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All of the friendliness in Jake’s expression dried up. “What?”
“I told her about them, because that’s on us. You say we’re the right people to look after her and protect her. But we did that.”
Yeah, should have seen that fist coming.
Fuck, that hurt.
Chapter Nine
Everything Changes
Our phones blew up before we even made it into the parking lot at the school. Coop had been almost giddy driving the Lexus—seriously, Archie got him a Lexus?—and his good mood proved contagious. We laughed and sang along with the music.
I’d always been the one with the car out of the two of us. While Coop hardly complained about being wheel-less, an unmistakable sense of freedom populated the interior of the car. His grin remained a fierce and visceral thing. Half-twisted in the seat, I stretched a hand over to rest on his shoulder while I savored his expressions.
Happiness looked good on him.
Curling my fingers against his nape, I grinned when he shot me a look. “Hey…” The music in the car lowered. Controls on the steering wheel rocked. My car didn’t have that. Lots of amenities my car didn’t have, not that I was complaining.
“Hey.”
Our phones buzzed again and he quirked a brow. “You going to check that? It could be Arch or one of the guys.”
“I know,” I admitted. “But I’m enjoying seeing you so happy.”
Red tipped his ears. I wouldn’t even have noticed but I stroked my fingers through his hair and back down to his nape. “I’m being a dork, aren’t I?”
I laughed. “I am so the wrong person to ask that of. I’m always a dork.”
“No you’re not,” he said, almost a little too vehemently. “You’re the coolest, ever.”
Yeah. I snorted. Thankfully, he couldn’t hold onto his fierceness, and his smile reappeared.
“You’re the coolest to me.”
Now our phones buzzed in tandem, and I groaned. We were almost to school, so I brushed my fingers against his nape once more before pulling my hand away and facing forward again. Coop caught my hand though and pulled it over to his thigh, where he held it as he waited for the last light. We were less than a half-block from where we’d pull into the school parking lot.
“Thanks for being my first passenger,” he said.
“You’re welcome.” It seemed like a little thing, then again, I remembered what it was like getting behind the wheel of the car when it was finally all mine and not just borrowing Mom’s. Part of the reason I resented the need to keep my car off campus. That car was my lifeline to escape. Now I had to rely on the guys—or walk.
Not that I couldn’t rely on them, but I craved my own independence. I wanted to hang with them because I wanted to, not because I had to. It might be a thin line, but I stuck to it.
“I’m really happy for you,” I told him, then gave a dramatic sigh. “No idea how I top this for your birthday.”
“I’m going to tell you a secret,” he said as he slowed for the turn. But he didn’t finish until we were pulling into the lot and he headed for where I usually parked. “You’ve got everyone beat just being you.”
Heat pounded to my face not just from the words, but the low-tone he spoke in. After he slotted the car into a space, he put it in park and then covered my hand with his.
“You know you’re my favorite person, right?”
I glanced down to our hands then back at him. “You’re definitely one of mine.”
“Good.” Then he sighed as he drifted his gaze to my lips then back up. “Now the sucky part of the day.”
“School’s not great, but it’s not that bad.”
“It is when I can’t kiss you.”
