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I hated horror movies. Thankfully, they never made me see another one.
“You’re holding my hand,” I told him.
“Good,” Jake said. “You noticed.”
He walked me all the way out the door to where my car was. I expected Coop to be there and probably Bubba—since he’d parked his bike next to my car. What I wasn’t prepared for was the rose sitting on top of my car or Coop and Bubba standing side-by-side and staring at it.
Jake squeezed my hand, but he didn’t let me go as we walked toward them. Coop and Bubba weren’t the only ones staring. There were lots of kids going past and others pointing.
Coop spotted us and held up his hands. “I didn’t do it.”
“Neither did I,” Bubba said slowly. “Wish I had.” He glanced from me to where I was holding Jake’s hand then back up again before he eyed Jake. I didn’t have to look at Jake to see the smirk. Pulling free, I lifted the rose down. It was in a weighted vase—and it was a gorgeous lavender color. The vase was still cool, so it had just been put there and it smelled great.
There was a note on the side of it and Jake took hold of the vase so I could pull the note off.
“Is it from Frenchy?” Jake asked.
“Mathieu,” I corrected him.
“Whatever. Is it from him?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t opened it yet.” Still the butterflies in my stomach were thrilled at the proposition. Someone had left me a rose.
The note inside was typed.
Lavender roses signify mystery,enchantment, and attraction at first sight. You enchanted me from the beginning. I hope you enjoy a little mystery. You deserve far more.
That was it.
“No one signed it,” Jake said before he glanced at me. Maybe it was from Mathieu. That was—incredibly sweet considering it was his birthday.
I sniffed the rose and grinned. “I guess that’s the point of the mystery. I don’t know who sent it.”
“Yeah,” Jake said slowly, and then looked over at Coop and Bubba. “It was here when you got here?”
“Yep,” Coop said, and Bubba frowned. They all glanced around, but I didn’t. If Mathieu left it for me then he intended for me to just enjoy the rose itself and the mystery, so that was what I intended to do.
Particularly with Jake standing right there and Bubba watching me so carefully. “We still going to get food and breakdown our study time?” I glanced at Coop, almost apologetically. “We still have to figure out our project.”
“Yeah, but we’ll take care of it.”
“Need a ride to your car?” I offered Jake and he nodded.
Coop had to hold the rose for me while I drove. I carried it with me into the restaurant. I didn’t want it to wilt in the car. Surprisingly, Archie sat at our table, food and drinks waiting for us.
“You losers are late…” Well, at least he looked fine and sounded fine. Maybe we’d avoided the mood. He flicked a look at the rose in my hand then at me. “Hey, Frankie, where’s the boy toy?”
And maybe we hadn’t.
Chapter Thirteen
Boy Next Door
For the most part, Archie made a few cutting remarks and then let it go. Jake didn’t try to hold my hand at the diner, nor did Bubba bring up homecoming. Coop seemed fine, better than fine. He was as relaxed, zen as ever, and I’d never been more thankful for his presence. Because, I couldn’t shake the awareness of the shift in our friendship and… I worried.
They were fine, so I went with it. Tuesday I would head over to Bubba’s—he’d follow me home on the bike and I’d get a ride on his motorcycle. I was totally down for that then we’d work on calculus. Wheedling from the guys did not get them included, and I couldn’t say anything, but it was because Bubba wanted to work on his auditions. Wednesday and Thursday, I had to work while Jake and Bubba had football practice in the afternoon.
When the subject of Friday came up, I pulled out my notes from class and gave Archie our assignment. “We’re going out still on Friday,” Archie reminded me. Before I could amend it toif we needed to, he pointed out, “We had to cut our dinner short Friday because we had to pick up Coop. Coop can get his own ride to the game.”
