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He also had his phone out and to his ear.
“What are you doing?”
“School resource officer,” Jake told me. “We’re filing a report on this.”
That would take forever.
But I got the pictures of everything, then Jake helped me stand it up again to do more. Coach pulled up while the resource officer was there, and he looked at my bike, then at us. His jaw tightened, but like us, he had no guarantees of who had done it.
We allknew, but proving it was something else.
“You okay to get this out of here, boys?” Coach asked.
“Getting it over to the shop now,” I told him, and I let the shop know we would be a bit longer while the SRO filled out the paperwork. Coach and the SRO helped us get the bike into Jake’s SUV after we spread out some plastic. The last thing we needed was it leaking all over his car, too. The SRO had some rope, and we secured it with the hatch raised.
Now to get it there before it started raining on us again.
“Fuckers,” Jake said as we pulled out.
“Yeah,” I said blowing out a breath. “I need to text Frankie.” I was supposed to be hanging out with them this evening. But without, a ride that might make it challenging.
“Just let her know we’re running late,” Jake advised. “I can swing by your place and grab stuff if you need it before we head over.” At my hesitation, he said, “Coop and I both planned to work tonight, and I’m pretty sure Archie gave you the nod earlier to let you two have some time together.”
Guilt sliced at me. “He did, and I appreciate it.”
“But?” The warning in Jake’s voice just added to the general sour mood in the SUV.
“No but,” I said, then scrubbed a hand over my face. “No buts. I don’t want to assume she minds if I spend the night.”
We all had been. The guys had been sleeping in the bed with her. I didn’t mind keeping my distance for that part and intended to until I earned her forgiveness.
“You’re not assuming shit,” Jake told me as he pulled into the bike shop’s parking lot. Considering the number of times we’d run by here while they’d been fixing the bike the first time, it didn’t surprise me he remembered where it was. “If you don’t want to stay, or she doesn’t want you to stay, one of us will get you home. But you aren’t going to fix things if you don’t have the time with her either.”
I turned that over in my head as we got the bike out and I filled out the stuff for the mechanic. Mom and Dad were gonna be thrilled with this, but I’d deal with it. The rain returned as we were getting the bike on a loader. Once back in Jake’s SUV, I said, “Yeah, if you don’t mind running me to my place—I want to throw on something clean and grab my overnight bag and my guitar.”
“There you go,” Jake said as he backed out of the spot and headed for the road. “Much better.”
It shouldn’t humble me that they were all rooting for me, but it did. “How is she? Really?”
“Better,” Jake said. “It still comes in waves. She didn’t have a nightmare last night—that’s something. First time I know she hasn’t had one since it happened.” He shot me a look. “If you’re the only one there tonight, try to stay close enough so if she has one, you can help her.”
I nodded. “Not going to let her down.”
“Good. Really don’t want to have to kick your ass, Bubba.”
Shaking my head, I laughed. It shouldn’t be funny. It wasn’t really funny. At the same time, it was hysterical. Because Jake wasn’t kidding. He’d do it, too.
“I’m serious,” he warned me, though like me, he wore a grin.
“I know you are,” I assured him. “Oddly, that makes me feel better.”
“Me, too.” He smirked.
We were almost ninety minutes late by the time we’d filed the report, dropped the bike off, and gone by my place. Jake only came up long enough to give her a kiss, then he and Coop were out the door. I thought Archie would be there too, but he’d left earlier because Rachel was supposed to have come over.
“She couldn’t make it,” Frankie told me after Coop left. “She got called in to work tonight, so I promised that we’d find some time this weekend.”
“Okay.” I couldn’t tell if she was disappointed by the change in plan or not. Still, I studied her as I set my guitar case down. “You mind if I put my bag in your room?”
