Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
FRANKIE
I wrestled with myself about heading over to Bubba’s after school or having him come back to my place. Tutoring would have to be today or it would have to wait until Friday. I had work on Wednesday and Thursday. But he usually had games on Friday, so that would be tricky.
Mathieu : I look forward to having all of these meetings dealt with this week. The program liaisons have arranged a meal this evening for all of us in the area. It’s almost ninety minutes away.
I wanted to pout with him, but there were more exchange students in the greater metroplex area. It made more sense for Mathieu and his host family to go to them than the other way around.
Me: Try to get some sleep tonight. I work tomorrow and Thursday after school.
Mathieu : You said. Your friends? Are things still uncomfortable?
Uncomfortable. That was a word. I shrugged, not that Mathieu could see me. I headed out to my car as I turned my answer over in my head. Hitting the crossbar to open the door with my hip, I typed in a quick response.
Me: Working on it. Sorry about lunch.
Jake hadn’t said a word about it during AP Euro, which was probably because Mr. G had been present for the whole hour. The fact Jake had been trying to intimidate Mathieu hadn’t been lost on me. Nor had Mathieu’s refusal to back down.
The whole thing made my stomach jitter. Being angry with them for how they treated me was one thing. But I refused to let them treat Mathieu that way. I liked him and they needed to deal with it. I was prepared to face off with them on this subject if necessary.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the rose sitting on top of my car or Coop and Bubba standing side-by-side and staring at it.
Mathieu : They care, ma poupée. I suspect they care more than they have told you. Do not be so hard on them.
The message had me blinking almost as much as the presence of the flowers. The door opened behind me and Jake came to a hard halt next to me. I hadn’t even realized he was following me.
Coop spotted us and held up his hands. “I didn’t do it.”
“Neither did I,” Bubba said slowly. “Wish I had.”
I clicked the screen off on my phone as I closed the distance to where the purple rose sat. It was definitely purple and beautiful. It also smelled fantastic. Despite the steamy temperature and the fact, it was parked on the hot roof of my car, the vase was still cool.
There was a note on the side of it and Jake took hold of the vase, balancing it. We might need to discuss the hovering, but I pushed that aside for now. Though, admittedly, the idea I was avoiding dealing with it made me pause. Why was I letting them still get away with stuff?
“Is it from Frenchy?” Jake asked, yanking my attention back to the present.
“Mathieu,” I corrected him.
“Whatever. Is it from him?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t opened it yet.” Still, the butterflies in my stomach were thrilled at the idea. Someone had left me a rose. Mathieu hadn’t said anything about it, but maybe that was the point. It was supposed to be a surprise.
The note inside was typed.
L avender roses signify mystery, enchantment, and attraction at first sight. You enchanted me from the beginning. I hope you enjoy a little mystery. You deserve far more.
That was it.
“No one signed it,” Jake said before he glanced at me. Maybe it was from Mathieu. I’d send him a thank you later.
I reached for the rose and Jake’s frown turned fierce. For a split-second, I worried he wouldn’t surrender the vase but he handed it over.
“It doesn’t say who it’s from?” Coop asked. Jake had scanned the card, no way had he missed it from where he stood.
With that in mind, I shook my head and handed the card over. “No, but it’s really sweet.”
Coop and Bubba wore twin frowns as they scanned the note.
“I don’t like it,” Jake admitted and I elbowed him to get him to back up a step.
“You like very little,” I reminded him and ignored his oof.
“I like you ,” he countered as I opened the door to the car and let the hot air balloon out. Coop snorted, but circled around to open the passenger door. I set the vase back on the roof before I shrugged out of my backpack.
Jake caught it before I could, then he bypassed me to set the backpack into the backseat. I bent in to slide the key into the ignition and get the car started so I could get the a/c on.
Straightening, I glanced at where Bubba stood as I put my sunglasses on.
“I’m going to take Coop home, feed the cats and do some chores.
Then I can come over if you want.” I’d thought about inviting him, but I had no idea what Mom’s schedule was.
She said she had to go out of town. As sudden as the trip came up, they could also suddenly end.
The last thing I wanted to deal with was her irritation if we were in her space and working on calculus.
“I’ll order pizza,” Bubba offered. “Want to grab your suit and bring it? We can take breaks in the pool. Probably keep me from wanting to drown myself over numbers.”
He made a face and I laughed. “I’ll think about it. But you don’t have to feed me.”
“Feeding me too,” Bubba said with a wink.
“Why don’t we all—” Jake began, but Bubba shifted his gaze to look past me. Whatever Jake had been about to add, he let go with a long sigh. “Never mind. I have to grab Blake and Becca for dance classes.”
Despite what the growl in his voice might suggest, the frustration wasn’t directed at his sisters. He just didn’t want to have to go. He raked a hand through his hair, then gave Coop a hard look followed by a second directed at Bubba.
“I’ll call you later,” Jake said with another half-growl turned sigh. He wrapped a hand around my biceps, tugging me around. “Frankie…I’m definitely calling you later. I want to be perfectly clear on that.”
While his grip was firm, it wasn’t painful nor did his fingers dig in. This close, I couldn’t miss a single bit of the way his pale blue eyes lasered onto me.
“I don’t like you dating, Frenchy.” Flat. Imperious.
“No shit,” I muttered, even as his nostrils flared. “You made that clear earlier.”
“No, earlier was me not liking Frenchy ,” Jake countered. “This is me telling you, I don’t like you dating Frenchy. I don’t want you dating him. And we’re not done with this conversation.”
“Jake…” Bubba said, locking a hand over Jake’s wrist even as Coop came around the other side.
“Let her go, Jake.” Coop’s expression was a lot easier than Jake’s or Bubba’s, but his mouth firmed into a line. “We’re not doing this here.”
“Correction,” I said, yanking my arm free. “We’re not doing this at all. You’re not the boss of me, Jake. None of you are. You’re my friends, not my keepers. I don’t tell you who to date and you don’t get to say the same to me.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw as we glared at each other. It was seriously the angriest I’d ever seen him and all of it directed right at me. Pissed or not, Jake didn’t scare me. He might be a dick to the people around us, but he would never hurt me.
Bubba shoved between us and pushed Jake backwards. Head snapping up, Jake transferred that fury to Bubba and I caught the curl of his fist.
“Don’t,” I said, wading between them once more and wrapping my hand over Jake’s fist.
We weren’t alone out here and there were kids still streaming out to their cars. More than one seemed to be lingering and watching us.
“Don’t,” I repeated in a lower voice. “You two start fighting out here and you’re going to get suspended from the team.” It was the first thing that came to mind.
The hostility upped the temperature of the muggy air to boiling.
“C’mon,” Coop said, his voice dipping as mine had. “Ease back, Jake. We’re all hot and a little bitchy at the moment.”
“I am not bitchy,” I said with an exaggerated sniff, even as I kept one hand over Jake’s fist and the other one his chest. Bubba was right against my back. There was no way I could keep them apart if they really decided to rip into each other. “I’m fussy , remember?”
I made a face at Coop, then stuck my tongue at him as he rolled his eyes. “Fussy. Right. I forgot.”
Whether it was my tongue sticking out or Coop’s deadpan response, Jake let out a snort of laughter. His hot glare eased and he dropped his gaze down to me. The fist under my palm relaxed and he blew out a breath.
“You’re not fussy,” Jake argued. “Coop’s just a lazy ass.”
“Hey,” Coop complained. “When did this become ‘pick on Coop’ day?”
“It’s pick on Coop Day, every day,” I said in damn near the same breath as Jake.
All at once the last of the ballooning tension burst around us and I could breathe. Jake took a step back, but not before he turned his hand over underneath mine and squeezed my fingers gently.
Coop just snorted, but he didn’t dispute us.
“Right,” Jake said with another squeeze to my hand. “I’ll call you later.” Then he pivoted and strode away. Coop watched him go and I could read the worry etched into his expression. Or maybe I was projecting.
Warm hands settled on my hips. Bubba lifted me and pivoted so I was next to the car and he was on the other side of me. “Get in the car,” he said. “Cool off and go feed your cats before they starve to death.”
It was almost playful, but his smile didn’t quite touch his eyes.
“If you want to skip after this,” he offered but I shook my head.
“No, I won’t have time before the weekend if we don’t do it today.” I glanced to where Jake disappeared then summoned another smile for Bubba. “I said I would help.” Then because I didn’t want him to think it was just an obligation, I added, “I want to help… and I want pizza.”
That pulled a real laugh out of him. “Go on then, I’ll see you soon. Text when you’re on the way okay?” He dropped a kiss on my forehead, damn near muting any other words from escaping me.
Like Jake before him, he strode away. I glanced at Coop who just raised his brows. “You okay?”
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “But we should go.” Because I wasn’t sure I could take anymore upheaval at the moment. Pivoting, I retrieved my lavender rose and slid into the car. Thank fuck the air conditioning had kicked in and the cooler air washed over me.
Coop dropped into the passenger seat and dragged on his seatbelt. He was silent until I pulled out of the parking lot.
“Frankie?”
I didn’t hold my breath. “Yeah?”
“I don’t like you dating Mathieu either.” At least he didn’t call him Frenchy. “And I don’t want you dating him either.”
I cut a look at him. “How was your lunch date with Laura?”
He frowned, then glanced at me. I could see his mouth open then close without saying anything. Finally, he leaned back and stared out the passenger window
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “That’s what I thought.”