It all sounded like a lot of crap, but Dad had made a compelling argument.
“Ian, I didn’t tell you this to upset you but to protect both of you. You want to make her feel better, but there’s every chance she’s looking for emotional validation through intimacy because she has been so deprived. What I wish…is that I’d realized how bad it was. Her mother’s always been…distant with us. Good for a quick call, but not close. I just always put it down to she was busy.”
“Well, so did most of us.” Except Coop. Coop always said there was something off about her mom. I only noticed the absences. More and more, the woman was gone on her trips. Maybe this year it just stood out because Frankie had cut all of us off and she’d been there alone.
That just sent another swell of guilt through me.
“I told her I wanted to be friends, okay? She’s dating the other guys, and that’s good. But she and I are going to be friends. I’ll look out for her. Take her to Homecoming, try to keep the crap from Sharon and the others from coming down on her. Happy?” I took another bite. Dad had hammered on this point. That Frankie was in a vulnerable place, and I got it. He wasn’t wrong.
Just—now I had to be the bad guy.
“No,” Dad said quietly. “I’m not. But I do want to talk to her about trying to get into some therapy.”
“That’s never going to happen.” I didn’t even have to try and pretend. “She doesn’t want to talk about this stuff. She barely wants to talk about it with us.” Actually, she didn’t want to talk to us about it at all. But her mother had left her little choice.
“So I gathered from the conversation I had with the student advocate. My next step is to talk to her mother myself.”
“Dad…”
I glanced at the clock. I had to hurry up and eat.
“Look, you do that, and it’s just going to blow back on her.”
“Your mother wants to call child protective services—”
“Frankie’s seventeen. She’s going to be eighteen in a few months. You guys do that, and they take her away, she loses her cats, her home, and maybe they even pull her out of the school, and then she loses us. You can’t do that.”
“I understand the concern. CPS isn’t ideal. Nor is leaving her in that situation…”
Fuck. “Dad, I know you want to fix this. But when I talked to you about what was going on, I did it because I trusted you to listen to me.”
“Ian, I’m not just doing this because of what we talked about, but because of what I saw myself when that issue with the post happened last week. Jake’s lashing out because he feels like he couldn’t protect his mother, and he refuses to not protect Frankie. That’s going to get dangerous if this keeps escalating. You throw in the issues at Archie’s home now and how does that not create a conflict for them both? But beyond all of that, neglect is a serious issue.”
“So is isolation. The only thing reporting this does is punish Frankie, and I think she’s suffered enough. Between us, we can look after her. We can give her a place to go. We can keep her safe.”
Dad pinched the bridge of his nose, then shook his head. “I don’t think the answer is anywhere as neat as you’re trying to make it.”
“I also don’t think it’s found in tearing her away from all of us.”
As it was, Archie had already volunteered to move in with her if her mom and his dad were serious about moving them out of that apartment. Fuck—why couldn’t her mom have waited?
A few more months, and none of this would be Frankie’s problem.
“Has Frankie ever mentioned her father?”
I stuffed the last of the Pop-Tart in my mouth to avoid that answer. Mouthing through crumbs, “Don’t know, gotta go,” I diverted for the door.
Every inch of me regretted confessing to Dad when I got home on Saturday about why I was upset. I’d woken up and seen Frankie all snuggled between Coop and Jake, and it ate away it me.
It shouldn’t have, but it had.
Then…then I told Jake that I didn’t think I could do this. Not if they were all going to keep pushing the lines until they’d erased them. Archie had never been with a girl long-term, not even Patty counted. Because it was Patty who pursued him, Archie just let her hang out.
This, though?
No, it had gone on for weeks and showed every sign of intensifying. Jake, too. Coop? Not even a question. So where did that leave me? And then Dad had to point out all the ways this was just another sign of how bad Frankie’s situation was.
That had been the last thing I intended or wanted to hear. Frankie needed us. But more, I needed her.
I stored my gear in the saddlebags, then pulled on my helmet. I almost left her helmet here. Hers, because no one else had been on this bike with me, and I hadn’t picked up the second helmet for anyone else either.
She didn’t want to ride with me. I got that it was my punishment for pulling away. Fine, I deserved it for confusing the issue. Didn’t make it sting any less. I just couldn’t tell her what Dad thought. She did not need that kind of negativity in her life.
Even if he was right, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought he might be. Frankie’s mom was a bitch. There was no two ways about it. I snagged her helmet and secured it to my bike. Maybe she’d change her mind.
I was talking to her today and straightening this out. I didn’t want her to think I didn’t care. But I also don’t want the four of us to be the reason she has any more trouble than we’d already created.
The points thing with the guys…when they figured out I told her, they were all going to lose their minds. I slid onto the bike and started it up. Walking it back toward the street, I focused on what I could control.
The points thing had been a stupid idea. Even knowing that, I had to admit we’d had a blast doing it. It hadn’t seemed like it was hurting anyone or anything. But the reactions from Sharon and the others?
I was pretty sure we had hurt them.
They were taking that hurt out on Frankie.
The ride to school was quiet. Not a lot of traffic this early, and the parking lot was a ghost town except for the other players.
Jake was waiting, leaning against his SUV when I pulled in. I had to park a few slots over, because most of this was paid per the spot and I’d paid for mine before the school year. I just hadn’t used it when I could park next to Frankie. But we weren’t letting her drive to school.
When the hell had this all turned into such a cluster fuck? If nothing else, the assignment as the liaison to stupid Homecoming committee might let me make some semblance of peace with Sharon and get her off Frankie’s case.
“Hey, man,” Jake said as he walked over to meet me. Unlike me, he was dressed for school. He didn’t have to deal with actual practice while riding the bench. “You look like crap.”
“Thanks,” I said, shouldering my duffle and backpack before we headed toward the stadium. “You look fresh as a daisy.”
Jake snorted. “What’s up?”
“Being a dick is hard,” I said. “Or hadn’t you heard?”
“Then stop being a dick,” was his stellar advice. “Not even sure what the hell set you off in the first place, and you’re being less than clear in your statements.”
“It’s hard to talk about,” I admitted. I’d talked to one person beyond my dad about all of this, and it was Coop. I didn’t know what I’d expected when I just unloaded on him, but his listening quietly before he agreed ‘it was a shit result to me losing it even for a minute’ hadn’t been it.
Then he’d told me he agreed with my dad—at least about Frankie being abused. “Comes in all shapes and sizes, Bubba,” Coop said. “Her mom is abusive as fuck emotionally. Thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her mom even hug her.”
If that wasn’t weird enough. There were all the other pieces. I didn’t have the right to mess up her life, she had enough complications. But I couldn’t say—hey, Frankie, my dad thinks you’re emotionally compromised, an
d me dating you is doing more harm than good. Friends, right?
“Try me,” Jake offered as we reached the gates and let ourselves in. More of the team was arriving behind us. Mitch was already there along with a few others. He nodded to us, but no smile or greeting. While not antisocial, he was definitely not friendly. Jake ignored him though and nudged me.
“Not here,” I told him. There were way too many ears here.
“Sure, and then it’s not in school, and not at lunch, and not after school, not on text, and not on the phone. At some point, you either tell me you aren’t talking to me about this and man up, or you just open your fucking mouth. I can’t help if I don’t get it.”
Well, he wasn’t wrong. I cut across the field to the locker room, and Jake was right behind me. I just needed to store the bags and grab my gear for practice.
Inside, it was empty, and I double-checked the showers.
“Watch the door,” I told him as I started pulling it on.
“I’m watching,” Jake promised, arms folded as he leaned against the lockers. “What’s going on?”
“I fucked up,” I told him.
“You did not let that skank get to you at that meeting, right?” Jake demanded, and I blinked as I stared at him.
“What?”
“Sharon?” He gave me a look like I was stupid.
“No, I didn’t let her get to me. Hell, no. Even if I never talked to Frankie again…” The idea made me want to puke. “I wouldn’t go out with Sharon again. Period.”
“Good.” He relaxed a fraction. Though I was pretty sure if I’d given any other answer, he’d have pounded me. Overprotective of Frankie? Most definitely.
“I wouldn’t do that to Frankie,” I said. “I’m not that much of a dick.”
“Even better.”
He wouldn’t think so in a minute.
“I was a little screwed up when I left on Saturday.”
“I remember.”
“I talked to my dad.”
Jake winced. “Your dad’s pretty cool.”
“Yeah, he is, but he was already worried about Frankie.” And in as few terms as possible, I told him what my dad had said and what happened when we went up to Dallas and how my dad was worried about her and now…well, so was I.
“Shit,” Jake said, leaning his head back against the locker and staring at me. “I get it. Sure. Her mom’s a raging cunt who deserves to be slapped into next year. But walking away from Frankie is akin to calling CPS—you’re just punishing her because she doesn’t know what she did wrong.”
That thought crushed me.
“Jake, what if we screw this up? What if we make it worse?”
“We won’t.”
“You don’t know that,” I said.
“Yeah, I do. Because she’s Frankie. She’s a part of us.” The door shoved inward, and we both shut up. I locked up and headed out with Jake hot on my heels. At the edge of the field, away from the others, he added, “And none of us are gonna let the others hurt her. I won’t let you hurt her anymore.”
“What does that mean?” I pivoted to face him.
“I mean get your shit together and figure it out. She deserves better than this, and you’re way better than this. You got jealous. It’s going to happen. We all do it. But we get over it, and we put her first.”
“You’re the most possessive guy I know, and you don’t care that she’s seeing all of us?”
“As long as it’s us, I don’t. No one else.” Jake spread his hands. “But keep it up, and it won’t be okay with me that you’re a part of us. Fix this, Bubba. Even if telling her about what your dad said sucks, talk to her and give her a chance to talk to you. God—man, she is so worth it.”
Yeah. She was. But…
“I told her about the points.”
All of the friendliness in Jake’s expression dried up. “What?”
“I told her about them, because that’s on us. You say we’re the right people to look after her and protect her. But we did that.”
Yeah, should have seen that fist coming.
Fuck, that hurt.
Chapter Nine
Everything Changes
Our phones blew up before we even made it into the parking lot at the school. Coop had been almost giddy driving the Lexus—seriously, Archie got him a Lexus?—and his good mood proved contagious. We laughed and sang along with the music.
I’d always been the one with the car out of the two of us. While Coop hardly complained about being wheel-less, an unmistakable sense of freedom populated the interior of the car. His grin remained a fierce and visceral thing. Half-twisted in the seat, I stretched a hand over to rest on his shoulder while I savored his expressions.
Happiness looked good on him.
Curling my fingers against his nape, I grinned when he shot me a look. “Hey…” The music in the car lowered. Controls on the steering wheel rocked. My car didn’t have that. Lots of amenities my car didn’t have, not that I was complaining.
“Hey.”
Our phones buzzed again and he quirked a brow. “You going to check that? It could be Arch or one of the guys.”
“I know,” I admitted. “But I’m enjoying seeing you so happy.”
Red tipped his ears. I wouldn’t even have noticed but I stroked my fingers through his hair and back down to his nape. “I’m being a dork, aren’t I?”
I laughed. “I am so the wrong person to ask that of. I’m always a dork.”
“No you’re not,” he said, almost a little too vehemently. “You’re the coolest, ever.”
Yeah. I snorted. Thankfully, he couldn’t hold onto his fierceness, and his smile reappeared.
“You’re the coolest to me.”
Now our phones buzzed in tandem, and I groaned. We were almost to school, so I brushed my fingers against his nape once more before pulling my hand away and facing forward again. Coop caught my hand though and pulled it over to his thigh, where he held it as he waited for the last light. We were less than a half-block from where we’d pull into the school parking lot.
“Thanks for being my first passenger,” he said.
“You’re welcome.” It seemed like a little thing, then again, I remembered what it was like getting behind the wheel of the car when it was finally all mine and not just borrowing Mom’s. Part of the reason I resented the need to keep my car off campus. That car was my lifeline to escape. Now I had to rely on the guys—or walk.
Not that I couldn’t rely on them, but I craved my own independence. I wanted to hang with them because I wanted to, not because I had to. It might be a thin line, but I stuck to it.
“I’m really happy for you,” I told him, then gave a dramatic sigh. “No idea how I top this for your birthday.”
“I’m going to tell you a secret,” he said as he slowed for the turn. But he didn’t finish until we were pulling into the lot and he headed for where I usually parked. “You’ve got everyone beat just being you.”
Heat pounded to my face not just from the words, but the low-tone he spoke in. After he slotted the car into a space, he put it in park and then covered my hand with his.
“You know you’re my favorite person, right?”
I glanced down to our hands then back at him. “You’re definitely one of mine.”
“Good.” Then he sighed as he drifted his gaze to my lips then back up. “Now the sucky part of the day.”
“School’s not great, but it’s not that bad.”
“It is when I can’t kiss you.”
My face burned, but I didn’t look away.
“You’re also really gorgeous when you—" Our phones buzzed again. “For the love of all that’s holy and not,” he muttered, and grabbed his phone from the cup holder. “What?”
The look on his face had me reaching for mine.
“What?” I repeated his question, but the texts from Archie said it all. My good mood fled, and my heart sank.
Jake and Ian got into a fight.
Not just
a little fight.
But a brawl.
They were both in the office. Archie had other details.
This was Jake’s second fighting offense in as many weeks.
There was no way he wasn’t getting suspended.
“Did I do this?” I asked, staring at the message.
“No,” Coop said, his voice firm. “You didn’t. This is them, Frankie. Not you.”
I sent a text to Archie that we were there and heading inside. We needed to know where he was.
“Then why does this feel like my fault?” I asked, even as we grabbed our backpacks. Before I could slide out of the car, Coop caught my hand again and tugged.
“Listen to me,” he said, his gray-green eyes calm. “You are not responsible for our behavior.” When I would have opened my mouth to respond, he squeezed my hand and shook his head. “Ah-ah. No. You are responsible for one person and one person only—you. What we do? Me? Archie? Bubba? Jake? That’s on us.”
I wanted to believe that.
“Ian’s upset right now.”
“So are you. I don’t see you starting fights.”
An inadvertent laugh slipped out. “Maybe you haven’t been looking closely enough.”
For his part, Coop snorted. “Frankie, this isn’t your fault.”
“But this is what worries me about dating all of you.”
“I know, and that is why I’m telling you…” He cupped my cheek with his free hand. “Whatever went down between Jake and Bubba? That’s on them. Jake’s got a temper.”
Did he ever.
“Bubba…Bubba might be the golden boy, but there’s repressed rage there.”
I frowned.
“Just—none of us are perfect.”
“No shit,” I said, some of the guilt eating like acid though me cooling at the comment. “I never thought you were. I’m definitely not.”
“Ha,” Coop said. “That’s where you’re wrong, though I guess in being wrong, you diminish your perfection but only a little.”
Keys and Kisses: Untouchable Book Three Page 12