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Archie met my gaze with a grin. “I am, but then I like taking care of your pussy, singular or plural.”
Giggling, I held onto Coop, and he chortled.
“Keep it up, I can stand here and hold her all night.”
“You’d do it, too,” Archie commented, sounding more amused than anything. And as tempting an offer as that might be, I wanted some downtime before we had to deal with our parents, and Archie and I should talk. We really hadn’t had time to discuss the latest without others around, and he seemed to be as guarded about it as I was—at least, I thought he was. Maybe he talked to the guys when I wasn’t there.
In fairness, he might be avoiding saying unkind things about my mom to my face.
Not that I could fault him for the unkind things or the not wanting to say them to my face. It wasn’t like I wanted to call his father creepy to his face. Especially not when I could see how much Archie looked like him.
Shoving that uncomfortable thought away, I gave Coop another squeeze before pulling back and doing a quick search of the parking lot. Archie wrapped his hand around my nape and massaged it gently.
“He’s not here. I don’t see any of his cars.”
Relief spilled through me. Mom’s car was absent, too.
“Don’t worry,” Archie said. “You do not have to deal with them on your own.”
I was not a coward, but this morning was just another example of how bad this could get for everyone. Mom did not handle it well when things went sideways. Everything about this situation could go sideways.
After getting the key, Coop gave me a light kiss before glancing past me to Archie. “Take care of her.”
“I intend to,” he said, just the barest hint of irritation in his voice. Then Coop gave me another kiss ahead of leaving. I closed the door behind him and leaned against it. Archie stood in the middle of my living room, hands in his pockets for a beat before abruptly turning on his heel and heading down the hallway to my room. The door opened, and Tory streaked out into the living room and bounded from the coffee table to the back of the sofa where she stared at me, tail lashing.
When I reached the bedroom, he stared at the dress on the door and I leaned against his back. Closing my eyes, I just took a deep breath and hugged him from behind. With his hands over mine, he said, “We can cancel going out with them.”
“It will just make it worse,” I told him.
“I’m pretty sure your mother slapping you so hard she left a mark is already worse.” The lightness in his tone was deceptive. “You don’t want to talk about it. I know. You don’t want to discuss that she hurt you, and I’m pretty sure she has before. I get it. Your mom is off limits, but hurting you is not okay.”
“She isn’t abusive abusive,” I said, fumbling for a defense. “Saying she hits me is like accusing her of something.”
The conversation was easier if I didn’t look in his eyes. Did that make me a coward?
“There’s all kinds of abuse, Frankie.” The stroke of his thumb against the back of my hand soothed. “Will you let us—let me in so I can help?”
When I went to pull away, he caught my hand and turned. Archie frowned.
“I know I’m pushing. Coop is right, you need to be pushed on this.”
“It’s going to be hard enough going to that dinner tonight. Hard enough because you don’t think it’s real, do you? The engagement?”
“I think Edward’s playing a game.” He shrugged. “Getting engaged while you’re still married isn’t exactly stellar planning. But that’s their problem. Not ours.”
“Except it is my problem. I’m all my mom has. I’m… I’m the one who has to pick up the pieces.”
He sighed. “You know our parents are supposed to take care of us, not the other way around, right?”
If we had Ian’s parents, we would have that. Or if we had Coop’s mom or Jake’s. Their dads weren’t great, but they weren’t awful, awful, even if Coop really didn’t like his and Jake remained pissed at his.
“Yeah? So why did we get the short end of the stick?”
“I have no idea,” Archie admitted, then tugged me in close. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired. Achy. Kind of dreading tonight, but we have to go.”
He sighed. I knew he didn’t get it. Maybe none of them would. But it had just been me and Mom forever. They had extended families, but we only had each other. She wasn’t perfect.
