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Then his grin spread. “Glad to hear it. But we missed yesterday afternoon, and you’re going to have an anxiety attack before third period if you miss any more classes.”
“I’m not that bad,” I countered.
“No,” he agreed with a crooked grin. “You’re much worse.”
Mouth agape, I gave him a little shove. “You suck.”
He laughed. “But I’m not wrong.” I pushed him again, easing out from between him and the fridge. “Aww…” He followed behind and wrapped his arms around me. “Don’t be mad.”
“I’m not mad, dork,” I told him as I peeled his hands off. “We have to get to school.”
“Blegh, and here I thought I almost had you talked in to calling out today.”
Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. “We can’t—well, I can’t.”
“Yeah,” he said with a deep sigh, barely hiding his grin. “I know.”
“Ass,” I muttered as I pulled on my backpack and grabbed my keys.
“So you have said,” he teased before opening the door for me. “But I think the lady likes my ass, or she wouldn’t put up with me.”
Canting my head to the side, I indulged myself with a good look at his butt. Admittedly, he looked good in those shorts. They seemed to emphasize a firm set of gluteal muscles. Considering I’d had my hands on his ass a few days ago, I could attest to the tone. “I’d give it a seven,” I told him before locking the door and heading for the stairs.
“A seven?” Coop almost squawked, and I was grinning as he dogged my steps. “On what scale? Cause if it’s seven out of seven, then I’m awesome, but if it’s out of ten, that’s closer to average. But if it’s out of five, then I’m golden.”
Rolling my eyes, I tossed the backpack in the car.
“What about the guys?” Coop persisted as we climbed in. “Give me some basis for comparison.”
As tempted as I might be, I kept my own counsel. Still, Coop remained undeterred.
“Fine, let’s talk actors on a scale of Robert Downey Jr. to America’s Ass, where do I rate?”
“What’s wrong with RDJ’s ass?” I had to know.
“I haven’t really looked at it, but it’s notAmerica’sass, you know?”
With a snort, I countered, “And why are they the scale? Have you seen Thor? Or The Winter Soldier?” I made a little swooning sound, and that got me such an outraged glare, I giggled all the way to school.
Coop didn’t let it go, even when we reached the table in the cafeteria. “Seriously, you’re just going to leave me dangling?”
We’d actually beat Archie, which was a bummer cause I was dying for coffee. Still, I dug into my backpack to pull out my notebook. “Just give me your lit notes,” I said. “Then you can resume debating with yourself what seven means.”
“I’m not debating it with myself,” Coop said with a glare that held absolutely no heat. “I’m trying to get a straight answer out of you.”
“I was pretty straight with my answer,” I deadpanned, and he groaned. “Notes?”
He pulled them out. “You didn’t miss much. You’re ahead on the reading, right? So she gave us another practice essay, no grade, so you won’t have to make it up, and then we discussed allusions for the rest of the class.”
“Thank you.” I was a little grumpy about missing the practice essay. The AP exams weren’t for the faint of heart. Still, it could be worse. I copied over Coop’s notes, and thankfully, he always took pretty concise ones and I could read his shorthand.
“Already have your head in a book,” Archie said by way of greeting, and I grinned as he passed me coffee. His gaze went to my wrist and the charm bracelet I’d worn today. He’d given it to me on Friday, and I’d put it on this morning as more of a whim, but the expression on his face was more than worth it. Smile nudging a little wider, he said, “Feel better?”
“Eh,” I admitted. “Just focused on getting through today.” Which was better. I hadn’t called my mom back, and maybe it made me a coward, but by the time I was done rewriting my practice essay for the third time, I’d been tired again, so I crashed after sending the last one to Ian.
He liked the first one and the second one. His comments had all been really kind, but it sort of felt like he was humoring me. Or maybe just too nice to tell me they sucked.
“Arch, ask Frankie about your butt.”
