AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You really want me to hit you?”
“No, but I kind of deserve it, don’t I?” When she didn’t deny his teasing, he nodded. “You bust me, slap the shit out of me, and walk off. We won’t have a lot of time in that window, and that will amp the pressure.”
“I’ll be with Frankie,” I said. “I’m usually walking her out to the lot to hand off to Coop or Archie.”
Frankie wrinkled her nose and then stuck her tongue out at me. “You make me sound like a football.”
“Nah, you’re way more valuable.” I winked, but Coop had straightened.
“That works. I’ll make sure I’m close to intercept—if we’re going with football metaphors—then Frankie can cry on my shoulder, and I’ll offer her big comfort.”
“Yeah, that’s what you’ll offer her.” Archie slapped his shoulder. “So you have a tight window to drop that bomb in there, and Rachel has the reaction primed, and we just wait to see what she does?”
“Best we can do,” Bubba said. “And I’ll do it every damn day until I have what we need.”
None of us liked that plan.
“Ugh. Kill me and can the dramatics, guys.” Rachel gagged and stood, gathering up the trash. At least Frankie had eaten most of her food. I caught Archie studying the food too, and then lifted my chin when he glanced at me. We needed to get her favorites tonight. The decline in her appetite had been noticeable over the last couple of days, particularly after her mother’s last drop in visit on the heels of being stuck in a cast.
I leaned over and caught Frankie’s left hand as she stood, then pulled her to me and dropped a kiss on her lips. Yeah, no PDAs at school, but fuck it at the moment. She sighed and leaned in to me for a few seconds, and I murmured, “It’s going to work, Baby Girl. Trust us?”
“Yes.” I never realized just how much power that one word could have, particularly when it came to asking her to believe in us.
No way in hell would I let her down.
Ever.
“I’m walking her to class,” I decided, and Archie snorted but he nodded anyway. Rachel just rolled her eyes. “Hey, Rach.”
“Hmm?”
“You got a little something there on the corner of your mouth.” Coop cracked up before I’d even finished speaking.
“Yeah, drool,” Archie added on. “Definitely noticeable.”
She flipped us all off, but I grabbed Frankie’s backpack with my free hand and tucked her under my other arm.
“Rach,” Frankie said as we started walking away. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” she called. “’Cause this shit is gonna be lit. Excuse me, I need to go fan the flames.”
The bell rang, and I cut toward the doors that were always unlocked during the day and let us bypass hitting the office.
“You good for sixth period?” I asked.
“Yep,” she said. “How hard should I slap Ian?”
“Really hard. It’ll be therapeutic for both of you. Just make sure you use your left hand.”
That got me a pinch, a shove, and a grin.
Worth it.
Rachel
I waited a second as Jake ushered Frankie away. Coop and Archie didn’t waste any time in following, and then it was just me and Bubba. “Not going to class?”
“I wanted to talk to you,” he said.
