Sharon almost vibrated with the urge to say something, but I just waited and sipped my coffee. With a scoff, she pivoted on her heel and marched away.
“If this goes wrong, I’m not at all averse to throwing you under the bus,” Patty stated coolly. “This parade is important to everyone.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ian told her, and then she threw her hands up and followed after Sharon.
“Wow,” Coop said. “It’s about time you cut the cord there, Bubba.”
“Yeah, bite me,” Ian said, rubbing his face and then wincing as if he’d half-forgotten the still fading bruises. “I couldn’t take another minute of those discussions. I could feel my brain cells dying.”
A giggle escaped me as Archie snorted, and even Coop started laughing.
“Well,” Jake said with genuine sympathy. “Let’s hope that’s the end of your brain damage.”
They shared a look that I didn’t try to interpret as I gathered my stuff. The bell would ring any minute. I was ready for Friday to be over, and we’d barely gotten started.
The guys still walked me between classes, even Ian. He walked me to French every day after calculus. Only today, he kept brushing my arm with his. Part of it might be the test we’d just had. I had a headache after it just from the sheer number of problems.
“You okay?” I asked when he bumped me for the third time. He wasn’t a careless kind of guy, so either he wasn’t paying attention or he wanted my attention.
Which ever it was, we were almost to French.
“Did Coop talk to you?”
“He talks to me everyday.” About a lot of things.
“About Homecoming tomorrow.”
Ah. Whether I minded if Ian rode with us. One thing that had stood out in all of this, the guys had their own opinions, but they weren’t trying to get me to agree or disagree. Ultimately, Archie said as he summed it up, the final decision was mine.
We were all going together. No “official” date, but unofficially, they were all going to be the date. We’d even do a group picture.
A part of me wanted to tell Ian no, he should come separately. That had been what he wanted, after all. To not make me choose. Yet, here I was, having to choose.
Friends.
We were friends.
“Of course you can,” I told him lightly. “The guys know all the details. But, it’s our last Homecoming so—yeah, I’m okay if you ride with us. We should go.” It had always been the five of us, and if the guys could hold onto their friendship with Ian, I had to encourage it. I didn’t want to lose him either, even if it was all so strained now.
“You sure?” He paused us a couple of feet from the door and tugged me over to the lockers. The warmth of his fingers on my arm sent a shiver through me. “It’s okay to tell me no.”
I snorted. “Thanks for your permission, I know it’s okay. You also said we’re going to be friends.”
He winced and then let me go. “I really cannot seem to not stick my foot in my mouth where you’re concerned.” The frustration in his voice pulled a reluctant smile from me.
“Well, at least you know you’re flexible.”
Chuckling, he grinned at me. “Thank you for that mental image.”
“You’re welcome. Now go away, I have class and so do you.”
His grin widened a fraction, and one of the rocks in my gut eased off. It was probably the most normal conversation we’d had since he’d walked out of my apartment two weeks earlier.
I let Coop know when I got to lit, and he studied me for a beat before he said, “Okay.”
The weirdest part about the shifting dynamics between all of us, my relationship with Coop seemed the least affected. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he was a hell of a kisser and I adored making out with him. When he spent the night, which he’d done twice since his birthday, he proved to have a hedonistic side I’d never expected. Yet, we were always laughing and teasing.
At the end of the day, he was still Coop. Jake and Archie were in their own ways very possessive. Archie had a tendency to just take over and try to solve a problem, Jake got protective. While they’d always been like that, it magnified now.