Then I hung up.
Harsh? Maybe. The guy wanted to do the right thing, but he wasn’t sure what the right thing was. When push came to shove, he’d absolutely been there, and he was fighting to be her friend.
Now he just needed to fight for her.
“Coop?”
I cut a look to the doorway where Sis stood. She looked painfully young to me. Younger than the last time I saw her. Or maybe it was me, maybe I’d gotten older. My eighteenth birthday already felt far in the past.
“Hey, Sis,” I gave her a smile as I straightened. “Just came to grab the lasagnas. Mom said your asthma was acting up and you didn’t want to go to school today.”
She folded her arms. “Is Frankie going to be okay?”
“Yep,” I told her, not missing a beat. “She’s going to be fine. Give her a couple of days, and I bet she’ll even want to hang out.”
They hadn’t in a while. Something that Sis noticed over the summer. Not that Frankie had ever been mean to her. Far from it. While she’d distanced herself from us, she’d made time for Sis when Sis needed her.
“Come here,” I said, and she hurried over to me for a hug.
“I was really worried. One of my friends texted me that her older sister said Frankie got hurt at the dance.”
Yeah. I’d seen the rumors flying around. At least the one thing they’d gotten right—Frankiehad been hurt. The assholes kept their mouths shut. Probably good, ‘cause Jake just needed one person to say the wrong thing and he’d probably explode.
Fuck. Maybe we all needed therapy.
“She’s gonna be fine,” I told Sis again, and rubbed her back. She’d always been an affectionate pain in the ass. Always wanting hugs or to snuggle. I put up with it, even grumbled about it, but I didn’t mind. The last year or so, she’d been more reticent about it. Growing up, Mom had called it. Teenagers suck, she used to tease me. But they’re worth it.
“Cool. You staying over there tonight?”
“Probably, as long as she needs me.”
“Is Frankie really your girlfriend now?”
I kissed the top of Sis’s head and eased back to look at her. “What do you think?”
A sly grin crossed her face. “That you finally got the balls up to ask her ‘cause you’ve had a crush on her forever.”
“Wow, don’t let Mom hear you say that.”
Sis laughed. “Mom’s the one who said it.”
I chuckled. Fair enough. “Yeah,” I said, then tapped her nose. “She’s my girlfriend. That does not mean you get to tease her.”
“I won’t. I like Frankie.” Then she gave me another impish look. “More than I like you, and leave one of the lasagnas!” She backed off. “Mom made one for us, too.”
“Cool. How’s the asthma, for real?”
“It’s fine,” she said, waving her hand. “It bugged me yesterday. Probably allergies. I just…I wanted to be here when you got home.”
I got that. “I’ll be down at her place. Text if you need me.”
“I will…you know, unless you ignore me cause you’re kissing her.”
I snorted, but she’d already escaped back to her room and seemed in a much better mood.
Yeah, kissing might be a while.
Shoving my phone in my pocket, I grabbed one of the lasagnas and headed for the door. “I’m going.”