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“I’m not going to hurt her,” Rachel snapped back. “Go be a dickhead somewhere else. You too, shit for brains.” She flicked off Ian and Jake like they were bugs. “I want to talk to Frankie without an audience.”
“Rach…”
But before I could continue, she rolled her eyes as she released me and then said, “Please, would you give us a few minutes to catch up? Take a break. Take a shower. Take a walk. Just—go away.”
“Frankie?” Ian asked, not missing a beat. “You want a minute with your friend?” The hesitation he put on the word friend spoke volumes, but Jake just rolled his eyes.
“I’ll be in the bedroom, don’t be a bitch and don’t wear her out.” With that, he leaned over and pressed a kiss to my cheek before murmuring, “Coop and Archie went out to grab dinner, and before you say potluck, Bubba and I killed half the leftovers when we got home. I was starving.” Then he gave me a wink before he retreated toward my room. Which, you know, as weird as it was, I’d gotten kind of used to having them there.
“Thanks,” I called after him and then glanced at Ian. “And yes, I’d like to talk to Rachel. I’ve not been a very good friend the last week. Do you mind?”
“Nope,” he said, then pressed a kiss to my forehead, and my heart did a little squeeze. It was the first one he’d given me since everything happened. “I’ll go let Jake rant while I work on this.” He scooped up his notebook and glanced at Rachel. “Just—dial it down a notch?”
“For you, stud, anything.”
“Sorry, all taken here. Better luck next time.”
My snicker at Rachel’s smirking tone dried up at Ian’s retort, but he was already vanishing down the hallway. A light touch against my chin jerked my gaze back to Rachel.
“Don’t drool, girl, it’s not really attractive.”
I wasn’t drooling. “If you came all the way over here and stormed the gates just to tell me that, I’ll be disappointed.” It was the best I could come up with. Ian knew Rachel wasn’t really interested, so the response didn’t have to be that. But why had he said that?
“Hey,” Rachel countered. “I also brought coffee.” She handed me a peppermint mocha with a grin. “And best of all, I brought you me.”
That really was best of all. Smiling a little, I sat back down and nodded to the sofa. She dropped onto the other end and picked up her own coffee cup.
“I’m sorry—” But she didn’t let me finish.
“Nothing to be sorry for. You needed time and space, and I gave you as much as I can. They told me how you were doing, and as much shit as I give them, I like that they’ve closed ranks and been protective. But it’s been a week, and I needed to see you for myself. So, you can throw me out whenever. Until then, I figured we could hang out for a few?”
“It feels a lot longer than a week, and I’d love it if you hung out for a while. At least until Coop and Archie get back.” I had no idea when they left, I was still a little muddled from the pain meds.
“Cool,” Rachel said, then crossed one leg over the other. “So what do you want first? The good gossip? Or the really good gossip?”
Um…
That felt like a trick question.
Chapter Six
Playing Rubber Chicken
Running.
I was running.
Only my feet weren’t moving.
Everywhere I turned, the walls were blank. It was like I was in an endless hallway of dead ends. Frustrated, I turned in a circle. Something was after me.
No. Someonewas after me.
I couldn’t see them either.
Just the drag of their footsteps. I struck out blindly. Boxing with shadows. My wrist popped and hurt. My shoulders burned. I struck out again, and my face burned. I fell.
Then I was running again, only this time, I ran right into a wall.
