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Mom had been aghast when she’d seen it, but Archie remained adamant.
“It’s a gift for you, it’s your birthday. Look, I get it, it’s expensive. That’s not why I’m giving you a car. I want you to have the same freedom we all do. You take care of Frankie, too. You always play it cool and nothing ever ruffles you—so pay it forward.”
That had shut me up.
Under the pre-text of looking up the park times and ticket prices, I dug out my phone. No messages from Bubba.
As tempted as I was to text him and tell him to get his ass in gear, the next move really had to be his. He’d fucked up with Frankie. Instead of talking to us about what was going on and maybe getting some clarity, he’d gone straight to her and messed with her head.
The fact it had left them both confused and hurting bugged me. Archie and Jake were just pissed with him. Jake because he couldn’t stand anything that stood the chance of hurting Frankie, especially if it was one of us. Legit. The first fight I ever saw him get into was over Frankie. Kind of fit, most of the fights I saw him wade into involved her in some way.
Archie was good with her in other ways, but he had a kind of code. It was a little weird, but it had been there from the first day we met him. Literally the first question he asked when Frankie was out of earshot was which of us was dating her.
At the time, the answer was no one.
Obviously.
He’d grinned and asked if we minded. Jake grumbled. Bubba had frowned. But I’d only shrugged. I didn’t think he would get anywhere.
But the next ten months were fun to watch. And along the way, Archie became a damn good friend, to all of us but especially to Frankie, and even if she’d remained oblivious, he’d never gotten mad at her. Frustrated? Sure, but never angry.
That right there made him a good fit.
“Think that works?” Jake asked. “If we leave in the next fifteen minutes, we can make it by the time they open. That includes grabbing breakfast on the way, but probably drive-thru. Since you and Frankie have a date tonight, what time do you want to be back here?”
I glanced at Frankie. “Between five and six, the cats need to be fed.”
Her grin had me puffing my chest out.
“I pay attention,” I reminded her.
“You always do,” she murmured, and real pleasure rushed through me. I could be a pushy bastard where she was concerned. I hated when she closed everyone out. I really hated it when she blamed herself for things that were definitely not under her control, or downplayed when something really bothered her. So yes, I paid attention.
So did she.
When I coiled one of her curls around my finger and gave it a tug, she rolled her eyes and all was right in my world. “Gonna ponytail or braid this?”
I hated when she put it up, but it wasn’t my hair.
“What do you want?” The question startled me, and she grinned.
“I like it down.”
“Then down it is…not like we’re riding with the windows open.”
I grinned.
“Yep,” Archie said, and I glanced over to find him offering a five-dollar bill to Jake. Despite the bruises on his face, Jake just laughed as he took the five and slid it into his own wallet.
“I don’t even want to know,” Frankie declared as she rose and grabbed the coffee cups. After rinsing them out, she added, “I’m going to pee and wash up, then we can go when you guys are ready.”
None of us said anything as she left the room, and as soon as the bathroom door closed, I looked at them. “Spill.”
“Jake bet me five dollars that Frankie was going to be all ‘yes, Coop’ today.”
“She always says yes to the birthday boy, dumbass. She’s done that for years, it’swhyshe showed up at Bubba’s birthday party.”
True. She had. We went almost all summer never seeing her, and she made the dumbest excuses to me to avoid fighting with me. But she had come to Bubba’s party.
