“Yeah,” Jake said. “You’ve been holding out on us.” Then Jake turned his phone. “But I saved it for you Frankie.”
It was crazy. Archie handed over my coffee and gave me a long look. And I could read it in his eyes; he was already planning out how he would invite me to prom. The nerves took flight and I shook my head. What was I doing? I’d made out with Coop the night before and we both got off. I slept with Jake the night before that and we made out with a whole lot less clothes and a lot more touching. I was going to homecoming and prom with the two guys I’d made out with the least, even if I had Ian’s kisses imprinted on my brain, and I’d been fantasizing about Archie.
I hadn’t made out with Archie at all. The noise level in the cafeteria rose, but Ian’s grin remained bright as he packed away his guitar. “Surprised?”
Hiding behind my coffee, I said, “You have no idea. I thought it would be something with cookies or balloons.” Not that I really had any idea. A shout went up across the cafeteria as a girl opened a box of donuts and laughed as she said yes. “Something like that.”
Ian twisted to watch, then made a face as he faced us again. “Nah, I wanted something you could remember. We do donuts a lot.”
With a snort, Jake said, “You like fritters, not sure how to work that into an invitation.”
“Don’t get the jitters, these are just your fritters—and an invitation to homecoming…” Archie drawled then toasted me with his coffee cup. “Something like that?”
Well… “Yeah?”
“No,” Archie said with a shake of his head. “Needs more splash and whole lot more color. Ian did good. I salute you, as that will be a hard act to follow.”
Coop snickered. “Yeah, definitely, but I reserve the right to dance with you at homecoming.”
“Me, too.” Jake added.
“Why not? You need to dance at least once each with the rest of us,” Archie said.
“Heads up,” Coop said softly. “Incoming.”
Still trying to get my heart under control and the dopey grin off my face, I unwrapped my breakfast sandwich, but at Coop’s warning, I glanced up along with everyone else.
“Shit,” Jake swore, and Archie made a face.
Ian frowned, then twisted as Sharon and Maria made a beeline toward us. It was hard to miss the glare on Sharon’s face or the way she stared at me. They weren’t alone. Patty trailed a half-step behind them.
“Boys,” Maria greeted before she looked at me. “Hey, Frankie.”
“Hey,” I said, then took a bite. Yep, not sure I wanted to be a part of this conversation. Sharon slid her hand onto Ian’s shoulder, and he shifted to the side to glance at her, effectively removing his shoulder from his grasp. Without a word, he nudged his chair over, so they had more room.
Her mouth tightened and then she folded her arms.
“Anyway,” Maria said, lingering. “Wanted to come say good morning. We rarely see you guys anymore.”
“You’ll see us the game tonight,” Jake offered. “We’ll be the guys on the field.”
Coop snickered and I kicked him under the table. He grinned at me.
“You’re funny,” Patty said, her tone anything but amused as she pulled a chair over and sat next to Archie. “Hi, Archie.”
“Patty,” he said, eyeing her. The earlier amusement in his expression had vanished.
“Don’t you have something to ask me?” She tilted her head.
“Nope,” he said without batting an eyelash. When she frowned, he took a sip of coffee and then deliberately looked over to where I was eating. “When you’re done, Frankie, I need to go over the notes from Monday again.”
Washing down the mouthful and doing my best to ignore the rising tension around me, I said, “Can do. Good thing I have Gov stuff with me today.”
“Of course you do,” Patty said. “You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t prepared to do everyone’s homework. That free ride ends soon, you know.”
“Excuse you?” Of all of them, Coop was the last one I expected to suddenly sound hostile. “If you’re going to fart from your mouth, you could at least do us the courtesy of covering it. No one here needs to smell your stench.”
My mouth wasn’t the only one hanging open; Patty gaped and then glared at Archie. “Are you really going to let your friend talk to me like that?”