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Coop leaned his head back and stared at the sky. Some of the patience on him seemed to just drain away as his jaw tightened.
I pulled my phone out and reopened that message from her. There was nothing in it that indicated she was upset. Nothing.
“For what it’s worth, she broke up with me.”
It wasn’t worth much. Because… Crap, that changed things.
Jake stared at him. “Broke up with you?”
“Yeah, said she didn’t want me to take her to Homecoming, I was released from that obligation…it was never an obligation.”
“She doesn’t know that,” Jake told him quietly with a hell of a lot more sympathy than I wanted to feel, and at the same time…
“You have to fix this,” I told him, and I wasn’t sure who was more surprised because Bubba straightened and turned to look at me. Jake stared at me a beat, and I met his gaze. “He has to fix this. If he’s out—all that does is create strain, and she’s not going to be happy.”
Frankie needed all of us.
“It’s been the five of us,” I reminded him. “Since ninth grade. It’s been all five of us.”
“Guys…”
“Shut up,” Coop said before Bubba could continue, and I wasn’t the only one shooting him a startled look. “Archie is right. You have to fix this. If you pushed her so hard she had to let you go, she probably feels like it’s her fault. That’s the one thing that terrified her when we started this…”
Dammit. I tipped the bottle up and took a long drink. After the bomb fell with Edward and her mom, that day after the epically crappy party—she’d said that. What happened when we turned on each other?
She’d said it to me and to Jake. What happened when we decided one of the others had to go, and we’d got there today. This crap with Bubba had to stop.
“You have to fix it,” Jake said finally, and Coop motioned to him to continue. “I hate that you told her that shit. I hate that you’ve made her feel bad about herself.” Each sentence landed like a blow, but he held Bubba’s full attention. “I hate even more that because I couldn’t control my temper, I wasn’t there for her today and apparently you weren’t either.”
Bubba flinched.
No. She’d been on her own for parts of the day. I was definitely not a fan, not after the other crap.
“So you have to fix this,” Jake said. “But only if you really want to be in. Because if you don’t, or this jealousy crap keeps up—then stay out. Leave her alone. Let us fix it. She doesn’t need another yo-yo in her life.”
On that… “Agreed,” I said. “As much as I want this to work, Bubba,” I told him. “Jake’s right. You’re either in or you’re out.”
“She already broke up with me.”
“Then you go after her,” Coop said. “You let her know she’s worth it. You put her first. I’ll help…but only if I think you mean it.”
“And there isn’t another chance after this one,” Jake continued as if the rest of us hadn’t said a word. “I want her happy. This…” He motioned to his face, then to Bubba’s. “Not going to make her happy.”
“I don’t even know where to start,” Bubba said.
“Do you know the answer to her questionnow?” I asked. “Because if you don’t—then this is pointless.”
At some point, my fury had drained away. Maybe if Frankie had been pissed at us or seemed really hurt about the points, it would be different. We’d still let her down. I couldn’t change the past. I could only focus on the future—on what I would do and how I would treat her.
Jake was right about one thing. “You have to know, or you should leave her alone. She wanted a good senior year, and I’m thinking it’s been shit so far. One way or another, she’s getting Homecoming and it’s going to be the best night possible.”
“Agreed,” Coop said. “If you need time to think about it, Bubba, think fast. Because trust once lost is almost impossible to rebuild.”
“Almost,” Bubba said, and Coop nodded. “But not completely.”
“Anything’s possible, just some are more possible than others.”
“I don’t want to hate you guys.” That was good. “I do want her. I want her to be happy.” The misery rolled off of him in great sheets now. “I fucked this up.”
