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“Frankie, it’s been you and me from the beginning. You can’t want this…” She tried to get close to me, but Mr. Wittaker shifted his stance.
Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how big of a man he was, but he blocked my view of her easily enough.
“You don’t get to just take my child away!” Something in my mother’s voice cracked. “No one gets to take her away. She’smine.”
“Frankie,” Mr. Dillard said, hustling around his desk. “Go to class, hon.” Oh, he did not have to tell me twice.
“Yes, go to class. I’ll call you later,” Mr. Wittaker told me. I didn’t even make it halfway across the office before my mother’s voice turned strident, harsh, and threatening.
Yeah. I was gone.
Jake was on his feet as soon as I arrived in the library. There wasn’t even five minutes left to study hall. “Where the hell have you been?”
The hissed question reminded me about my phone on silent. I dragged it out. Messages from the guys filled the screen—all of them worried.
“One sec,” I told him. After I sent a message telling them I was fine and would fill them in after school, I told Jake my mom had been in the office and what happened with my attorney.
His expression darkened significantly, but the relief spilling through his eyes when I said Mr. Wittaker came through with the temporary injunction pulled at me. I glanced around us and found no one nearby or watching, and then just wrapped myself around Jake. His arms folded me close, and I closed my eyes.
“Baby Girl,” he said in a hushed voice. “You’re shaking.”
I had to get a grip.
And all to soon, I had to let Jake go. “I’ll be okay.” I pasted on a smile.
Fake ‘til I make it, right?
Yeah. That didn’t really fly with the guys.
Jake filled them in before I could, and after school resulted in a tense meeting at my apartment. Archie left after to talk to his grandfather. Ian had to go home for the evening, but promised he’d stay over on Tuesday. He even asked if I’d be willing to just go out with him for an hour Tuesday—just the two of us.
“On a date?” Yes, I probably sounded as skeptical as I felt. As much as I wanted to figure this out between us, I wasn’t sure I was up for it. Not really.
The sick feeling in my stomach just wouldn’t go away.
“Nope,” Ian said, surprising and disappointing me all at the same time. “I need your help. Promise I’ll tell you all about it.” Then he glanced to where Coop and Jake were making no pretense of not listening. “It’s a secret.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not code for it might be a date if it goes well?”
He grinned. “It can be a date if that will get you to say yes.”
“Yes to an hour doing whatever your surprise is.”
“So that’s a date then,” he said the last bit with a teasing grin, and it helped. Dammit. It was hard to stay irked with him, even in my current uneven mood. Still, would dating him be a good idea?
If he hadn’t freaked out…
If he hadn’t told me all those things about the guys and their points…
If he hadn’t walked away, saying he just wanted to be friends…
If… If… If…
“Maybe,” I told him, and he nodded before brushing a kiss against my lips so fast I barely had time to register the contact before he was already heading for the door.
“I can work with maybe. I’ll call you before bed, Frankie. Call me if you need me.” Then he was gone.
I touched a finger to my lips.
