So fine, if they wanted me to text them, then I wanted the same courtesy. Zabra was out and Marsha motioned me over. I lifted a finger toward Rachel and said, “One sec, okay?”
In the back, Marsha beckoned me to follow. “Zabra’s taking over any new tables, so you can go ahead and finish your sidework and get out of here.”
Oh, cool. A little early but I’d stayed later the night before. In her office, she pulled an envelope out of a locked cubby then handed it to me. “Those are all your credit tips from last night.”
“Sweet. Thank you.” I pocketed it along with tonight’s cash. I’d get tonight’s credit tips on Saturday. I could stick around and total them out, but it was just as easy to wait until she ran the register and get them later.
“You know,” Marsha said. “I’m going to miss you when you graduate.”
I made a face. “I’m sorry?”
“Not even and you shouldn’t be. I think you’re hands down the best teenager who has ever worked for me.”
My face warmed. “Thanks?”
“You’re welcome. Now, reality talk.” Marsha leaned against her desk and folded her arms. In her mid-50s, Marsha had a suggestion of gray in her light brown hair that looked more like highlights than streaks. “You’ve got a big load a school, you’re staring down graduation, college apps, time with your friends… big year. Do you need to tighten up your schedule some?”
“I already did before school started,” I reminded her, my stomach bottoming out. I needed this job. The money—I was saving every penny I could. “We worked it out for the two week nights and then weekends during the day.” It had been Marsha who insisted on Friday nights off for me, but now I was glad I had them. “Am I not keeping up or something?”
Ian and Jake distracted me a little, but I hadn’t kept any tables waiting. Even when I paused to talk to Rachel, it hadn’t caused a backlog.
“Not at all. You’re great.” Marsha put a hand on my forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Seriously. The best. I’m—I raised a pair of kids, Frankie. They may both be at college bankrupting me,” she said that with a laugh. “But I know how important this year was to them. I don’t want you missing out on anything.”
“I’m not.” In fact, I had four guys—five guys—I was dating at the moment. Or intending to date. Actually, I was just going to keep all of that to myself. “I promise. I’ve got plans.”
“Yes,” Marsha said with a sigh. “You’ve also got two beautiful young men keeping an eye on you. Hubba hubba.”
I made a face. “Please don’t do that.”
With a laugh, Marsha waved me out of the office. “Go finish up and get out of here. But, remember, if you need time, tell me. We’ll make it happen.”
“Thanks, Marsha.”
“Yep.”
Out front, Ian and Jake’s table was empty, but they were still in the parking lot, talking by Jake’s SUV. I pulled out a silverware tub and walked it over to where Rachel waited. “Sorry, that took a minute.”
“No problem,” she said taking a sip of her coke. “So I wrote this. Would you mind giving it a look and telling me what you think?”
Yep. Definitely weird. Rachel had never been a total mean girl. For, like, five minutes we’d been almost friends. But she was blunt and sometimes painfully so. Too painfully. She always went out of her way to tell me shit I’d probably rather not know… like the untouchable thing.
Then again, if she hadn’t told me… I probably wouldn’t have been making out with Jake that morning.
“Sure,” I said, and she nudged her notebook over so I could read it. She had really neat penmanship. I got busy rolling the silverware. At this point, I could do it in my sleep, and I wanted to get it done and read at the same time. She’d used a lot of what I told her, but the last bit about the pain being like a drug, that was pretty awesome. “I really like the last bit and, you’re right, she knows she could keep going there and spending time and languishing in her heartbreak…”
Kind of like me missing the guys all summer and wallowing in that hurt. It had left me lonely and them confused.
“…exactly,” Rachel said. “Feeling the pain isn’t a bad thing but if you keep going back, it can consume you. So small tastes are better.”
“Cool.” It worked for me.
“Really?” Her eyes lit up and turned the notebook back to her. “Thanks.”
“Anytime.” I meant it.
“So,” she said as she packed up. “You’re not interested in Mat cause you’re with Bubba now?”
I stared at her.
“I mean, I’m asking cause you’re holding hands with Jake, making out with Bubba, and the hot French exchange student stares at you like he could eat you up whenever he’s around. Are you just experimenting or something?”
Had I mentioned that Rachel and I were not friends? “Does it matter?” It wasn’t an outright rejection, but I didn’t want to talk about my incredibly confusing personal life with her. Not when I didn’t have a full handle on it. “They’re my friends.”
“Friends,” Rachel said slowly, then slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder before placing a twenty on her check. “Right. See you tomorrow at school?”
“Yep.”
She took a step then backed up. “You’re going to be at Archie’s party on Saturday right? You avoided the guys all summer, so I thought that was all over. But you’re friends again, so you’re going to be there?”
“I’ll be there.” I almost said I was taking Mathieu, but that would be bragging, and I still kind of needed to quietly end the thing that wasn’t really a thing. I’d barely talked to him outside of class this week. Sunday night had kind of been a one and done.
I actually finished up and clocked out by nine straight up. Jake and Ian were absent from the parking lot, but I got messages from each just as I got into my car.
Jake: Home. Call me if you want me to come by later. I get it might be hard with all the guys there.
Ian: Home. Miss you. Tomorrow is big day. Sleep well.
The fact Jake’s sentences left me a little warm and second-guessing myself compounded the wistfulness Ian’s text triggered. They both cared, but they showed it in different ways. I had to admit, I was a fan of both.
Back at the apartments, I sent texts to Jake and Ian that I was home and I’d see them the next day. I was already smothering a yawn as I locked the car and headed for my apartment. Coop sat on the steps leading to the backdoor. His normally relaxed expression seemed tense even if it was cast in the shadows from the outdoor lights.
“Hey…”
“Hey,” he said as he stood. “Sorry, I know you weren’t home yet, but Mom and Trina are fighting again, and Dad planned to swing by to show solidarity with Mom.” He made a face.
Coop had a distant dad and I had no dad. I didn’t know what it would be like if one wanted to come by and show solidarity with Mom, but in my experience, that never went well for Coop. They didn’t fight so much as depress the hell out of him.
“C’mon,” I said, bumping him as I continued up the stairs. “You can hide with me.”
“You need me to text Jake?”
“Nope,” I said, unlocking the door. The cats gave us all of about thirty seconds before they realized Coop was there and immediately began their scolding yowls for attention. “Jake went home.”
“Oh.” Coop frowned and then looked around the kitchen. “I thought…”
“Yeah, that I might text, and he might come over. But I decided I wanted some alone time tonight to get some stuff done.”
“Oh,” he repeated. “I can go…”
“Coop,” I told him as I headed through the kitchen. “I need to shower, then change, then finish putting together a video and make the dessert. You can hang out. It’s fine.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. I’ll be out in fifteen. I think there’s leftover pizza in the fridge.”
“Blegh,” he called.
I’d just stepp
ed under the water in the shower and had to grin. The last time I’d been in here it had been with Jake. The knock at the door pulled me from that lovely memory and I frowned. The door cracked but didn’t open all the way. “I’m going to order something. Your fridge has exactly one slice of pizza.”
Oh. Right. Jake had some for breakfast that morning.
“Okay,” I called. “I can go half in on it.”
“That’s fine—what do you want? Pizza? Chinese? Subs?”
I kind of wanted to splurge. It would unhealthy but I didn’t care. “Order from Boomer Sax? Get me a Monte Cristo?”
“Living large. I like it. You got it.” Then the door closed, and I grinned. He didn’t even try to peek. Then again, it wouldn’t have been the first time he saw me almost naked. We’d been around each other way too long, though—it had been a couple of years.
Coop had Tabby in his lap when I made it back to the kitchen, his shoes were off and tucked by the back door and he pointed to the pantry where we stored the trashcan. “I went ahead and took the trash out, figured that way if you needed the can out while you were cooking…”
“Thank you.”
“So…need me to do anything?”
“Just hang out. You can go watch a movie if you want.” I’d gone for sleep shorts and a tank top tonight. It had been hot outside and it was about to be warm in the kitchen with all the prep. I left my wet hair down to dry for now.
“I’m good,” he said. “This will be kind of like watching one of those cooking shows.”
I’d have snorted except the assignment was kind of like one of those cooking shows. “How long ‘til food?”
“Twenty minutes,” he said.
I counted out two tens and set them on the table. “For my half.”
Since he used one of the shared ride apps to get the food, he’d already paid for it.
“That’s too much,” he pointed out.
“You tipped the driver, right?”
He stuck his tongue out at me and we both grinned. “Fine, but on our date Monday, you don’t pay.”
I did not roll my eyes, but boy was I tempted. “So if you ask me out, you pay. What happens if I ask you out?”
“I’m still going to try to pay,” Coop said.
Yeah, Coop didn’t have a job. He’d had one, but he lost it when the store where he worked closed. I wasn’t really sure if he’d bothered to look for one since or if he was just cruising. His dad had money, that much I did know. Dad was big on pay offs as signs of affection, not that I was going to bring that up.
By the time the food arrived, I had the layers going. It was much faster having done it before. Coop kept up a running dialogue and cracking me up, which wasn’t helping me get everything the way it was supposed to be. The kitchen smelled of chocolate and sugar.
“Can you pause to eat?”
“Five minutes.” It took more like ten, but I had almost all of the layers ready to build. Coop had the boxes of food open, so I took the first bite of the Monte Cristo and groaned, because all at once, how hungry I was hit. I pretty much devoured the first whole half of the sandwich without slowing for more than a shallow breath in between.
Coop watched me with amusement in his eyes and when I paused, he held up his hands and then grinned. “It’s kind of awesome that you actually enjoy food.”
“Yeah, most people do.” I hoped they did.
“I suppose I shouldn’t say other girls then, right? The ones who eat like birds and pretend they never have more than a rabbit and wait until they are in private to eat?”
I eyed him. “Who have you been hanging out with?”
He shot me an impatient look and I shrugged. “Anyway…” He’d ordered potato skins for himself and a club sandwich. When I reached out for one of the skins, he nudged it toward me.
After I managed a bite and he hadn’t said anything more, I raised my eyebrows. “Anyway?”
At the prompt, he shrugged. “I’m not a football player.”
What? “Neither am I.”
“No, I mean. I’m not a football player. I’m not rich. I’m…just a guy who lives in the apartments.”
I paused mid-bite to study him. “Coop, what are you talking about?”
“The dating thing. I know you have homework and your dessert to make. But you spend a lot of time with Bubba and Jake and now Jake spent the night and... you’re going out with Archie tomorrow. It’s probably gonna be some five course place.”
“God, I hope not.” The idea sent unease shooting through me.
“Frankie… I don’t have a lot to offer. I came over tonight because my mom and my sister were making me crazy. I hide out here with you when they do that.”
“And I hide out with you when my mom is—well, Mom.”
“Except you haven’t been hiding out with me much anymore.” He sighed and put the sandwich down. “Cause she’s never here.”
I shrugged. “It is what it is. She works a lot.”
“But you deserve better. You deserve the nice things those guys can offer you.”
“Those guys, they’re our friends. And, Coop, you’re a good guy, too. You married me in kindergarten. You promised me forever between the slide and the swing set and, now that you’ve finally asked me out on a date, you don’t think you’re worth it?”
The corners of his mouth tipped upward. “Maybe?”
Picking up one of the french fries from my plate, I offered it to him. He took the bite, catching my hand and holding it still. “You’re my best friend.”
He blinked.
“You are. The guys are my best friends, too, but you were my best friend first and you’ve always been here.” Jake had come and gone. Ian showed up later. None of us knew Archie before ninth grade. “That’s what you offer me.”
“So I’m an old shoe.” He made a face.
“What?”
“Old shoes—you know they’re broken in and comfortable. The new shoes are shiny and cool, but the old shoe… you keep wearing it anyway.”
Blowing out a breath, I leaned back to stare at the ceiling. Then straightened. “Coop, you’re not an—” One minute I was in my chair; the next I was in his lap and his mouth was on mine. This wasn’t the kiss from the parking lot. This was teeth and tongue and his hands were on my waist, thumbs just under my shirt and I had to keep my sticky fingers out of his hair as he devoured my mouth like he was starved for me.
Each time the kiss slowed, I half-expected him to stop and then he deepened it again, until we were both gasping for breaths in between wet, fierce kisses. It wasn’t slow or gentle, not even a little. It was hot, demanding and I panted when he finally eased back. His gray-green eyes seemed swallowed under his pupils and heat scalded my cheeks.
He licked his lips as he studied me. “Okay. I feel better now.”
A laugh worked its way up and I stared at him as I giggled. “Are you sure?”
Cocking his head, he seemed to consider it. “You know, you’re right. We should definitely check that. Always good to verify the source.” Then he claimed my mouth mid-laugh. I had to clutch at his shoulders. When his hand slid down to cup my ass and lift me up, I ended up straddling his lap. He roamed his hands up and down my back, dipping to cup my ass but always retreating. The apex of my thighs was settled square over his erection and I’d never been more vibrantly aware of it.
My nipples ached and, when I broke the kiss, I indulged on teasing kisses and nips along the stubble of his jaw to his throat. The bite of the bristle just added a tinder to the fire he’d stoked. It would be so easy to…
At his ear, I paused, stilling and trying to catch my breath. Coop didn’t pull away. If anything, he just kept rubbing my back. It was a slow, petting motion. Relaxing my amped up system even as his fingers teased the bare skin above and below the tank top.
“Okay,” Coop said, his voice rough and a little wrecked. “I can confirm that I felt a lot better.”
“That’s past tense,” I answered, breath coming
in shallow breaths.
“Well,” he said, with a tilt of his head as I straightened. “Now I’m pretty uncomfortable but not in a bad way.”
The deadpan delivery made me laugh. Straightening, I studied him. “I still have to finish the dessert.”
“Uh huh.”
“And…” I glanced down, the stiffness pressing against the inside of my thigh more noticeable by the second that our lips weren’t fused together. “You going to be okay?”
“Not a word that applies.” He stroked two fingers along the line of my hip to my thigh and then back up. “But I’ll survive.”
With care, I eased off his lap. And I was human, I looked. He was definitely thick, and it was very visible along the line of his shorts. Face warm, I met his surprised if pleased gaze. “Sorry.”
“You can look.” He deliberately dipped his gaze to my chest, and I was aware of the roughness of the tank against my very peaked nipples. “I definitely am.”
Then our gazes locked and we both started laughing. I stumbled back and leaned against the fridge. “Okay—” I said holding up my hand. “Let’s not do the ogle thing out loud.”
“Got it. I’ll ogle you quietly.” He planted his chin against his hand and his elbow on the table. “Please—put a little swing in that step as you get all domestic. It’s definitely a newfound kink of mine.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed off the fridge. “Yeah, that’s not as sexy.”
He snickered. “Maybe not for you, but I’m enjoying it.”
When I flipped him off, he laughed harder and I grinned. The lines of tension in his face had eased and more, so had the doubt in his face. After I had the dessert constructed, I said, “Coop—I like you for you. I always have.”
“It’s cause I’m your favorite, right?”
I grinned. “Totally.”
He blinked for a moment then whipped out his phone. “Could you say that again?”
We hung out while I put the video together. He sat next to me on the sofa, his legs stretching out and his feet on the new coffee table, our thighs fused together. With an arm around my shoulder, he watched avidly as I pieced the clips together.
Rules and Roses: Untouchable Book One Page 26