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Oh crap.
My heart pounded as I grabbed my backpack.
“It’s fine,” Ian said. “I don’t care who sees.”
Coop just shook his head. Clearly, he had a different opinion. Ian waited until I locked the car, then he looped an arm over my shoulders. “So, what’s on the agenda for today?”
Just like that, we were back to normal.
Until we reached the cafeteria, where Archie glared at Jake across the table and Jake wore hisfuck off, I don’t give a damnexpression. Maybe coffee with everyone this morning was just a bad idea.
As soon as Jake spotted me, his expression changed. He grinned.
“Oh,” Coop muttered under his breath. “This is going to be fun.”
We strolled across the cafeteria, Ian’s arm over my shoulders like it belonged there and the feeling of being watched crawled over me. Jake kicked out the chair next to him and held up the bag with the fritters. Even as Archie patted the chair next to him and held up his coffee, Coop—the asshole—snickered.
Ian sighed then slid his arm off me as we reached the table. I was not picking sides, so I circled the table and sat in the chair that was roughly between them. Coop snickered again, but when he went to grab my fritters, Jake snatched them and passed them over. After shaking his head, Archie actually shifted chairs before handing me my coffee.
“Thanks, guys.” My stomach growled in appreciation as the first wave of fritter scent hit me. I took a quick swallow of coffee as Coop and Ian sat. Coop was right across from me, and he stretched out his feet. When he nudged my foot with his, I glanced up. He nodded to Archie and Jake, who had returned to glaring at each other. Well, Archie glared.
“Hey, Arch,” I said pulling his attention off Jake. Not sure for how long, but I’d take it. “Did you finish the Federalist papers?” Yes, lame, but it was the first thing I thought of.
“Pfft.” Archie said. “Yes, not that he’ll care. It’s reference material. I know it’s not on any test.”
“You’re positive about that?” I took a bite of my fritter and waited. Archie opened his mouth, then closed it. Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes before he snorted.
“You’re messing with me.”
“Probably,” I said then grinned, but it worked. He laughed and then tapped my nose lightly.
“Bad Frankie.”
All at once the ballooning tension popped and everyone laughed. The glaring stopped, the silence broke, and we were back to our normal morning routine of teasing, bitching, and debating what we were going to do for lunch.
I really didn’t care, just told them to pick. As I sipped my coffee though, I met Rachel’s gaze across the cafeteria. She was right in the middle of a group of her friends, and she seemed to be studying me. Instead of looking away when caught staring, though, she smirked then glanced at the girl next to her who hadn’t stopped talking the whole time.
Apprehension shivered through me. Maybe Coop was right. Maybe kissing at school was a bad idea.
Especially if Jake, Coop,andIan were going to kiss me.
Was Archie going to try and kiss me on Friday? I tried to study him without studying him and then I had to sip the coffee. Was I really sitting here fantasizing about what it would be like if Archie kissed me? Was I that desperate for attention?
“Yo, Frankie,” Archie nudging my chair jerked me back to the present. The guys were all in the process of getting up. So were most of the people in the cafeteria. Crap, the bell had to have rung. I finished the last bite of my fritter and licked my fingers hurriedly before I slung the backpack over one shoulder.
“Coming,” I said then waved to the guys. “See you later.”
After a rocky start, the day turned out to be all right. Archie gave me the normal amount of crap during Econ—a class that I think was invented to prove that I was nowhere near as smart as I thought I was—while also sending me little notes about post-dinner things to do.
Honestly, my favorite wasget coffee and take a walk at the lake. When I sent back a heart to that one, he sent a thumbs up. Silly? Maybe. But I liked the path at the lake. I liked the lake area, because it was green and there were trees and the water. I liked feeding the ducks, too.
Ian caught me on the way to Calculus and he had his arm around my shoulders. When he pressed a kiss to the side my head, I glanced up at him. “You sure?”
“Yep,” he said. We’d talk about it later. But then Ian walked me to French the same way and I avoided his kiss. I still needed to “break up” with Mathieu, but I wasn’t going to flaunt something else in front of him.
It was rude.
French was a blast and Mathieu engaged us all in French Jeopardy. I don’t think anyone in that class laughed as hard as we did.
