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I closed my eyes. If I’d known about my mom? God, had they been in the pool house while Archie and I were in the hot tub? Nauseated didn’t begin to cover it.
“Her mom’s a bit—” Archie cut himself off, but the sentiment echoed clearly. “It’s another reason she should stay here. As long as the party is on, Edward and Ms. Curtis will be scarce. If she goes home, she’s going to see her. Maybe. If Ms. Curtis went there…”
“C’mon, Arch,” Ian said with a sigh.
Yeah. C’mon Arch… I opened my eyes, but none of them were looking at me.
“Seriously, Frankie,” Ian said, finally meeting my gaze. “We want you here…I don’t know if you can have fun. You can blow off the party and just go play video games or something inside. But, stay…”
“Ditto,” Coop told me and bumped my shoulder. “Besides, you still have to meet your rose admirer.”
Jake scowled. “You had to bringthatup.”
“Because we’re herfriends,” Coop stressed. “And we’re allhere. So Frankie can feel safe aboutmeetingthem.”
Not very zen, but also not subtle.
I wanted to laugh, but there was no humor in any of this. It wasn’t funny. If I went home, and Mom was there… I’d have to face her knowing what I know. But here? With all of myfriends?I had to face what they’d known and chosen to do. The rose guy had been the last thing on my mind, and now… He was going to find me here, if I took off, I left him hanging.
Granted, I didn’t owe him a damn thing but those roses—they were bright, untainted spots in my week. What if meeting him ruined all that? My thoughts were like balls in a pinball machine stuck between two bumpers in a machine racking up crazy points, because I had to ask, “What are the chances none of you is going to hit him?”
With a groan, Jake said, “As long as he isn’t a douche and doesn’t expect anything, fine. He gets handsy, and I’m not promising I won’t break them.”
“C’mon,” Coop said. “We won’t punch the guy.” The last he said to Jake. “Or try to set him up.” That went to Archie. Then he looked at me. “You know you wanna. Besides…you gotta stay and dance with us, Frankie. Show off the bikini maybe?”
“She doesn’t have to show that off to anyone else. We can save that for swimming later when people are gone,” Archie suggested. “But if you decide you want to, you’re just going to have to deal with a little more protectiveness. You’re hot, and I don’t want anyone getting the wrong idea.”
It was like talking to four brick walls. “You know that’s not as cute as you think it is.”
“It’s not about being cute,” Archie retorted.
“He’s not wrong,” Ian said slowly. “You’re stunning, Frankie. Absolutely stunning. People are gonna drink even if we don’t supply it. So—we want you safe. Fair?”
“In what world is thatfair?”I eyed them each, one at a time. Shoving the chair back, I stood. “I’ll stay, but not for you. Not for any of you. I’m staying because right now, I can’t go home. And I don’t know what I’m going to do. But you’re going to leave me alone.” I snagged one of the sandwiches off the tray and looked at Coop. “Give me back my keys.”
“You said you weren’t leaving…”
“Not right now, I’m not. But I want the option to go when I decide, not you.”
Hurt flickered in his eyes at the last comment. “Promise you’re not leaving.”
Promises meant something to me. “Like I said, I’m not leaving right now. Now give me my keys.”
“You’re being stubborn to be stubborn,” Jake snapped.
“Well, stubborn is better than being an ass. I’ve never lied to you. Or tried to sabotage any of you. Not that you four can say the same.” I shook my open palm at Coop, and he slid the keys out of his pocket before setting them in my hand. “Thank you.”
With that, I walked away from them. Every step hurt. Not just because of what they did, but because everything had changed—again. I didn’t see Jeremy or anyone else on my way to the patio doors. The hot tub was running, the water bubbling happily, and the lights were on in it again.
My gut knotted as I went wide around it and headed for one of the patio lounge chairs. The music was louder down here, and I pulled my sunglasses down as I finished my sandwich, aware that four sets of eyes were on me from above. The wine gave me some distance, but it didn’t do a damn thing for the way my gut churned. The food helped soak up some of the mild buzz, but it served as a distraction for far too short a time.
The patio door slid open and Ian walked out, he was in swim trunks and an unbuttoned short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt. Beer in hand, he circled the pool to drop onto the lounge chair next to mine. His sunglasses shielded his eyes, though I only peeked at him as he passed me.
Neither of us spoke, and I couldn’t figure out how I’d gone from magical Friday to miserable Saturday. Worse—I couldn’t figure out how I was going to make it through the next hour, much less the whole party.
I already wanted to get the hell out of here. But high school parties were part the experience, right? I clung to the lame excuse, because I really had no idea where else I would go right now. The closest thing I could think of was to go back to Mason’s and see if Marsha was there.
How humiliating would that be?
