Coop snickered as I pulled out.

  “What?” I asked him.

  “You went from dating no one to dating everyone,” he said, grinning. “It’s cute.”

  Everyone? “It’s… weird.”

  “Yeah? What’s so weird about it?”

  “We’ve been friends for years.”

  “That’s not weird,” Coop pointed out. “That’s a perk. You already know that Archie can be controlling, Jake demanding and overprotective, and Bubba’s basically a golden retriever.”

  “Coop.”

  “What? It’s true. Not sure about Frenchy, but, eh. But our guys? I know our guys.” Did he not include himself in that?

  How did I ask him…?

  “Besides, if I know you’re out with one of them, and I’m not there, I know you’re okay. Frenchy, not so much. I like knowing you’re safe. I like you happy, too.” Then he sighed, “Course, getting time on your calendar is going to be hard, but I reserve the right to pull the best friend card and stake out some time of my own.”

  Laughing, I said, “Last night didn’t work out too well for that.”

  “Nope, but since they crashed my date, I plan to totally crash one of theirs. You just have to let me know when they’re going to be there. Or, you know, I can just be at your place regularly.”

  I groaned. “Coop…”

  “What?” he asked as I pulled into a parking spot at the apartments. “Think I didn’t want a shot at dating you, too? Don’t be silly, Frankie. I’m in.”

  He was out of the car and talking to Bubba before those words totally sank in. He wanted to date me? I rescued my roses from Coop who grinned as he hooked the backpack off my shoulder. “I’ll hang onto this for you.”

  Though I needed to feed the cats, I almost didn’t want to leave them alone. There was something odd in the air around them. And I still could get Coop’s comment out of my head. He wanted a shot at dating me? Even though I hurried, it still took me a few minutes. When I got back out there, Bubba and Coop were in the middle of a fierce, if very quiet, debate? Conversation?

  I slowed as I approached, trying to give them time to sort out their argument, but they broke off when Bubba spotted me. “You ready?”

  “Yep.” I glanced from one to the other. “You guys okay?”

  “Sure,” Coop said. “We just had to work out some details for the thing.”

  “The thing?”

  “The thing,” Bubba confirmed. “At the place.”

  “With the people,” Coop tacked on.

  “Yeah…” I shook my head. “Whatever.” After sliding my backpack on, I accepted the helmet from Bubba. Excitement threaded through me. Bubba climbed on the bike and I slid on behind him.

  “Hey, Frankie?” Coop said and Bubba straightened as we both glanced at him. “I know you’re busy this weekend, but next Saturday? Go out with me?”

  He was asking me out, right in front of Bubba. It was already kind of awkward with Jake and Archie seemed to be turning our study dates into date dates, too.

  “You sure?”

  “Am I sure that I want to take you out?” He raised his brows. “Only since kindergarten. You and me, c’mon… it’ll be fun.”

  That was usually my line, but I wanted to say yes. “All right, a week from Saturday.”

  Coop’s grin grew. “Looking forward to it. You two have fun studying and, Bubba, you better drive real fucking careful like.”

  That was a warning. Coop didn’t threaten.

  Not anyone.

  I stared at him.

  “Don’t worry,” was all Bubba said. “I intend to.” Then he glanced back at me. “Arms around me and hang on.”

  The rumble of the engine revved up, so I slid my arms around Bubba, gripping his abs even as I pressed up against his back. His muscles rippled as he walked the bike back a couple of steps.

  “See you later, Coop,” I called. Then Bubba revved once, and we were off.

  The little whoop that escaped had me grinning, and we weren’t even going fast yet. What would it be like if he really opened up the engine?

  I was in lust with his bike.

  And hanging onto him as we rode.

  The Rules

  Coop: We need to establish some rules.

  Jake: Rules?

  Bubba: Rulz? Are you still ticked because Frankie’s at my place?

  Archie: Yuk it up, Bubba. What rules?

  Coop: Look, we made it clear: no guys bug her.

  Jake: We were there, get to the point.

  Coop: If we’re all dating her, we need rules.

  Bubba: …

  Jake: …

  Archie:
Who said we’re all dating her?

  Coop: Okay Arch, we can take you

  out of the chat for this.

  Friday nights aren’t date nights 4u

  Archie: FU

  Jake: He’s dating her.

  Archie: It’s not official

  Coop: …

  Jake: …

  Bubba: …

  Archie: I haven’t ASKED her yet

  Coop: Is Friday a date?

  Archie: Yes.

  Jake: Then you’re dating her, asshat.

  Bubba: Guys, I gotta go, she’s here.

  Archie: …

  Jake: …

  Coop: …

  Bubba: What? You want to make up some rules, hurry up.

  .

  Archie: Rule #1 don’t text us when on date.

  Jake: Rule #2 Sunday nights are mine.

  Coop: Rule #3 don’t step on another guy’s date.

  Archie: Rule #4 No competing with each other.

  Coop: …

  Jake: …

  Archie: You want to fight me for her?

  Coop: I don’t want to fight any of you,

  but I’m not backing off.

  Jake: Me neither.

  Archie: Agreed.

  Jake: Assume Bubba says yes, he’s ignoring us.

  Archie: If Frankie w/me I’d ignore us 2

  Coop: LOL

  Jake: Ha

  Archie: Rule #5 Just us, no one else.

  Coop: What about Frenchy?

  Jake: What about him?