Archie grinned slowly, and Coop’s eyes brightened. Jake slid his hands into his pockets and let out a low whistle.
“It’s beautiful.”
“No where near as beautiful as you are,” Coop said. “That dress looks every bit as good on you as I remember…but you’re…”
“Stunning.” Archie nodded. “Frankie, you look like a million bucks.”
Face hot, I flapped my hands at my cheeks. “Stop it, I’m going to cry, and then the mascara will run and I’ll get snotty.”
That pulled a laugh from them, even Ian, who stared at me with something like wonder and maybe a touch of sadness. Yeah. I couldn’t focus on that. I just—I couldn’t. Instead, I closed the distance to look at the mum.
“We wanted you to have the full experience, baby girl,” Jake said. “Coop organized it, and Archie over there fried his fingertips off.”
It was beautiful, the purple ribbons created a sunrise effect around the fat white mum and the ribbons had our school colors and red to go with my dress. There were even trinkets hanging on it. Like my charms.
Fuck, I really was going to cry.
“No tears,” Coop said. “Don’t do it. Laughter, not tears.”
My cheeks ached from my smile as they worked to safety pin the thing to the strap of my dress. It weighed a ton and stretched almost to my knees with the ribbons.
“Perfect,” Ian murmured. “You look perfect.”
Dipping my chin, I glanced down at it and then at all of them. “This…thank you.”
“My pleasure,” Archie said, then gave me a kiss before Coop winked and gave me another, but it was Jake who cupped my face gently and very carefully wiped his thumb against my lower lashes stealing away the tear that defied me.
“You ready to party?”
Was I ever!
“I can’t wait,” I whispered.
“Pictures,” Archie said abruptly, and phones came out.
“You better send me copies.” But we took turns standing together. This mum would not make the whole night. In fact, I kind of wanted to keep it here so it wouldn’t get damaged. At the same time, my ping-ponging emotions carried me skyward again.
They’d made me a mum. Dressed up. And we were all going to Homecoming.
Hair, nails and makeup? A couple of hundred dollars.
Fancy dress? Way too much.
A night with my guys? Even Ian?
Priceless.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Everything I Wanted
The limo arrived exactly on time, and we locked up and headed out together. It was fun to take more pictures on the way, the mum stayed, and even though I loved it, I did not want it ruined. So the guys hung it up in my bedroom for me.
I sat between Coop and Jake with Archie and Ian opposite us as the limo carried us over to the Garden Hotel and Convention Center one town over where the Homecoming dance was being held. As we pulled up, I got my first good look at the Hollywood theme work the committee had done, including the red carpet leading up to the doors, the velvet-rope lining the walkway, and the silhouettes of paparazzi—it was both ridiculous and adorable.
When the driver opened the back door, Jake slid out first and then held a hand out to me. The perfect weather of the day was turning into the perfect evening. The breeze tugged at my hair, but it wasn’t hot at all. The sun was dipping on the horizon, but it would be another hour before it went down.
We waited until everyone was out before following the red carpet inside. We weren’t the first to arrive, but we were definitely not the last. Cars were pulling in to the parking lot, and other kids were walking up. Other cars were lining up behind the limo to deposit their passengers too.