Rules and Roses: Untouchable Book One

by Long, Heather

  “Yeah,” he said, chuckling as he turned sideways to block another guy from cutting down the stairs to where I was. At the top, we angled toward the wall and that meant I walked along the lockers and he took the outside line. “Anyway, win or lose, we go over the game. What we did right, what we did wrong, then we run the stuff we did wrong and get it right.”

  “Nice.” I really didn’t get sports. “Is he allergic to just saying good job, apparently what we did last week worked, let’s do more this week?”

  Bubba’s grin stretched. “Sure, he could. Doubt it’d be as motivating as get off your butts, boys…”

  I laughed. Second week and class got serious. Homework would start coming hot and heavy. My phone buzzed a third of the way through class, but I couldn’t look at it, not and take notes at the same time. I was pretty sure I understood the processes and equations we were going over, but I’d rather be sure than just think I might be.

  Right toward the end of class, the teacher told us to go ahead and start on our homework if we wanted. Five minutes to go. I glanced at Bubba who made a face and I grinned. “You’ll be fine,” I mouthed, and he mimed hanging. Rolling my eyes, I added, “Call me later if you run into trouble.”

  “Can do.” Bubba said. “We’re still getting together after school, right?”

  “I planned on it, but Archie’s not here.”

  “He’s not?” Bubba frowned. Oh, that was right, they hadn’t been there for coffee, either.

  “Nope, just me and Coop in the cafeteria earlier.” I slipped out my phone and glanced at the screen.

  Dessert Options: I confess, I ate opera cake for breakfast.

  Grinning, I typed in, Happy birthday. See you in five.

  I tabbed over to Archie’s message. He hadn’t replied, and he hadn’t read my message. After I set it down, I caught Bubba glance away toward his desk. Before I could ask, the bell rang.

  “So,” Bubba said, falling into step with me. “I’ll send a text to Archie, but I figured we’d go off campus for lunch today.”

  “Yeah? Um…” What did I have on my to do list? I had some reading for government, problems for calculus, and my French project was now mostly done. “Not pizza?” Cause sure, why not?

  “Not pizza,” Bubba promised. “Subs, maybe?”

  “Oh, that does sound good, actually.” We were almost to French class when I realized Bubba walked me all the way and Mathieu approached from the other direction.

  Crap.

  “Bon anniversaire, Mathieu.”

  “Merci,” he said with that open grin of his. My stomach did that little flip flop because Bubba actually eyed him.

  “So this is Matthew. I’m Ian,” Bubba introduced himself.

  “Hello, Ian,” Mathieu greeted him. “Un autre petit ami, oui?”

  Bubba frowned as he studied Mathieu, and I touched his arm. Anything to distract. “I’ll see you at lunch?”

  He gave Mathieu a look then me. “Yeah, lunch. I gotta go.” Then he jogged down the hall, because I’d been right, he’d gone out of his way to walk me to French.

  Mathieu gave him a speculative look, then glanced at me. “Il est jaloux.”

  No, Bubba wasn’t jealous. He was my friend.

  “Il est mon ami.” I flicked my fingers at him and slid into class before the bell rang.

  “Si tu le dis,” he murmured as he followed me inside. Smartass. If I say so…yes, I said so. Still, Mathieu was funny, and class flew by, and it was fun. We ended up playing a game show in French, and Mathieu made a great host. Even better, a couple of the girls kept trying to flirt with him, but he didn’t respond. After class, he waited for me outside.

  “You are busy for lunch today, yes?”

  “Yeah, I’m gonna go grab subs with the guys.” I’d invite him, but honestly, I really didn’t want to deal with them.

  “Tomorrow, too?”

  “Not yet.” I did eat with the guys pretty regularly, but… as evidenced, they didn’t always eat with me. “Want to grab something tomorrow?” Crap. “It’s your birthday, I should…”

  “No, no. Don’t cancel your plans. Trust me, the cake…” He did the chef’s kiss thing again and beamed. “Perfection. I took a picture of it for Maman. She was very impressed. Yes, I would like to have lunch tomorrow—it is Tuesday so Tacos?” His cheerful grin made me laugh, and I glanced down the stairs and the back at him. “Or burgers?”

  “You’re on.” Then I had to go. He gave me a little wave before turning to his next class. I sighed as I descended the stairs.

  “Hey,” Coop said from right next to me, and I nearly leapt out of my skin. It was only shock locking my jaw shut that kept me from squealing out loud. A low chuckle escaped him, and he looped an arm over my shoulder. I almost punched him.

  “You scared the crap out of me,” I complained even as he squeezed my shoulders and rubbed my arm.

  “Well, that’s what happens when you walk and dream at the same time. You were a million miles away.”

  “Not quite that far,” I said. The adrenaline had me hopping.

  He chuckled. “Tell me we didn’t have an assignment over the weekend.”

  “Nope, journaling starts this week.”

  He made a face, and I couldn’t blame him. On the other hand, I actually had something to write about so, that might not be too bad. As I slid into my desk, I checked my phone. Still no Archie.

  “Have you heard from Arch?”

  He gave a shrug, which wasn’t really an answer. Class kind of dragged. Archie could have been sick, but I’d texted him on Sunday about after school and coffee. He and Jake had both seemed fine then. Worry for Archie nibbled at me all the way through class. Afterward, I headed for the parking lot, Coop in tow.

  “Where’s the fire?” he asked.

  “Lunch,” I reminded him, and he frowned.

  “We’re going out?”

  I slid to a stop. “Yeah. Talked to Bubba this morning about going to get subs.”

  “Huh,” Coop said, almost but not quite smiling. “Did he? Cool. I could eat subs.”

  “Right?”

  The guys were really being weird. I should have yelled at them over the summer and let them get the weird out before school started. I headed for Jake’s car, figuring that was where they would be, but Jake caught us in the hallway.

  “Hey, where are you two off to?”

  Okay. It was official. We’d crossed from weird to downright strange. “Let me guess? Bubba didn’t tell you about lunch either?” It was an easy enough mistake.

  Jake shot a look at Coop then at me. “Guess not. Where we going?”

  “Subs.”

  “I’ll text Bubba, and tell him we’ll meet him there.”

  “Didn’t he ride with you?”

  “Nope, brought his own ride for a change,” he said over his shoulder, but he muttered. “Now I know why.”

  When I glanced at Coop, he just gave me a helpless shrug. Whatever. I was starving.

  Jake opened the front passenger door and waved me into his car. Coop took the backseat and sat in the middle.

  “Have you heard from Archie?”

  Jake had been stuck at football practice that morning, too.

  “Yeah,” Jake said. “He was just in a mood. He’ll probably make afternoon classes.”

  “Oh. I texted him, but he hasn’t texted back.”

  “Maybe he’s sleeping,” Coop suggested.

  Maybe. I sighed. Bubba pulled into the parking lot of the sub place at the same time we did, and I stared.

  Bubba had a motorcycle.

  Since when? With my wallet in my pocket, I left the backpack in the car. “Bubba! Where did that come from?”

  He went from a glare at Jake to a sheepish look at me. “It was supposed to be a surprise. That’s why I asked you to lunch.”

  “You wanted me to ride on it with you?” I studied the bike. It was beautiful, black with blue detailing and a wide seat. I didn’t know anything about bikes. “I’ve nev
er ridden one.”

  “Well, then it’s a date,” Bubba told me. “I’ll follow you home tomorrow, then give you a ride to my place. You can take your first ride on the way back to school, too, if you want.”

  “Your place?” Jake asked, his tone—different. “Why are you two going to Bubba’s place?”

  “Calculus,” Bubba answered without missing a beat. We had to work on his music selection, and we had lists to compare, but he wasn’t telling the guys, so I kept his secret.

  “Pretty much,” I told Jake. “Sorry, I’d invite you, but you maxed your math credits.”

  He’d lucked out on the math credits.

  “Yeah, lucky me,” he said pushing away from his SUV. “Let’s eat.”

  After the initial weirdness, the guys seemed to calm down while we ordered our sandwiches, but no sooner did we sit than Jake eyed me from his seat right across the table. “So, who’s Matthew?”

  “Subtle,” I told him.

  “Wasn’t trying to be. Coop tells me there’s some dude we don’t know at your house in the middle of the night, so I get curious. Who’s Matthew?”

  “Leave her alone,” Coop told him, his tone less relaxed and more brisk. He’d snared the seat next to mine, leaving Bubba to sit next to Jake.

  “What?” Jake glared at him. “I don’t know who the guy is.”

  Rather than endure a round of arguing, I nudged Coop’s foot with mine. It was sweet he was being protective, but I could handle Jake. Mostly. “He’s a foreign exchange student, so immune from your little memo.” Okay, that was a wee bit petty. “He’s also in my French class. He’s sweet. I like him.”

  “Sweet,” Jake repeated. “Huh.”

  “Sweet,” I confirmed, then took a bite of my chips as I thought about the kiss he’d given me the night before. Definitely sweet.

  “Why was he at your place so late? And why did you have to take him home?” Were they not going to let this go?

  “He seemed like an okay guy,” Bubba said, idly. “Nothing special, but okay.”

  Jake twisted in his seat. “When did you meet him?”

  “Walked Frankie to French,” Bubba told him, then took a big bite of his sandwich looking enormously pleased with himself. “He speaks pretty good French, too.”

  “It helps that he is French,” I reminded Bubba. “And before you guys get too crazy, I’m going to have lunch with him tomorrow.”

  “Where?” Jake asked.

  “If I tell you, are you going to show up?”

  “Worried your new guy can’t handle us?” Jake retaliated.

  “No, I’m more worried you’ll try to chase him off because whether I date or not seems to be more about you than me.” I’d only eaten half my sub, but I wrapped what was left because I wasn’t hungry anymore. “I like this guy, Jake. I’d like to see what the fuss is about.”

  “You want to date.” Blunt and to the point. Coop bumped his shoulder to mine. Solidarity, at least he was on my side. Bubba gave me a small smile, hey, maybe that was two of them.

  Two for, one against and Archie—not present so abstaining. “Yes, I do.”

  He scowled and took another bite of the sandwich. God, was it just that awful to believe?

  “You work Wednesday and Thursday?” Jake checked.

  “Every week.”

  “You’re going out with Archie on Friday?”

  Well… “Maybe? I mean it’s a study date so, it depends on if we have homework.”

  Bubba hid a smile. “What about meeting Jake and me after the game? I know you don’t always like to go, but—we can grab something after and hang out for a bit.”

  That got him another glare from Jake and Coop actually laughed. “That sounds good, I’m down for that if you guys don’t mind me tagging along.”

  “Not a bit,” said Bubba. “Frankie?”

  “Well, we’re doing our study thing after school? Figure out where we are on everything? Can we sort it out there?”

  “Sure,” Jakes said, still eyeing me. “You are going to the party on Saturday, right?”

  “Yep. And bringing Mathieu.”

  “That new superhero flick opens this weekend,” Coop suggested. “Want to check it out with me after work on Sunday?”

  What were they doing?

  “Or we could do that Friday, they have late showings.”

  Really? What were they doing?

  “Let’s figure that out closer to the weekend.” I got to see Mathieu on Saturday, but I didn’t want to be too busy in case we could get together on Sunday again.

  After that, they shifted a little to talking about the game from the week before the game coming up that week. When lunch was over, Bubba motioned to his bike and looked at me. “Want to give it a shot?”

  I was nervous, no lie. “I’ve never ridden one.”

  “It’s easy, I’m going to do all the work, you just sit on the back and hold onto me.”

  That sounded too easy.

  “You can just ride back with us,” Jake said. “You don’t need to freak yourself out.”

  I hated the idea that it made me nervous. “Do you have another helmet?”

  My palms were sweaty.

  “Yep,” he unhitched it from the side of the bike and held it out to me.

  “She’s in shorts,” Jake said.

  “It’s a six-minute ride, and I’m going to go slow,” Bubba told him. “Relax, man. You’re way too tense.”

  That didn’t help, either.

  Coop eyed me. “You sure?”

  “Nope,” I admitted, earning surprised looks all the way around. “But I want to give it a try. Maybe it’ll be fun.” Because Jake seemed dubious, I asked, “Would you mind bringing my backpack back to school?” I’d handed Coop my leftover sandwich to hold for me.

  “Of course, I’ll bring your backpack back to school. Study Hall, right?”

  “Yeah, but I usually just go to the library.”

  Jake grinned. “Good to know.”

  Bubba straddled the bike, and then tugged on his own helmet before he glanced at me. Blowing out a breath, I flashed a grin at the guys before climbing on behind him.

  “Arms around my waist,” Bubba said over his shoulder after he got the engine rumbling and I had to lean in, but I wrapped my arms around him. Sometimes I forgot how much muscle he packed. The whole bike vibrated; I could feel it right to my bones. He walked the bike backward, and I shifted my head to look, but I didn’t want to pull away.

  Jake and Coop climbed into his SUV and before Bubba even made it to the turnout, they were right behind us.

  “Hold on,” Bubba ordered, and then we were off. He accelerated out of the lot and onto the street. The speed limit was 40, but it felt like we were flying.

  I almost whooped. It was insane and over way too fast. I was still grinning as he rolled into the lot and slid his bike into the spot right next to my car.

  With me squashed up against him, I don’t think he could have missed my laughing during the ride. He grinned at me as I slid off from behind him. My legs were a little rubbery, and my heart was going way too fast.

  “Fun, right?”

  “Oh my god…when did you get this?”

  “Right after my birthday,” he admitted. “Mom said I had to take the motorcycle safety course, get certified. Finished a week before school was done and then got the bike on my birthday, but Jake and I always ride together, so I didn’t think about it much.”

  I pulled off the helmet and ran my fingers through my hair, pushing it back off my face.

  “What made you bring her today?”

  “You,” Bubba said. He secured the helmets and then pocketed the keys before waving me on.

  “Me?”

  “Yep. You were right… what you said on Sunday. You should get to experience it all. I didn’t realize we were holding you back.”

  “Thanks,” I said, really touched.

  “Now you can say you’ve ridden a motorcycle with a potential date.”

&n
bsp; Wait… what?

  “Want me to bring you over to my place on it tomorrow? That’d be two rides.”

  Admittedly, an exceptionally cool idea, but… “Bubba? Potential date?”

  He glanced at me, one hand on the door to let us back in the school. “Homecoming, Frankie. I was serious.” I couldn’t look away from the intensity in his expression. “You want to date. I want to take you on a date. Remember that—the asks are coming. You’re getting one.”

  I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Bubba wanted to date me?

  Heat flushed my face, and I had to hurry up and go inside, so I stopped gaping like a fish. Jake caught up to us with my backpack and my sandwich, apparently Coop had to jet for class. Then both Bubba and Jake walked me to Study Hall before taking off for their classes.

  Bubba had been serious, and I had no idea what to do with that info. At all.

  Homecoming?

  I checked in with the Study Hall proctor then diverted to the library. I found my table in the back and sat there, trying to figure it all out in my head. Bubba said he was serious, and he brought it up, not me.

  A thump against the table dragged me back to the present. Jake grinned as he dropped into the chair next to me and slid a book over.

  “I thought you had science or something this period?”

  “I did, but I swapped it for Study Hall,” he smirked. “Got the go ahead this morning, but I had to go pick up the slip beforehand.”

  “So now we have two classes together?”

  “Imagine that,” he said, then tapped the book. “I read that yesterday. You’re going to love it.”

  It was an alternate history. I flipped it over and read the back. “I heard about this. I just hadn’t had a chance to read it yet.”

  “Now you have to.” He bent to the side and pulled another book out. “I got book two. Figured we can just go in tandem?”

  Not unusual for us. “Okay…”

  He cracked his book open, and I glanced at my backpack. I should be doing homework, but I didn’t have that much, and this sounded good. Opening mine, I started reading. The hour flew by. Just before the bell, Jake said, “See you in AP Euro.”