“Sadly,” Jake told me, grinning. “Doesn’t mean I don’t wish it was me or that I’d get you after the game. We could have another sleepover.”
Instantly, my system caught fire and heat flooded my cheeks.
Leaning close, Jake whispered, “I love that you went commando at work for me.”
The tension in my belly went tight, and I squeezed my thighs together.
“Think I can convince you to do that on Sunday?”
“I’m surprised you don’t want me to do it at the party.” It slipped out before I could think better of it.
“No, I want it when it’s only for me,” he said. The corner of his mouth kicked a little higher. “I really wish we weren’t at school right now.”
There was no reason to ask why. Need already had me at the edge. “Then we better focus on homework so we don’t have to think about it this weekend.”
His slow grin had my tummy flip-flopping. All these years around them, laughing with them, playing and hanging out—I’d always known they were attractive, but this was something else altogether. His nostrils flared like he’d heard what I was thinking. I dragged my gaze away him and turned to face the table. The storm outside didn’t help. It had grown darker over the last few minutes and thunder had begun to rumble.
“Hmm, maybe the storm will call the game tonight,” he mused. “Then I could meet you after your date back at your place if you want. Is your mom still out of town?”
Yes, she was, and we really needed to think about something that didn’t involve far fewer clothes and much less distance.
“Homework,” I told him and nudged him to his stuff. It really didn’t take my mind off it. I really didn’t remember much about the last couple of periods of the day, even with the discussion questions we had to tackle for Mr. G. He wanted to see how far into the reading we’d actually made it. Fortunately, Jake and I were both fast readers. Writing the essay still took most of our last hour.
Finally, the last bell rang, and my system was in knots. I couldn’t wait to see what Archie had planned and, at the same time, I was nervous of screwing anything up. There was so much going on. Too much.
Jake glanced down at me as we walked. He had his arm around my shoulders, and I was holding his hand, his fingers curled with mine. His eyes narrowed a little and he eased his arm away to brush my hair back.
Crap.
I didn’t have to ask. He stared at the hickey that Coop had left, a lot higher than the one he had.
“He came over last night, didn’t he?” Something a little darker threaded the low-voiced question.
Jake didn’t specify which he. “For a little while,” I admitted. Should I apologize? I didn’t want to apologize; I wasn’t keeping them a secret from each other. Jake had said he was fine with it even if I was dating the others.
His mouth tightened for a moment, then he tucked my hair back to cover it before settling his arm on my shoulders and we continued moving. Movement from the corner of my eye jerked my attention. I glanced over in time to see Maria shaking her head and turning away. Sharon, on the other hand, glared at me with no evidence of tears in her eyes this time.
I met her gaze and refused to look away even though at our current pace I’d have to turn to hold the eye contact. But Maria stalked off and Sharon hurried after her.
Great.
It was raining when we reached the doors. Not heavy, but definitely steady. Bubba and Coop were by the doors staring outside. It wasn’t until we were next to them that I figured out what held their attention. Archie crouched next to my car, a little tented area covering five gorgeous blue roses waiting for me on the sidewalk.
Archie had been leaving the roses? Hope ballooned in me.
I’d kind of hoped, but he hadn’t acted like he had. Slipping away from Jake, I pushed the door open and headed down to where I’d parked. Ian, Coop, and Jake were right behind me. Archie turned at our approach with an irritated expression. Standing, he held out the note.
“Who the hell is this, Frankie?”
Oh. If he was asking that, thenhedefinitely hadn’t been leaving the roses.
Irritation scraped through my disappointment. “You opened it?” Who did that?
He gave me a bland look. “Yes, I opened it. Who the hell is sending these?”
The rain splashed against my face, then Archie shifted to cover me with his umbrella as I took the note from him. “Why would you do that? They’re for me, not you.”
“From someone we don’t know and someone who is getting a little creepier each time.”