“Coop?” Ian said.
“Already on it,” he called. “You want me to drive, Frankie?”
I stared at him as I unlocked the car, and he grinned.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“I’m fine to drive.” It was hot in the car, too, but I got the engine going, and Ian waited for me to pull out before he followed us. Once the A/C started cycling some cooler air, Coop covered my hand on the gearshift.
“Do you wanna talk before we get there?” Coop asked after I pulled my hand away to make my turn.
“Nothing really to talk about. Jake’s not suspended, that’s good.”
“And you?”
“They wanted me to make a statement about the post,” I said with a shrug. “They wanted to know who it was who posted it.”
“Sharon did it,” Coop said. “Obviously.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s obvious, I’m not going to name her.”
“Why the hell not?” He frowned, twisting to sit sideways.
Sighing, I shrugged. “Because I don’t know one hundred percent for sure that she did it.”
“Yeah we do,” Coop said. “Maria all but admitted it to Jake.”
“She also has her reasons.” I wasn’t too blind to see that.
“I don’t care…”
“That’s the problem, she got hurt, and maybe no one intended that, but she was hurt. Now she’s hurting back. I can handle it, Coop. I’m a big girl. I’ve handled far worse comments than that.”
“What does that mean?” He frowned and wouldn’t let it go all the way back to my place. Ian pulled in behind us.
“Archie and Jake went for food. They’ll be here in a few.”
“Great,” I said, grabbing my backpack and leading the way up to my apartment. Coop was right on my tail like a dog with a bone.
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” I told him. “Let it go.”
“What happened when?” Ian asked as I got the door open. Inside, the apartment was quiet and all the blinds were shut. That was normal. Tory vanished from the sofa, but Tabby and Tiddles wandered out, yowling.
“I’m going to change.” Not waiting for their response, I headed back to my room. I left the backpack on the floor and stripped out of the damp shirt. We hadn’t been outside that long, and I’d already sweated bullets. I traded out my clothes for a tank top and shorts. Then eyed my bed with longing.
First we had to eat though, and then maybe they wouldn’t mind if I just passed out for a little while.
Back in the living room, Coop and Ian both had sodas, and Ian frowned when I came back in. “You were upset this morning.”
“First, I wasn’t,” I said, holding up my hands. “I was tired. I’m still tired. I got like two and a half hours of sleep last night because Jake and I got back late. Second, let it go? I know you’re mad at Sharon, but let it go. No one else needs to be fighting…”
“Who’s fighting?” Archie called as he let himself in the back door.
“That would be me,” Jake answered from right behind him. “So the fight’s covered. Rodney’s a little bitch anyway. He wasn’t that hurt, just playing it up for everyone.”
“You still shouldn’t go slugging people cause they say stupid stuff.”