“Has Frankie ever mentioned her father?”
I stuffed the last of the Pop-Tart in my mouth to avoid that answer. Mouthing through crumbs, “Don’t know, gotta go,” I diverted for the door.
Every inch of me regretted confessing to Dad when I got home on Saturday about why I was upset. I’d woken up and seen Frankie all snuggled between Coop and Jake, and it ate away it me.
It shouldn’t have, but it had.
Then…then I told Jake that I didn’t think I could do this. Not if they were all going to keep pushing the lines until they’d erased them. Archie had never been with a girl long-term, not even Patty counted. Because it was Patty who pursued him, Archie just let her hang out.
This, though?
No, it had gone on for weeks and showed every sign of intensifying. Jake, too. Coop? Not even a question. So where did that leave me? And then Dad had to point out all the ways this was just another sign of how bad Frankie’s situation was.
That had been the last thing I intended or wanted to hear. Frankieneededus. But more, I needed her.
I stored my gear in the saddlebags, then pulled on my helmet. I almost left her helmet here. Hers, because no one else had been on this bike with me, and I hadn’t picked up the second helmet for anyone else either.
She didn’t want to ride with me. I got that it was my punishment for pulling away. Fine, I deserved it for confusing the issue. Didn’t make it sting any less. I just couldn’t tell her what Dad thought. She did not need that kind of negativity in her life.
Even if he was right, and the more I thought about it, the more I thought he might be. Frankie’s mom was a bitch. There was no two ways about it. I snagged her helmet and secured it to my bike. Maybe she’d change her mind.
I was talking to her today and straightening this out. I didn’t want her to think I didn’t care. But I also don’t want the four of us to be the reason she has any more trouble than we’d already created.
The points thing with the guys…when they figured out I told her, they were all going to lose their minds. I slid onto the bike and started it up. Walking it back toward the street, I focused on what I could control.
The points thing had been a stupid idea. Even knowing that, I had to admit we’d had a blast doing it. It hadn’t seemed like it was hurting anyone or anything. But the reactions from Sharon and the others?
I was pretty sure we had hurt them.
They were taking that hurt out on Frankie.
The ride to school was quiet. Not a lot of traffic this early, and the parking lot was a ghost town except for the other players.
Jake was waiting, leaning against his SUV when I pulled in. I had to park a few slots over, because most of this was paid per the spot and I’d paid for mine before the school year. I just hadn’t used it when I could park next to Frankie. But we weren’t letting her drive to school.
When the hell had this all turned into such a cluster fuck? If nothing else, the assignment as the liaison to stupid Homecoming committee might let me make some semblance of peace with Sharon and get her off Frankie’s case.
“Hey, man,” Jake said as he walked over to meet me. Unlike me, he was dressed for school. He didn’t have to deal with actual practice while riding the bench. “You look like crap.”
“Thanks,” I said, shouldering my duffle and backpack before we headed toward the stadium. “You look fresh as a daisy.”
Jake snorted. “What’s up?”
“Being a dick is hard,” I said. “Or hadn’t you heard?”
“Then stop being a dick,” was his stellar advice. “Not even sure what the hell set you off in the first place, and you’re being less than clear in your statements.”
“It’s hard to talk about,” I admitted. I’d talked to one person beyond my dad about all of this, and it was Coop. I didn’t know what I’d expected when I just unloaded on him, but his listening quietly before he agreed ‘it was a shit result to me losing it even for a minute’ hadn’t been it.
Then he’d told me he agreed with my dad—at least about Frankie being abused. “Comes in all shapes and sizes, Bubba,” Coop said. “Her mom is abusive as fuck emotionally. Thinking about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her mom even hug her.”
If that wasn’t weird enough. There were all the other pieces. I didn’t have the right to mess up her life, she had enough complications. But I couldn’t say—hey, Frankie, my dad thinks you’re emotionally compromised, and me dating you is doing more harm than good. Friends, right?
“Try me,” Jake offered as we reached the gates and let ourselves in. More of the team was arriving behind us. Mitch was already there along with a few others. He nodded to us, but no smile or greeting. While not antisocial, he was definitely not friendly. Jake ignored him though and nudged me.
“Not here,” I told him. There were way too many ears here.
“Sure, and then it’s not in school, and not at lunch, and not after school, not on text, and not on the phone. At some point, you either tell me you aren’t talking to me about this and man up, or you just open your fucking mouth. I can’t help if I don’t get it.”