Half-groaning and laughing, I turned my face and pressed a kiss to his palm. “Nobody’s perfect. That’s what makes us so interesting.”
His pupils flared, and he stroked his thumb over my lower lip. “That good morning kiss is never enough, you know.”
“I do.”
“You’re going to Bubba’s tonight.”
“I’m supposed to.” Who knew what was happening after this morning? “And we should probably…”
“We will. Text me when you head home?”
The question pulled at me. “Save a kiss for me?”
“I’ll save every kiss you want,” he promised. We lingered like that, trapped in the raw honesty in his answer. He wanted more, and Jake’s soft promise that no way Coop was going to wait echoed back at me.
No. I didn’t want him to have to wait either.
“Time to go,” I whispered.
“Yeah,” he said. “Arch’s waiting.”
“And coffee.” At the comment, Coop flashed me another swift grin.
“The fastest way to your heart.”
“Ha.”
The soft beep-beep of his car alarm engaging echoed as a pair of hands clapped. Turning away from Coop, I met Sharon’s bland stare. Patty stood not a foot behind her. “Thanks for the performance,” Sharon said as she held up the phone. “Though I have to wonder why anyone would be fighting over scraps of your time.”
Coop let out a little sound, but I caught his arm and didn’t look away from Sharon. “You know what?”
“I know everyone is going to see what a slut you are,” she said with a smirk as she tapped on her phone.
“Your jealousy is showing.”
Patty snapped her gaze up and Sharon scowled.
“I know,” I told her as I started forward, slinging my backpack on and keeping it casual. I actually used to feel sorry for her. But not anymore. I paused close enough to see her phone screen and the Snapchat she had open. Before I said, “I’m sure you still have biggest bitch in school all locked up.”
When she gawked, I smiled.
“See you.”
Then I marched inside with Coop hot on my heels. Inside, I was shaking a like a leaf. But fuck Sharon.
Seriously.
Just fuck her.
“That,” Coop said as he slung an arm around my shoulders, “was epic. You just achieved like—seriously—mega levels of hotness. Be my friend? Please?” He leaned into me on the last.
I rolled my eyes, laughing. “You said that when I punched John in kindergarten.”
“I did, and when you socked Felicia MacNamara.”
Ugh. I laughed, head back. “I forgot about her.”
“I didn’t. You had a wicked right hook, even when you were five.”
Despite the banter, I couldn’t quite shake the trembling on the inside. But hell if I would show it. Not with there already being an issue. Archie sat at our table, drumming the fingers of one hand until he caught sight of us.
“Finally,” he said as we got there, and he shoved my iced coffee over to me. At the pinched worry around his eyes, what little humor I’d cobbled together fled.
“What do we know?” Coop asked as he dragged a chair out for me and caught my backpack.
“Thanks.”
“Anytime,” he said, flashing me a smile.
“Just—Bubba and Jake got into it when they hit the field this morning.”
“Jake’s on the bench still,” Coop said, and I frowned.
“Yeah, I literally only know what the rest of the team and that dick Mitch was bitching about when he got in here.” He nodded past us to where Mitch sat with Cheryl. Rachel wasn’t at their table, but that didn’t mean anything. “Bubba and Jake came out of the locker room. They looked pretty intense, then Jake sucker punched him and it was on.”
I groaned. Of course Jake threw the first punch.
“It’s not your fault,” Coop reminded me as he bumped my knee. “They’re big boys. They can handle it.”
“Coop’s right,” Archie said, meeting my gaze. “This isn’t you.”
“It’s easy to say that, but it’s not like you guys fought like this before.”
At that, both Coop and Archie both laughed.
“Um, babe,” Archie said, dropping his voice. “We fought all the time.”
“We fought before Arch and after him,” Coop said. “Hell, we argue all the time now.”
Since when? I glanced from one to the other. With a wry look, Archie motioned to his face. The black eye was mostly gone, but there was still some faint yellowing from when Ian slugged him.
“It’s healthy,” Coop said, and thankfully, I wasn’t the only one staring at him skeptically. “It is,” he continued. “There’s such a thing as positive fight culture.”
“What?”
“Think about it,” Coop said before he swigged down a deep drink of his coffee, and then he leaned in. “A lot of stress comes from biting our tongues. From not saying what’s bothering us. Illustration, you didn’t talk to us for months because you were pissed about the untouchable thing. Right?”
“Right.”
“But if you’d just come at us, and we’d fought about it right then? The internalized resentment, the confusion, and all the stress of not fighting about it would have been out in the open. We could resolve the issue, addressing it specifically.”
Okay, that made a certain amount of sense. “But how are fights positive?”
“Because we’re taught to not say things that are uncomfortable for other people. Um…if I ask you if you’re hungry and you’re starving, but you don’t want to impose, what would you say?”
“I’m hungry,” I told him. I didn’t play with food, and Archie snickered.
“I think I get it,” Archie said. “It’s more like when you need help to get your tire changed. Yes, you can do it. It would be easier if someone helped, but you don’t want to ask or make someone else feel obligated.”
This was true.
“But asking is positive communication,” Coop pointed out. “If you’re angry, and you sit on that anger, you’re hurting yourself. You’re also not letting the subject of your anger have a chance to have their say.”
“You really have been hitting the books,” I said, studying him.
“Yeah well, I’ve had some good reasons to study psych, and the more I learn, the more I want to know. Besides—didn’t it feel good to say that to Sharon earlier?”
“What’d you say?” Archie asked. While Coop described it, I turned the question over in my head. When I glanced at my phone, there were no new messages.
Laughter erupted across the cafeteria. Then it rolled like a wave. Chances were, Sharon’s latest, vicious missive was making its way around the student body.
“A little,” I admitted when Archie and Coop looked at me. “It felt a little good to not just suck up her crap. In my defense,” I continued before they could say anything more, “I used to feel bad for her.”
“You never should have,” Archie said flatly. “None of them deserve your sympathy.”
“They didn’t deserve to be score card points either, but we’re not all perfect as Coop and I already established.”
Stiffness went through both of them, and they jerked like they’d been shot. I went to Instagram first. No post from her there. I hated Snapchat, but I opened it anyway.
Morbidly curious I supposed.
Yep, it wasn’t just a photo, but a video of Coop and I still in the car talking. He had his hand on my cheek, and we looked deeply invested in each other. It was kind of humbling to see the naked emotion there. I mean, I got it when he looked at me, but it was different in the video.
Then it cut to the fight between Jake and Ian, and I winced.
Welcome to Frankie Club.
The next clip was worse than the first one. Ian and Jake were literally pounding on each other, and they were on the grass wrestling.
The first rule of Frankie Club is you do not talk about
Frankie Club.
The image cut to where I kissed Coop’s hand.
The second rule of Frankie Club is you DO NOT talk about Frankie Club.
There was even a video of Archie sitting in the cafeteria alone with their coffee typing on his phone.
The third rule of Frankie Club is if they’re fighting, she’s probably already tapped them out.
It cut back and forth between me and Coop to Archie alone to Jake and Ian fighting on the field.
Then it was done. More snickering across the cafeteria, and I shook my head.
“Well, at least we look cute in our part of the video.” It was about all I could muster on that one. I glanced over to find Coop and Archie glaring daggers at each other, but they jerked their attention to me at my comment. “Why are you two pissed at each other?”
“Someone told you about the points.” Archie’s tone was flat as he studied me.
“It’s not like I thought you guys were monks.”
“Who told you?” Coop asked.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It kind of does,” Archie said.
“Because I know? Or because you didn’t want me to know?” Honestly, I was more curious than I was angry. The whole concept was kind of gross. I could make excuses for them, but I wasn’t going to. Ian indicated it was a mistake, and he wasn’t proud of it. I didn’t think any of them were.
“Because…” Coop scrubbed a hand over his face. I guess we’d all pretty much lost any shine of a good mood. “Shit…” He glanced at his phone and then dragged his seat closer and dropped his voice. “Positive fight culture.”
I raised my eyebrows and then nodded slowly. “Okay, positive fight culture.”
“I’m not proud of it. Though—admittedly, it was a lot of fun in the beginning, and we’re pretty competitive.” Coop winced and then met my gaze. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?”
“Because it doesn’t say much about us as people.”
“It says it’s the past,” Archie argued. “It didn’t have anything to do with Frankie. That’s why we agreed it would stay there.”
“It’s not going to,” Coop said. “Let’s face it, we’ve apparently pissed off enough people that it’s all going to get aired. So better we’re the ones telling her.”
Kind of what I said when I asked if there was anything else I needed to know.
“I don’t want you to know it,” Archie said, his lips compressing. “I can be a real bastard. I learned from the best. I don’t like that part of myself.”
“You’re never that way with me,” I said.
“Because you’re the exception,” he said with a sigh. “You’ve always been the exception. I hate that you know. I don’t want you to look at me differently.”
“I don’t want to look at you differently either,” I said slowly. “But I already look you differently—not because of that. I’m still… I’ll be honest, I don’t get it. But the party pictures are making more sense now.”
Archie winced. “Frankie…”
“It’s okay, I mean…it’s not really okay. But you don’t owe me any apologies. What you guys did or didn’t do—it’s not about me. If you did it because I shut you out, then…that sucks, but it’s still not about me.” It wasn’t denial so much as… “I want to think that you’re not doing that with me.”
“No,” Coop said sharply, and Archie glared.
“Hell no. I told you—”
“I’m the exception. Then…” I lifted my shoulders in a bit of a shrug. “Okay.” I glanced at my phone again. “Maybe you guys owe apologies to other people. I’m not saying you should make them. But maybe you should think about that. Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending the bad stuff didn’t happen doesn’t work.”
It hadn’t for a long time.
“The bell’s gonna ring.” I looked at Coop. “Text me if you hear from them? Chances are they’re going to talk to you guys first.”
“Yeah, of course,” Coop said, but his troubled expression deepened. “Frankie, you are important. You’re more than the exception. You’ve always been the rule. I got a little stupid when you weren’t around…but you’re right. That’s not on you, and it’s not about you. It’s us.”
I gave him a little smile. “Not sure I’m a fan of positive fight culture.”
Ian and Jake’s coffees were still there, but Archie picked them up and then tossed them before he grabbed his bag.
“I’ll see you later,” Coop said as we headed off.
“Bubba told you,” Archie said softly.
“Does it matter?”
“In this instance?” he said. “Yeah, it does.”
Ian wasn’t in math.
I had to walk myself between classes because I told Coop and Archie they weren’t going to race back and forth all over the school. They didn’t like it, but they listened.
I ran into Sharon twice.
She didn’t say a word.
Good.
Coop hadn’t heard from them by AP lit.
We met up with Archie for lunch. He’d heard nothing either.
I spent most of my study hall trying to get homework done. My heart wasn’t in it, but it needed to be finished.
There was a note from Rachel in my locker that I grabbed before seventh.
Hey,
Just reminding you that not everyone is an asshole. Hard to tell around here sometimes. I almost texted you like ten times, but I figure—you know where I am now. Let me know if you need me to be the pushy friend or not. I totally got you covered there. Chin up, girl, and fuck Sharon. I’m totally going to mess up her day sometime this week. Stay tuned. It’s going to be a riot.
R.
The note cracked me up, and I fired off a text to her.
Me: I’m totally fine with the pushy friend.
She got back three thumbs up, a laughing face, a mad face, and more thumbs up.
Rachel: Dude. I so have you covered.
Me: Can’t wait—and just so you know. It’s a 2-way street. If you need me…
Rachel: I could be cheesy, but I get it. I’ll call. Thanks. CUsoon
The only real good news I got in G’s class was my test score on that second test was a hell of a lot higher. He didn’t comment on Jake’s absence, and I didn’t ask. I used the time for homework and checking my phone. Arch and Coop had kept up a running chatter, more than usual. Pretty sure they were as worried as I was. I’d given in to temptation and sent texts to both Jake and Ian, but neither had answered.
That didn’t mean anything.
Or at least, I hoped it didn’t.
After class, I headed out, and it was weird to be leaving school without Jake right there. Coop met me at the door, and Archie was there, too. “Nothing?” I asked.
They both shook their heads.
“Okay, I’m going home if one of you will take me…and oh shit. Archie, I forgot with all of that. You’re awesome.”
“Well, thank you for noticing,” he said, his expression bemused. “But what did I do?”
“Coop’s car. That’s very awesome.”
He shot a glance at Coop and raised his brows. “You told her?”
“Yep,” Coop said as we fell into step. “Because she’s right man, you’re friggin’ awesome.”
“Here I was trying to not make it about me.”
“S’okay,” I told him as I looped our arms, Coop on one side and Archie on the other. “It’s not.”
They both laughed, then Archie clutched at his chest with his free hand. “Wounded.”
“You’ll live.”
“Anyway,” Coop said as we neared the Lexus. “What were you saying?” Archie had followed us all the way to it when his car was out in the other lot.
“Take me home, and I’m going to get changed and drive over to Ian’s. Harder to blow me off if I’m at the door.”
“Want me to go to Jake’s?” Archie asked before I could even suggest it.
“Would you?�
�� That had been next.
“Not a problem,” he said, then squeezed my hand before fixing Coop with a look. “Drive carefully with her. I’ll text if I find anything out.”
It didn’t take long after we got home—and Coop gave me a very thorough kiss in the front seat of the car, because it needed to be christened with a kiss, right?—for me to take care of the cats, get changed, and check the mail.
Crap, I still had mail in my backpack. Making a mental note to check it later, I headed out. Mom was still MIA, and for once, I really was glad. Not sure what it said about me as her daughter that I didn’t really want to see her.
The drive to Ian’s seemed to take forever and was over in an instant. The garage door was shut, and there were no cars in the driveway. I was a little later than we normally got here. His parents had a date night on Tuesdays, so maybe they were already gone.
Blowing out a breath, I knocked and then got my phone ready to send him a text.
When the door opened, I was not prepared to see the swollen wreck of his face. Black eye, busted lip, and scraped chin.
“Ian…” I exhaled, and he braced his hand on the doorframe—his knuckles were scraped and bruised, too.
“Hey,” he said with a wince. “I didn’t think you’d still be coming over.”
“Why not?”
“You know—” He motioned to his face.
“Really? You think because you got into a fight, suddenly I’m just going to cut and run? I’m not the one who decided I couldn’t handle the dating part.”
He flinched.
“And we’re supposed to still be friends, or did I misunderstand that part, too?”
Honestly, maybe he didn’t deserve me being pissed at the moment. Or maybe he did. Either way…
“I’ve been texting you, and you said nothing. Not a word. Not you. Not Jake.”
He dipped his chin. “Jake got arrested.”
My stomach bottomed out.
“What?”
Chapter Ten
We Three (My temper, my future, and me)
Jake
My jaw ached. So did my knuckles. Pretty sure my bruises had bruises. Bubba had a wicked left hook and a worse right one. I’d gotten in a lot of blows, too. A click sounded when I ground my teeth together. Fuck, my jaw hurt. The corner of my lips was puffy, too. Every time I moved my mouth, even a little, the taste of blood touched my tongue.
Keys and Kisses: Untouchable Book Three Page 13
