I groaned as Coop utterly derailed them and I was the sudden focus of two sets of blue eyes. “What does that make us?” Jake asked.
“Yeah,” Ian said slowly. “Kind of curious about that.”
“Good luck, she won’t give me a score either,” Archie stated. “And I asked first.”
I shot Coop my middle finger, and he beamed at me.
Ass.
By lunchtime, we had new subjects to discuss—like the huge lit project Coop and I just picked up, the upcoming test in Calculus, and Archie and Jake were having a heated debate about their robotics project. It was kind of surreal to discuss genre while at the same time they were arguing the laws of Robotics as written by Asimov, and Ian made notes on his song list under the guise of asking me calculus questions.
It was hilarious and relaxing after a day of whispered conversations, stares, and really less than subtle finger pointing. I was not looking forward to study hall in the library. Jake and I were usually left alone, but that didn’t seem as likely today, and he was already grumpy.
Eating off-campus had just been the safer option. Back at school, we checked in with the study hall proctor before we headed to the library. It was the first time we’d been alone, really, since Sunday night. The time in the SRO’s office didn’t really count; we hadn’t been able to talk.
Even though we had our books open to read, catching up on the day before, we kept glancing at each other. Pressing his foot against mine, he asked, “Are we still keeping PDAs to a minimum at school?”
I grinned. “Yes.”
“Damn,” he whisper-grumbled. “You’re looking particularly adorable at the moment.”
“What does particularly adorable look like?”
“It looks like you, silly, what did I just say?” He rolled his eyes then nudged my book. “Get caught up. You don’t need to have a meltdown this week if you realize your calendar’s off.”
“Ugh, you and Coop both.”
“Me and Coop both, what?” Curious, he glanced at me again.
“He was giving me hell about having an anxiety attack if I’d skipped school today.”
“Well…” The corner of Jake’s mouth kicked up.
“I am not that bad.”
“C’mon, Frankie, let’s be real. You’re the straight A student who had perfect attendance in three grades, and the only reason you didn’t have it in ninth was because you had the flu. It takes an actual emergency for you to miss class.”
“Well I skipped class yesterday.” I made a face.
“Technically, you skipped your TA period, study hall, and a class we’re voluntarily taking for no grade so we can take the AP exam and get the credits. Not quite the same thing.”
I stuck my tongue out at him, and he grinned.
“Seriously, what bugged you more yesterday? That you had to talk to Dr. Miller and the SRO, or that you had to miss AP Lit?”
“I’m not talking to you anymore,” I grumbled and went back to my book. Asses. They were all asses. I was not so predictable.
“Sure you are,” Jake said, a smile in his voice. “Because you’d miss me if you didn’t.”
I gave him a dirty look, and he grinned.
“See, now I really want to kiss you.”
Rolling my eyes, I sighed. He bumped my shoulder, then tapped the page.
“Read. Time for us to play later.”
Sighing, I propped my head on my hand and tried to focus on the words, but now I was thinking about kissing. Stealing a glance at Jake, I caught him staring at me.
His eyes twinkled, and I stuck my tongue out at him, but I couldn’t stop my own grin and he chuckled.
Fine, he was right about the fact I couldn’t not talk to him. But they were wrong. I could totally skip classes.
After I made sure all my assignments were turned in and then hope there wasn’t a pop quiz or test. Then again, lectures were important, and French was as much about participation as it was the homework.
So I could skip the afternoon, but not the morning.
Only G did have stuff for us to study in AP Euro, and I’d feel bad if I skipped out on my TA stuff, most of the time it was just hanging out, but she did have things for me to do.
“I hate you,” I muttered.
“What did I do now?” Jake asked.
“Skipping would be stressful.”
And what did he do? He just laughed and rubbed my back.
“That’s why you don’t do it, Frankie.”
Ugh.
By the end of the day, I was tired, but I was also thrilled school was over. Jake and I headed out to the parking lot. “Hey,” he said. “Were there roses yesterday? None of you said.”
“No,” I told him. “I haven’t heard from…” Oh wait.
“You haven’t heard from him?” Jake clarified. “Since the party?”
“No, there was an envelope on the windshield yesterday, but with everything going on—I thought it might be something else.” Then I’d utterly forgotten about it.
“Do you still have it?” Jake asked as he pushed the door open.
“Not sure, actually.” It might be in the car. Or Coop might have it.
Coop and Ian were already there. And Coop had a big envelope in his hand that he tapped against his thigh.
“Is that from yesterday?” Jake asked.
“Nope,” Coop said. “Today. You want me to get rid of this one, too?” The last he directed at me.
“Did you throw out yesterday’s?” Guilt hit me, it never occurred to me it might have been from Mr. Thorns.
“No,” Coop said with a sigh. “It’s still in my backpack.”
After unlocking my car and shoving my backpack inside, I held out my hand and Coop passed them over.
Ian moved to stand at my shoulder while Jake leaned against the car and looked down at the envelopes.
“Just in case,” Jake offered. “Solidarity.”
“Yeah,” Ian said. “Solidarity.”
The first was just a greeting card with the picture of a bar of chocolate on the front. Inside it said: The supply of available swear words is insufficient to meet the demands, but chocolate is forever. Have some on me. Keep your chin up.
It had a gift card to a frozen yogurt place not far from the school.
I laughed. “Okay.” The second card was similar to the first, only there were chocolate roses on the front and inside they’d written: Don’t be so serious. If you can't laugh at yourself, call me... I'll laugh at you. Better yet, laugh at everyone else or eat chocolate. Trust me, you’re awesome, choose chocolate.
The gift card was for Starbuck’s, and I glanced at the guys.
“I really want to know who this is…”
“Me too,” Coop said. “Cause he made you laugh.”
“Yeah,” Ian exhaled. “That’s pretty awesome.”
“Still not any of you?” I verified, and they shook their heads one at a time. I glanced around the lot and then tucked the cards away. Whoever my admirer was, they had all the power. But maybe I could get a message to them.
“You following us?” I checked with Ian, and he smiled.
“Can’t wait.”
Neither could I, but I really wanted to talk to Mr. Thorns, if for no other reason than to say thank you. He had been a bright spot over the last few days, and he was still doing it.
That was pretty awesome.
Chapter Fourteen
Just Want to Kiss You
Instead of heading directly back to his place, Ian took us for a ride around the lake. Between the wind against my face, the rumble of the motorcycle between my legs, and the ripple of his muscles under my hands as we flew down the winding road, the day kind of faded away. Not that it had been a bad day, but by the end of it, I’d been exhausted.
I told myself that the other kids talking about me didn’t matter. It didn’t. In a few months, I’d graduate, and then I was out of here. I’d be on my way to college—c’mon Harvard, get me in!—I’d be living in
a whole new city, having a whole new life, and who cared what the kids at Robertson High thought?
If I was lucky, the guys would be going to Harvard too, or MIT for Jake and Archie. They’d be close by, and if not—well, we’d find a way to stay in touch. It wasn’t like we didn’t text sixty times a day. It would be fine. Mom would do—well, whatever she was going to do, and I’d have my own life separate from having to worry about her. I shuttled her to the side, I hadn’t called her back, and she hadn’t texted or reached out again, and I kind of hoped it stayed that way.
I wasn’t ready to really talk to her.
Eyes closed, I drank in the sensation of the ride and only opened them when Ian slowed us down and then came to a stop. We were parked on one of the pseudo bluffs overlooking the lake. The whole area was dotted with them; little turn offs that offered some privacy from the road and ideal for picnicking or photos. Come spring, everyone and their brother would be out here for graduation pics.
Ugh. There was another thing I didn’t want to think about. Even though we stopped, I didn’t let go of him until he twisted a little, and then it was only to lean back so I could meet his gaze.
“Hi,” he murmured, and his husky tenor rolled right over me like a hug in motion. The sunglasses hid his deep blue eyes, but I didn’t need to see them to know the smile curving his lips definitely filled them. Ian seemed to smile with his whole being. It was one of the things I’d always adored about him.
“Hi,” I answered, rubbing my thumb idly against his side since I had only dropped my hands to his waist rather than let him go entirely.
“Would you agree we’re not at school anymore?” He quirked his brows high, and I laughed.
“Definitely not at school—” He twisted, one arm snaking around my waist, and then his mouth closed over mine and I forgot the rest of the sentence. The slow, even massage of his caress teased me. Firm, yet soft, and then he stroked his tongue along the seam of my lips and I opened to him.
Heat swept me from head to toe. Kissing Ian was like taking a deep dive into a perfectly crystal pool. The depths were so much more than I expected, and the sensations unraveling had me digging my fingers into him as he sucked on my tongue. Then just as swiftly as he deepened the kiss, he eased it down with light nipping kisses, drawing on my lower lip and then whispering them away before nuzzling the corner of my mouth.
Coils of tension looped around me in an ever-shrinking circumference until I plastered against his side, my thighs against his, and he lifted his head with a sigh that I echoed.
“I’ve been waiting to do that all day,” he told me, and I shuddered.
“Yeah?”
“Well, since the last time you let me kiss you really—but that seems like eons ago.”
It did. I licked my lips and lifted a hand to cup his cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” He shut off the bike and the rumbling noise ceased abruptly, leaving us in a quiet punctuated only by a breeze off the lake and the hum of traffic on the loop beyond the trees.
“For saying no more PDAs at school,” I said. “It’s been a lot the last few days, and then I told everyone they couldn’t kiss me.”
“No,” he said, rubbing his hand in a slow circle against my back. “You don’t have to apologize for telling us what you need. Always tell me what’s going on, seriously. If we talked like this before—maybe we could have avoided some of our issues.”
I laughed, even if it wasn’t terrifically funny. “I used to think we were always honest with each other. We always talked.”
“I know,” he promised, head forward so his helmet rested against mine. They made a little thunk noise that pulled another giggle out of me. “Me, too. Then I found out we’re all a little hard-headed.” His grin widened, and I laughed again.
“Only a little?”
“Well, I think we’re learning.” The breeze helped to dispel some of the humid air and the heat. The rain might have washed out their game, but it had a nice cooling effect on the weekend. But the sticky air and warmer temps returned. We were probably still in for a few weeks more of overwarm weather.
“I hope so,” I admitted. “I don’t know that I want any more whack me in the back of the head lessons.” If nothing else, the past weekend had left me reeling with its incredible peaks and desperate valleys. “I just want—I want to write the perfect essay. I want to finish school with the right GPA, and if I have to, I’ll take the SAT again.”
“Frankie, you got a 1550, you don’t need to take it again. That’s a good score.”
“But it’s not the highest score, and I need all the help I can get.”
“Your essays are good, and you have notebooks of writing you can submit as a portfolio. You’ve been writing some of the best pieces since freshman year. You’ve got good grades, you’ve got life experience, they would be fools to turn you down.” The absolute confidence in his voice buoyed me.
“You’re really good for my ego,” I said.
“Good. You ready to head back to my place, or want to ride around the lake some more?”
Both were tempting. “I’m good with either,” I admitted. “But first…” I leaned forward and he met me halfway. This time, I initiated the kiss, nibbling against his lower lip before teasing my tongue against his. His mouth opened so generously, and it was like falling and being caught in the same breath.
My stomach clenched as the tingles radiated out from where our mouths connected, and I leaned into him. Ian flexed his hand against my side and let out a low groan, before lifting his head. “I think back to my place where I can kiss you in comfort.”
I laughed. “We still have homework.”
“I know,” he agreed, nuzzling little kisses to my mouth. “But we also have a pool and swimming together is a good thing.”
Another shudder passed through me at the memory of being in his lap in the pool. Licking my lips, I tilted my head back and let him kiss past the strap of the helmet to my neck. The problem was the helmet was heavy, and I started to tip.
Chuckling, he balanced me and nudged my head up. “Definitely home. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Injured in make-out accident,” I intoned, eyes widening. “We’d never live that down.”
“Well, Bob, we’re down here at the lakefront where two teens decided that sitting astride a motorcycle while wearing their helmets was the perfect spot to re-enact every teen movie ever—except the sun was still up, there is no backseat, and our intrepid heroine fell over because the helmet she was wearing weighed too much. Fortunately, the helmet also protected her head from the hit it could have taken. So keep in mind kids, when we say safe sex, this wasn’t what we had in mind, but it is effective.”
I gaped for all of about three seconds before laughter swamped me. It was both horrifying and hilarious. Ian’s grin spread, infectious in its brightness, and he squeezed me closer.
He let out a happy sigh and then brushed my lips with another kiss before turning to start the bike. I settled against his back, arms around him and relaxed in a way I hadn’t been. Some of the day lifted away as he got us moving, and we did another circuit of the lake before he cut away and toward his place.
Unlike the last few times, his parents were already gone when we got there. Relief invaded me as he cruised the bike into the garage. Climbing off, I loosened my helmet. Fast on the heels of relief came guilt. Ian’s dad had done me a solid, even if it had been humiliating to have him see those pictures.
After hooking our helmets onto his bike, Ian slid his arms around me again. This time when he dipped his head, I could wrap my arms around his neck. He was all solid muscle and enthusiasm. With every lick of his tongue against mine, I clung tighter. This close, there was no way to miss the press of his erection or my own response. My nipples tightened as fever and chill raced in equal measure over my skin.
I was aware of everything. The spicy hint of the aftershave he used, the way his clothes smelled like him, the warmth of his skin, the
faint rasp of stubble beginning to grace his jaw. The way our clothes rustled as we rubbed against each other. The solid grip of his hands as they clamped on my hips, then he lifted me—backpack and all—so I wasn’t tilting my head back or straining. Thighs hitched to his hips, I sank into the kiss.
I needed to breathe, but I didn’t care. One brief break for a rush of air, and then his mouth was open to mine again. My heart beat out a rapid cadence when he dragged his teeth lightly over my lower lip. Finally, we broke the kiss, but his forehead pressed to mine and we were panting in tandem.
Even in the shadows of the garage, his blue eyes were intense and his pupils huge. I had no idea what mine looked like, but I ached from kissing and wanted more in equal measure.
“Much better,” he managed in a rough voice that sent shivers eddying through me. Somewhere in all of that, he’d cupped his hands on my ass and held me in place. “Hey, Frankie,” he whispered.
“Hey, Ian.” I ran my fingers through his hair, unwilling to take my hands off of him, even if we needed to move. Honestly, I lost track of time, and if not for the fact I’d started to sweat, I might have been content to just stay there, staring at him as we tried to get our breathing under control.
“Hi, Angel,” he said as he carefully set me down. A thrill went through me at the nickname. After a briefer, but no less heated kiss, he turned me around and gave me a little nudge. “Go on inside and give me a minute.”
I paused to glance at him. “Are you okay?”
“Yep,” he said. “But I think I need about fifty laps in the pool.”
Oh.
I bit my lower lip, but before I could say anything, he made a shooing motion. “Go find a suit and get changed. We can swim and cool off,” he said before adding in a low mutter, “in more ways than one.”
Not wanting to make him more uncomfortable, I headed upstairs. I stared at the door to his room for a minute, then the guest room. It would be just as easy to walk in there, strip off, and let him walk in and find me, or I could do what he asked me to do.
The fact I was even considering the first washed over me, and my skin lit up. Wanting any of them was not a problem. Every single kiss pushed me closer, but Archie and I had already crossed that line, and what did it say about me if I did with all of them? Even if they knew about each other. Ian punched Archie about Friday night, but he wasn’t pulling away from me.
Changes and Chocolates: Untouchable Book Two Page 19
