Changes and Chocolates: Untouchable Book Two

by Long, Heather

  “I can always make time for your friends, Archibald. And I haven’t seen Madeline in even longer than the last time I saw Francesca. I’ll be sure to call you dear, and do let your mother know.”

  Kill. Me.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Standish.”

  Archie rolled his eyes and turned. His exit from the room pulled me with him, and I dug my nails into his hand. Coop was a half step right behind us. Then we were out the front door and the cooler air hit me like a slap in the face. I let go of Archie’s hand and put both of mine over my face as I fought to catch my breath.

  I didn’t make it another step before Archie wrapped an arm around me and tugged me back against him. “Don’t worry about the dinner, I’ll shitcan that whole thing, and I’m so sorry Muriel is such a bitch.”

  “She knows, doesn’t she?” God I was gonna be sick.

  “Probably,” Archie admitted. “Muriel and Edward are… well, neither of them are stupid. I hadn’t really thought about what she knows or didn’t, but after that little stunt? Yeah, she knows.”

  I dropped my hands to his arm and met Coop’s worried gaze. Archie gave me a gentle squeeze, and I leaned back against him. He smelled like his soap and his shampoo.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered against my ear. “I was trying to get her to knock it off. Next time, I’ll just pick a fight. Trust me, I can piss her off like no one’s business.”

  A laugh escaped me, but it was more a sound of disbelief than humor. Coop flashed me a small smile.

  “Take her home?” Archie asked, and he had to be looking at Coop. “Unless you need to go somewhere else—is your mom…”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Bad meatloaf,” Coop said.

  “Excuse me?” Archie grunted.

  “That whole situation—we’re calling it bad meatloaf.” Coop grinned at me. “The really dry kind you get forced to eat because it’s all there is for dinner.”

  Archie snorted, then pressed a kiss to the side of my head, almost nuzzling my hair. “You don’t ever have to have bad meatloaf. That’s an affront to the taste buds.”

  His arm around me helped. The hug grounded me and kept me on my feet at the same time. Gradually, the panic ebbed and I could take deeper breaths.

  “So…is there bad meatloaf at home?” He sounded like he couldn’t believe he was asking the question.

  “I don’t know, the kitchen was clean and there were no dishes when I got home last night.”

  “So 50-50.” Archie hummed.

  “Hey, you can always come study at my place,” Coop offered. “I’d say go to the library, but it’s closed on Sundays.”

  True enough.

  “Well, if I know Muriel, she’s going to head up and sleep for the rest of the day soon. She always needs a good rest after she’s been away. We could sneak back up to my wing, and you guys can hide there.”

  “You’re both sweet,” I admitted. “But I need to go home, I need to get this homework done, and I have to decide about Jake tonight.”

  “What about him?” Archie asked, not mentioning my sweet comment.

  “She’s got a date,” Coop supplied. “Just not sure about going yet.”

  “You should,” Archie said slowly, and when I twisted to look at him, he loosened his hold but didn’t let me go completely. “Yeah, I know I can’t believe I’m saying it either. But going out would get you out of the house, and you know he cares.”

  I knew they all cared.

  “We all want to make this right.”

  Coop had said the same thing.

  “Time,” I told him quietly. “I think I need time.”

  Archie nodded slowly. “Time we can do—but are we talking minutes? Hours? Days? Give me some frame of reference?”

  “I don’t know,” I admitted except… “I want to forgive you. I want to forgive all of you.”

  Relief punched through his expression, and he pressed his forehead to mine. “Thank fuck.”

  I laughed, then brushed my fingers to his cheek. “I’m trying—but I need the time.”

  “You take whatever you need, Frankie. Just—don’t disappear again. Please?”

  Coop coughed once behind me, and Archie and I both glanced at him. He raised his eyebrows. “Same thing I asked. Just keep talking to us.”

  “I promise to try—can that be enough for now?”

  I looked from one to the other.

  “Hell yes, that’s enough,” Archie said. “Do you mind if I kiss you?”

  I blinked. Well… “I’m still mad, Archie.”

  “That’s fair, doesn’t change my request.”

  He raised his eyebrows, and I leaned up and pressed a light kiss to his lips, but when he would have deepened it, I pulled away. Licking his lips once, he nodded. “Go on.” Then he looked past me to Coop. “Look after her.”

  “Already planned on it.”

  Battling the strange reluctance, I let to go of Archie and headed to the car. He followed us, and closed the door for me as I started the engine. Rolling the window down, I looked up at him. “Are you going to be all right with your mom?”

  He laughed. “Muriel isn’t going to do anything to me, Frankie. Like I said in there, I don’t need their money. They know it, too.” He crouched so he could be on eye level with me. “You didn’t do anything wrong. All of this crap is on them. The rest of it is on us. We fucked up. We’ll fix it. They—you know what, let them deal with their mess. It’s not our problem.”

  “Easier said than done,” I admitted. Coop covered my hand on the gearshift.

  “That’s why you have us, even if you’re still mad. That doesn’t mean we can’t help.”

  “What psycho boy said,” Archie grinned, then looked past me to Coop. “Psychology? Seriously? That was a nice zing.”

  “I wasn’t making it up,” Coop told him. “I have been thinking about. That and film making.”

  Archie and I locked gazes, and we both grinned. “It’s good to know we’re all fixed on what we want to be in life,” I said. “So much easier for planning.”

  “Nah,” Archie countered. “We’re flexible, and I think that makes us a much better fit.” Then he leaned in and kissed me again, firm, but gentle and swift. “Take care of you, I’ll see you in the morning with coffee. Hot or cold?”

  “I know I said hot earlier, but I think iced would be better. Double the extra shot of espresso?”

  “You got it,” he said with a smile. “And go out with Jake. Tell him he can start making it up to you by making you smile.”

  Then he backed off and motioned us toward the driveway. I glanced at the rearview mirror to find him watching after us, and I raised my hand out the window to wave at him before I turned out.

  The last hour and a half had been so surreal, but… “Coop?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Was that weird for you?”

  “The breakfast? Hell yes, it was weird. That woman needs to be medicated.”

  I groaned. “No, that part was definitely weird. I meant—the part where Archie kissed me.”

  “You mean after you kissed him?” There was the faintest note of teasing in his voice.

  With a sigh, I looked at him. “Yes.”

  “No,” he told me. “Not really. It was kind of hot, and he was doing all the right things. Guy’s got style, I’ll give him that.”

  Oh. Relief threaded through me.

  “Course, now I’m kind of hoping that my shot at getting a kiss just went up, too.”

  I couldn’t help it.

  I laughed.

  “Maybe,” I told him, and he grinned wider.

  “Maybe is good.” He clapped his hands together. “I’m good with maybe.”

  Afterboom

  Bubba: Check Instagram. Now.

  Jake: WTF?

  Bubba: IKR?

  Coop: What is it?

  Jake: Someone posted pics.

  Archie: No shit, it’s Instagram.

  What pics?

  Coop: In c
ar. Gimme a minute.

  Archie: They just left here.

  Jake: …

  Bubba: They?

  Archie: She and Coop came to get car.

  Got stuck for here for food. Muriel came

  home.

  Jake: Oh shit.

  Bubba: I can’t believe I’m asking this.

  Does she know?

  Archie: I’ll fill you in later.

  What the hell is this?

  Coop: …

  Archie: I’m gonna kill her.

  Jake: Is Frankie okay?

  Archie: No, obviously. This

  is going to make it worse.

  Coop: Almost home.

  Archie: We need her to take this down.

  Jake: She isn’t the only one

  who posted.

  Coop: 3 minutes.

  Archie: Fuck me.

  Bubba: Calling Sharon now.

  Jake: Don’t.

  Bubba: She needs to delete that.

  Archie: Bubba, J is right. Don’t.

  Jake: She wants you to call.

  Bubba: We need her to take it down.

  Coop: …

  Jake: If you’re with Frankie, wait ‘til

  you’re home. Don’t call S, I’m going to

  call Maria.

  Bubba: Bad idea.

  Archie: Why don’t I call them?

  Jake: Worse idea. Make Coop

  do it.

  Coop: Finally, home

  Jake: You still with her?

  Coop: No, she’s gone up. No idea

  if mom is home.

  Archie: Seriously?!?!?

  Coop: Well I didn’t see your dad.

  Archie: Fuck

  Bubba: Her car was there

  Coop: Yeah, still here.

  Who am I calling?

  Archie: Look at Instagram.

  Coop: !!!!!!!

  Archie: You need to call Sharon.

  Coop: She doesn’t care what I think.

  Archie: She doesn’t care what any of us

  think. But you are the nicest one

  Coop: LOL That’s Bubba.

  Bubba: So I call.

  Jake: Don’t. I texted Maria.

  She’s calling me in a minute.

  Archie: Dude. Bad idea.

  Coop: What is Maria gonna do?

  Jake: She and Sharon are

  are friends.

  Archie: And they hate us.

  Bubba: They don’t hate us.

  Coop: No, they hate you.

  But this is about Frankie.

  Jake: No. Shit.

  Bubba: Sharon’s pissed.

  Jake: We got that. M calling.

  Archie: Good luck.

  Bubba: Yeah, good luck.

  Coop: Why are they doing this now?

  Archie: You’re not stupid.

  Coop: Thanks?

  Bubba: How long before Frankie sees it?

  Archie: With our luck? She already has.

  Coop: This summer is gonna keep

  biting us.

  Archie: Hope not. But I will make

  them regret it if they hurt her.

  Bubba: Like we did?

  Archie: Yeah

  Chapter Six

  Infidelity

  After we got back, I told Coop I’d see him the next day, and even though he glanced at my mouth, I didn’t kiss him. I thought about it. At the same time, I was exhausted. I just wanted to go hide in my room. The apartment was as quiet as it had been when I left. Turning up the music, I finished straightening up my room, including getting the now clean comforter back on the bed and putting up my clothes.

  Next, I got the roses watered and rearranged. I was almost sad the single lavender rose wouldn’t make it the whole week, but I wasn’t quite ready to toss it out yet. The last thing I did was run the vacuum around and make sure the litter box was clean before I grabbed a soda and headed back to my room to get ahead on my homework.

  The busier I kept, the more I could keep my mind off of stuff. Breakfast at Archie’s had verged on a nightmare. I felt bad for his mom. I felt bad for all of us really, but I didn’t want to focus on any of the bad meatloaf.

  Pulling out the journal I’d started for lit, I flipped open to the first blank page and wrote down the date. Ms. Fajardo said she didn’t plan on reading the entries, here was hoping she meant it.

  Titling it Rules and Roses, I tried to sum up the last two weeks and what it all meant. Fifteen pages and a hand cramp later, I still wasn’t sure if I’d managed to capture all of it, but that was definitely enough pages to cover two weeks of journaling. I’d just pulled out my Calculus when my phone buzzed.

  Mom: On my way home, in the mood for takeout. You home? What do you want?

  I sighed. I wanted her to not be wherever she was. It was almost three though, and I hadn’t really looked at my phone since I got in.

  Me: Not really hungry. Whatever you want is fine.

  Mom: You still going out tonight?

  Was I?

  Ugh.

  I looked out the window. I didn’t have a great view, but I could see some of the flower shrubs that lined the walk and a sliver of the pass between the buildings. The only upside was my window didn’t face any other window directly, so I didn’t have to worry about people staring in at me.

  Me: Maybe. Homework first.

  Mom: Let me know.

  Yeah, I’d get right on that. Closing out of her message, I glanced at the messages with the guys. There were still a few I hadn’t read. I’d talked to Archie and Coop today, and I’d talked to Ian the night before, but I hadn’t really talked to Jake.

  Not to do more than shut him down.

  Tabbing to his, I stared at the last message he sent.

  Jake: Talk to me? Pls?

  The message yanked at me. Leaning back in the chair, I stared out at the other apartment building. Archie and Coop had both encouraged me to go out with Jake tonight, which besides being kind of weird, was also sweet. I don’t think I’d have made it through breakfast without Coop and Archie there for help.

  The hugs. The kiss. I was still mad. But…

  Me: Hey

  Setting the phone down, I flipped to the page with the calculus problems and pulled out clean notebook paper. I’d work them out first, then login to do the homework online. We had options, but numbers worked better for me if I was writing them. It wasn’t until I finished the last problem and I heard the backdoor open that I glanced at my phone again.

  No new messages.

  It was still mid-afternoon. Jake could be busy.

  “Frankie,” Mom called, and I took a deep breath. Leaving my homework, I headed out to the living room.

  “I’m here,” I called. The scent of fried chicken hit like a hammer. Oh boy. Fried chicken buckets were usually reserved for the holidays. Unless we ended up getting invited somewhere, Mom and I made an annual KFC run and stocked up on all the goodies from the sides to the biscuits to all the fried chicken we could eat.

  But it was for special occasions.

  Mom was standing in the middle of the kitchen—alone. Oh. Thank God. Arms folded, I paused at the entrance and studied her. She was smiling. Genuinely smiling, and her eyes were shiny. Mom had dark hair where mine was blonde, but our eyes were the same.

  “There’s my girl.”

  “Yep. Here I am.”

  She was dressed in slacks, a pretty green blouse, and was just stepping out of her heels. There was an overnight bag by the door. Coming or going? You know, I didn’t want to ask.

  “You look happy.”

  Another grin lit her up, and she paused as if to consider my comment. “I am happy. Food’s on the counter. I’m just going to change.”

  I scooted out of her way, and she brushed a kiss to the air next to my cheek.

  Almost a week since I’d seen her, and that was at least familiar. We didn’t go for the PDA here. “What’s the occasion?” I called.

  “Hmm?” Her door had opened and then closed agai
n.

  “What’s the occasion? You got fried chicken.” Maybe I should just swallow the questions. Did I really want the answers? It was hard to decide, really.

  Damn, it smelled good though. I grabbed a couple of plates out of the cupboard and set them on the table, then went back for my soda. It was mostly empty, but I might as well finish the can. I checked my phone while I was in there. If I hadn’t heard anything after food, I’d try again.

  I told him I was pissed and I needed space, maybe he was giving it to me.

  In the kitchen, I opened up the bags of food. Two buckets of fried chicken, all the sides I could want, fresh hot biscuits, and there was gravy for the mashed potatoes. My mouth was watering as I loaded the plate. The French toast I’d had that morning might have been amazing, but it had been a few hours earlier, and it hadn’t been fun to eat while facing Mrs. Standish knowing what I knew.