Bubba: Didn’t say that, either.
Archie: Fine, Mr. Perfect.
Bubba: See you at school.
Archie: Yeah.
Chapter Eighteen
So… good talk
Walking out of the apartment with Jake was a little surreal. He’d slept right next to me—wrapped around me, really, the whole night. Then…well, make out didn’t quite cover what we did or what I got to help him with in the shower. The butterflies in my stomach had a litter of kittens, and I waxed between giggling and nervous as hell.
A beat before we walked out the door, Jake gripped the handle and stared me. His intent gaze had heat flooding my face. For as long as I could remember, I’d been one of the guys. I heard about who they dated, how far they got, and more than once, how they couldn’t get rid of them. Them—the girls who clung past the point when the guys wanted them there.
Now, the shoe was on the other foot. I’d suddenly become one of the girls and…
“Hey,” Jake said. “What is going through head right now? You look like you can’t decide whether to be sick or not.”
“I’m—” Scared? Nervous? Happy? Ecstatic? Really happy. Too happy. Happy didn’t last long. “I don’t regret anything, I’m just not sure how we do this.”
“Do what? Go to school? Get our homework done? Get our applications ready to submit?” A hint of teasing softened his expression. He’d managed to shave using my razor. Fortunately, I had extras. “Frankie, we do what we’ve done every other day. We just be us.”
“Be us.” Us had been changing a lot. Bubba was Ian now and he kissed me at school. Archie was planning dates. Coop wanted to take me out and…
“Okay,” I said blowing out a breath. “Just promise me one thing?”
“Name it.”
“If I become one of those girls that you can’t get rid of, tell me, not the guys.”
He frowned. “Frankie…you’re not going to be one of those girls.”
“You say that now, but you’re all asking me out because I got mad and said that I wanted to date. And I…I really like it, and I really like you guys, but I really don’t want to mess up our friendship. I was…” Admitting this next part was hard. “I was really lonely this summer.”
Cupping my face, he leaned in. “You’re Frankie. You’re one of us, not one of them. We’re changing, sure, but I like where we’re going. You have my word, I’m never going to talk to them like you’re of those girls. Ever. Now, will you promise me something?”
I nodded. “What?”
“You get scared like this, tell me. You need something, tell me. You’re not alone. You were never alone. We hated that you weren’t around the last few months, but I’m here whenever you need me. Deal?”
That sounded great. Spending the summer either working or researching and holed up here while Mom did—whatever it was Mom had to do—I’d made it work. I could do it. I’d learned how to take care of myself a long time ago.
“Deal.”
Didn’t mean I wanted to do it on my own all the time.
“Now, I’m going to get donuts. Told the guys I’d grab them. Apple fritters for you, right?”
I grinned. “Yes, please.”
When he dipped his head, I was already leaning in. He brushed his lips slowly across mine, lingering as if he were breathing me in. I know I was savoring him as his lips parted, then I was gripping his shoulder as the kiss deepened. This had happened in the shower, too. My hand on him stroking as he kissed me. He’d wanted to do more, but I wasn’t quite ready for that.
I was drunk enough on what we’d already done. Dropping my heels, I pulled back and blew out a breath. “Hi.”
“Hey,” he said, grinning. “Feel better?”
“Much.”
“Good.” He winked, and then opened the door for me.
We held hands on the way to where he’d parked next to my car and Coop waited for us. The fact Jake reached for my hand whenever we walked now had my stomach doing little flip-flops. It was just nice. Kind of like when they always slung their arms around my shoulders. I’d never told them how nice it was to get those almost hugs.
“Morning, Coop,” I greeted him before extracting my hand from Jake’s cause I needed to get my keys back out and suddenly the fact I didn’t have any panties on flooded my mind. It wasn’t obvious, no one could see. But I knew, and Jake did and…probably better to not think about what neither of us were wearing.
“Morning,” he said, but he wasn’t quite looking at me. He stared at Jake, and it wasn’t quite a friendly stare.
“Coop.”
“Jake.”
A glance at Jake proved he hadn’t missed the coolness in Coop’s manner, but his bland stare didn’t give me any other clues. Which meant…this was about me. “I’ll see you at school, Jake?”
“Yep, see you in a bit with apple fritters.”
He leaned over and gave me a quick kiss this time, then he turned and unlocked his SUV, leaving us to get into my car. Coop continued to stare at Jake as I dropped my backpack into the backseat. Only after Jake pulled away did Coop glance my way.
I could really tell what he was thinking, not by his expression. “You ready?” Maybe playing dumb wasn’t a strategy, but I clung to Jake’s theory that we hadn’t done anything wrong with both hands and I wasn’t letting go. We were all friends, and Coop and I needed to talk.
Maybe sooner rather than later.
“Yeah,” he answered slowly and slid off his backpack. Once we were in the car, though, Coop didn’t say anything. I gave him a beat as I got out of the apartments and onto the road.
Finally, the silence having fanned the butterflies in my stomach to tsunami force, I asked, “What’s wrong?”
His phone buzzed again. It had begun buzzing about a minute after we got into the car. It continued like it suffered from some kind of tic, going off repeatedly. He hadn’t even pulled it out of his pocket. Instead, he leaned one arm against the closed window and braced his fist just below his lower lip.
“Jake spent the night?” The question came out a little low and almost…hurt?
“We fell asleep watching videos,” I said with a shrug that I most certainly didn’t feel. This was dangerous ground, and I already regretted asking him what was wrong.
Except we should be able to talk about this stuff.
“I was really tired after work.”
“That’s what Jake said when he texted. Also said he wasn’t going to hang out long so you could get some sleep.” Everything about Coop’s tone was guarded.
“He probably did,” I said, glancing at Coop as we pulled up to a light. “But I was tired, and it was late. We fell asleep. It’s not the first time he’s spent the night.”
“We were twelve the last time he stayed over there, Frank.” Coop didn’t approve.
“Okay.”
“And your mom wasn’t home—again.”
“Yeah, I noticed. Thanks.” Thankfully, the light turned green.
“You have a hickey.”
I did? How had I not noticed it? Then again, I’d been kind of floating before and after the shower. It had been so weird to be together like that and get ready. I had to get my hair dry and my curls tamed.
“Are you annoyed that I have it or that I didn’t tell you all about it?” Okay, if we were pushing boundaries, I needed to push some, too.
“I don’t know,” Coop admitted. “I don’t know what I feel right now.”
All the fight went out of me. “Coop…”
“It’s fine, Frankie…I just wasn’t prepared to see Jake’s car there, and then you guys come out, and he’s always holding your hand.”
“He asked me out and so has Ian.”
“And then there’s that,” Coop said. “Bubba has been Bubba forever and now you’re calling him Ian.”
“He likes Ian. It is his name.”
“He’s never asked any of us to call him Ian.” Fist clenched, he banged it against the door. “Sorry, not
mad at you.”
We were almost to the school parking lot. “You sure about that?”
There was a motorcycle in the rearview, and the tsunami in my gut threatened to crash down. Ian was right behind us.
Coop didn’t answer me until I’d turned into the lot and headed for my spot. “I asked you out, too.”
“I know,” I told him. “We just haven’t really talked about it.”
“Are you—and Jake?” Coop frowned.
“We haven’t even gone on a real date.” Yes, it was the chicken answer, but I wasn’t talking about what Jake and I did. That was…private. It was ours.
“And you and Bubba?”
Did Tuesday count as a date? “We have kind of?” I slid into my parking spot.
“Then there’s Frenchy…”
Oh, we were back to that. “His name is Mathieu.”
“Yeah, I don’t care what his name is.” As I put the car into park, Coop covered my hand with his.
“I’m not trying to be an ass, I promise.”
“I know,” I told him. “You’re just drawn that way.”
He laughed and it was his first real smile of the morning. “I meant it. I want to take you out.”
“Even if…?”
“Even if you’re dating the other guys.”
Ian knocked on my window, but Coop didn’t let go of my hand. I held up my other hand with a single finger up, asking for a minute then I looked at Coop. “Are you sure?”
“Do you not want to go out with me?” He straightened a little. “I mean, I get it if…”
“Coop, stop. It’s not that. But literally a week ago, I was planning my first date ever and it was cooking in my kitchen. Now…”
“Now you let us know you’re available, and you’re finally figuring out how much we all like you?”
I nodded slowly. “But we’ve been friends forever. If this…I don’t want to mess that up.” I hadn’t lied in what I told Jake. I had missed all of them so much.
“We’ll make it work, Frankie. Make some time for me, too? Maybe Monday after homework planning and the application strategy session?”
“Okay,” I said. “But you already asked me out for next Saturday already.”
“Really?”
I laughed. “Yes, Really.”
“Well, cool. So Monday first date and Saturday second? You and me?”
“You and me.”
That seemed to be the reassurance he needed. Coop leaned over and kissed me lightly, right on the lips, before backing off. “I’m holding you to that.”
I gave him a light shove. “I have no doubt.”
As soon as I turned off the car, Ian opened my door for me. He glanced at me first and his gaze dipped to my throat for a beat then he looked at Coop. “You two all right?”
“We’re fine, just being us,” I told him. Ian studied me for a beat and the hurricane force butterflies raced through my system. Two days ago, I made out with Ian and, damn, I’d never been kissed like that. A couple of hours ago, I’d made out and then some with Jake.
We didn’t do anything wrong…
“Goofy?” came Ian’s response and I grinned.
“More or less.”
“Me more, her definitely less,” Coop retorted. Then Ian backed up so I could get out of the car. I barely got the door closed when Ian backed me right up to the door then kissed me. It was far more than a light brush. He teased his tongue along the seam of my lips and I opened up for him. He tasted of toothpaste and a hint of coffee. It was intense enough that when he sucked my lower lip between his teeth, I had to brace my hand on his shoulder.
When he lifted his head, I exhaled a shaky breath. What equilibrium I’d gained between leaving the apartment and getting to school rested on precarious ground.
“You know,” Coop said almost conversationally. “That was pretty hot, but probably not the best idea to do that here.”
Heat flooded my face and Ian lifted his gaze to glare past me right at Coop. But when I gave Ian a light push so I could wiggle out from between him and the car, he backed off. I just barely caught Coop’s nod to the side and when I looked, I really wished I hadn’t.
Rachel Manning was making her way toward another set of doors with Cheryl and a couple of other girls I didn’t recognize. But Rachel looked right at us. No doubt she’d seen.
Oh crap.
My heart pounded as I grabbed my backpack.
“It’s fine,” Ian said. “I don’t care who sees.”
Coop just shook his head. Clearly, he had a different opinion. Ian waited until I locked the car, then he looped an arm over my shoulders. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”
Just like that, we were back to normal.
Until we reached the cafeteria, where Archie glared at Jake across the table and Jake wore his fuck off, I don’t give a damn expression. Maybe coffee with everyone this morning was just a bad idea.
As soon as Jake spotted me, his expression changed. He grinned.
“Oh,” Coop muttered under his breath. “This is going to be fun.”
We strolled across the cafeteria, Ian’s arm over my shoulders like it belonged there and the feeling of being watched crawled over me. Jake kicked out the chair next to him and held up the bag with the fritters. Even as Archie patted the chair next to him and held up his coffee, Coop—the asshole—snickered.
Ian sighed then slid his arm off me as we reached the table. I was not picking sides, so I circled the table and sat in the chair that was roughly between them. Coop snickered again, but when he went to grab my fritters, Jake snatched them and passed them over. After shaking his head, Archie actually shifted chairs before handing me my coffee.
“Thanks, guys.” My stomach growled in appreciation as the first wave of fritter scent hit me. I took a quick swallow of coffee as Coop and Ian sat. Coop was right across from me, and he stretched out his feet. When he nudged my foot with his, I glanced up. He nodded to Archie and Jake, who had returned to glaring at each other. Well, Archie glared.
“Hey, Arch,” I said pulling his attention off Jake. Not sure for how long, but I’d take it. “Did you finish the Federalist papers?” Yes, lame, but it was the first thing I thought of.
“Pfft.” Archie said. “Yes, not that he’ll care. It’s reference material. I know it’s not on any test.”
“You’re positive about that?” I took a bite of my fritter and waited. Archie opened his mouth, then closed it. Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes before he snorted.
“You’re messing with me.”
“Probably,” I said then grinned, but it worked. He laughed and then tapped my nose lightly.
“Bad Frankie.”
All at once the ballooning tension popped and everyone laughed. The glaring stopped, the silence broke, and we were back to our normal morning routine of teasing, bitching, and debating what we were going to do for lunch.
I really didn’t care, just told them to pick. As I sipped my coffee though, I met Rachel’s gaze across the cafeteria. She was right in the middle of a group of her friends, and she seemed to be studying me. Instead of looking away when caught staring, though, she smirked then glanced at the girl next to her who hadn’t stopped talking the whole time.
Apprehension shivered through me. Maybe Coop was right. Maybe kissing at school was a bad idea.
Especially if Jake, Coop, and Ian were going to kiss me.
Was Archie going to try and kiss me on Friday? I tried to study him without studying him and then I had to sip the coffee. Was I really sitting here fantasizing about what it would be like if Archie kissed me? Was I that desperate for attention?
“Yo, Frankie,” Archie nudging my chair jerked me back to the present. The guys were all in the process of getting up. So were most of the people in the cafeteria. Crap, the bell had to have rung. I finished the last bite of my fritter and licked my fingers hurriedly before I slung the backpack over one shoulder.
“Coming,” I said then waved to the guys. “Se
e you later.”
After a rocky start, the day turned out to be all right. Archie gave me the normal amount of crap during Econ—a class that I think was invented to prove that I was nowhere near as smart as I thought I was—while also sending me little notes about post-dinner things to do.
Honestly, my favorite was get coffee and take a walk at the lake. When I sent back a heart to that one, he sent a thumbs up. Silly? Maybe. But I liked the path at the lake. I liked the lake area, because it was green and there were trees and the water. I liked feeding the ducks, too.
Ian caught me on the way to Calculus and he had his arm around my shoulders. When he pressed a kiss to the side my head, I glanced up at him. “You sure?”
“Yep,” he said. We’d talk about it later. But then Ian walked me to French the same way and I avoided his kiss. I still needed to “break up” with Mathieu, but I wasn’t going to flaunt something else in front of him.
It was rude.
French was a blast and Mathieu engaged us all in French Jeopardy. I don’t think anyone in that class laughed as hard as we did.
Between French and Lit, I hit the bathroom and checked my neck. Yep, there was a hickey there, right above my collarbone. The way the shirt sat covered it some of the way but not all. I let my hair down, which I rarely did at school, and tugged it over one shoulder.
Better.
Coop commented on the hair as soon as I sat down. “Did you lose your hair band?”
“Nope,” I told him. “Trying something different.”
He eyed me for a moment, and then nodded. “Cool.”
That was that. I rode in the front passenger seat on the way to lunch while Jake drove. Lunch was Blaze for more pizza, and Jake sprung for mine before I could get my wallet out. When I gave him a look, he just smiled and waved me toward the table. I was sandwiched between Ian and Jake this time and they both had a thigh pressed against mine. It was really kind of nice.
On the way back, I made Coop sit in the front so I could sit in the back with Archie and Ian. Jake made a face, but then shook his head. Study Hall, though—that was a whole new wrinkle.
Rules and Roses: Untouchable Book One Page 24