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“They don’t have that.”
Laughing, I shook my head and called, “Well, then keep looking…”
“Yeah, yeah…” Oven off, food plated, I put away the oven mitts. “Hey, Frankie, your phone just went off. It’s Archie. Want me to answer it?”
“Please…” I’d just picked up the plates when someone knocked on the door. Setting them back down, I glanced through the window to the side of the door and frowned. Jake? Opening the door, I stared at Jake who held up bags from our favorite Chinese place. “Hey…”
He grinned and I swore, his gaze swept me from head to toe before he said, “Hey. I grabbed a little bit of everything. I know you like their doughnuts.”
Their… Were we having dinner tonight?
“Come on in,” I said, waving him inside and stepping back to let him in. He caught the door and nodded at me to go before closing it behind him and flipping the deadbolt. “I didn’t realize you were coming over.” I felt kind of bad, especially since he brought food.
He glanced at the food on the counter and his expression fell. My stomach knotted and all that earlier confusion from when he said he wanted to date me crawled right up wrap around my throat. “You have company?”
With a swift look at me, he checked the living room. Coop was still in my room and his voice drifted if not the actual words.
“It’s just Coop,” I told him when Jake’s expression grew even more thunderous.
He blew out a breath when I said that. “Oh.”
The word sorry stuck to my tongue, because why should I apologize for having one of my friends over? I’d thought he meant we’d watch History Buffs the way we had last time, not that he would come over.
“Come on, we were just going to look for a movie because we’re stuck on the assignment.” I rose up on my tiptoes to grab him a plate from the cupboard, then I grabbed more silverware. “Can you snag the paper towels?”
We were about to have a ton of food in my room. I would most likely have to wash my comforter before the weekend. No way we’d make it through the food without spilling something.
“Got ‘em.” He toed his shoes off next to Coop’s then followed me back to my room. Coop glanced up as we came in.
“Hey, here she is—with Jake. Hey Jake,” he greeted him with a little frown before taking his plate and handing me the phone.
I put my plate on the desk aware of Jake as he moved to stand right next to me and set out the Chinese food. “Hey Archie,” I said into the phone.
“Hey,” he replied his voice a little solemn. “Didn’t mean to bust up the party.”
“It’s not really a party, Coop and I were doing homework and grabbing something to eat. Jake just dropped by—we got our signals crossed. I think we’re going to watch a movie and eat while Coop and I figure this project out.”
“Yeah? Got enough for a fourth?”
Jake leaned a little closer. “I do but you better pick up some ice cream on the way. Gotta pay the door fee.”
I snorted and pushed his arm. “We still have opera cake, if you want to try that. No need for ice cream.”
“Not even mint chocolate chip?”
My all-time favorite ice cream beaten out only by…
“…or maybe the double chunk chocolate chip chocolate ice cream?”
Death by chocolate was the only way to go. “You’re killing me.” I looked at the greasy appetizer food then the Moo Goo Gai Pan and rice Jake had on his plate, not to mention the sweet sugar and cinnamon doughnuts I could smell in the bag he set next to me.
“But what a way to go, right?” Archie’s chuckle was much more him. “Tell you what, I’ll bring both. See you guys in fifteen.” Then the call ended.
“Archie’s coming over?” Coop asked.
“Apparently,” Jake said pulling out my desk chair and I shook my head.
“We can sit on the bed. It’s more comfortable anyway.” Though we were gonna run out of room when Archie got there. I could always go steal the couch cushions or we could go sit out there to watch a movie. Eh, we’d figure it out.
