Her face flushed red again, and I grinned.
“You said you had a lot of fun, but is that something you’d be interested in repeating?”
Pressing two fingers to her lips, she said, “I’m definitely leaning in that direction.”
“Good to know.”
The drive was fun after that, and I liked how relaxed she was. Still, the change that came over her when we got to the school was unmistakable. Her shoulders tightened, her lips compressed. Covering her hand, I pulled it back over to rest against my thigh.
The reduction in PDA at school meant we couldn’t offer as much comfort as I’d like, but if she kept this up, I was going to be breaking some rules.
“You know we’re not going to let anyone get near you, right?” I asked as we pulled into the lot.
“It’s not that,” she murmured, though she cast me a wan smile. “But yes, I have noticed the cone of protection you guys are forming, and while I’d normally roll my eyes, I have a hard time doing that when I appreciate it so much.”
Good. “Then what’s wrong, Baby Girl? Tell me so I can go kick its ass.”
She laughed. “You can’t fight all my battles for me, Jake.”
“Who says I can’t? Hmm?”
With a shake of her head, she squeezed my hand. “I do. School just… Everyone knows. It’s like when whoever it was decorated my car with all those condoms or Sharon put up those videos, only this is a hundred times worse. They all know what he did.”
Wrestling with my temper, I tried to focus on what she was saying. “Yes, they know he’s a jackass who drugged you and attacked you. That’s not your fault, Frankie.”
“I know that,” she said, loosening her fingers from my grip to tap the side of her head. “I know that in here. Just like I know I need to distance myself from Maddy.”
Only Archie called his parents by their first names. Hearing Frankie do it just made me sad for her. Mom was my biggest champion, and while we didn’t always agree, I knew she always had my back.
The fact that Frankie didn’t even get that? What a bitch her mother was.
“But my gut?” She continued putting a hand over her stomach. “It’s all in knots. Then I’m not sure if I’m angry or sad, and whether I want to scream or throw up.”
She sighed.
“I want it to stop so I can just be me.”
“You are you,” I told her as I parked, then turned to face her without shutting off the car. “You’re always you. I get this is messed up. I know you’re okay, but I’m constantly checking on you to make sure you’re still okay. It’s like I have to know… I hated going home the last couple of days, but Coop or Arch always sent me a message after you were asleep to let me know you were sleeping and you were all right.”
Wonder filled her expression. “I hate what this has done to all of you. I hate that you’re all so worried.”
“We’ll get through it, Baby Girl. We worry because we care.” Fifteen minutes she’d been out of our sight, and look what happened to her. Then again on Monday, she was away from us for one class period, and the bitch showed up to get her.
“If it’s ever too much…”
“It won’t be,” I told her, then brushed some of the hair back from her face. That bruise on her face was still there. It faded each day, but I could still see how bad it was. How still she’d been when we got in there. Barely blinked, her words slurring, then she’d gone so pale.
“If it does,” she scolded me, putting a finger against my lips. “Don’t hold it in? Tell me?”
Yeah. That was happening. Bubba and I had a session with Diane. Maybe I’d talk about it with her. Not that I was worried about it. “I won’t,” I said. “But I’m not going anywhere. Trust me?”
Her smile relieved some of the vise locking around my chest. “I do trust you, Jake. I just want to take care of you.”
“You do take care of me,” I said with a wink. “It just happens to be my turn, so suck it up, princess, and let me be your big bad boyfriend who keeps the world at bay. When it’s your turn, I promise to only whine a little when you beat up the people looking at me sideways.”
Her laughter was exactly what I’d wanted.
Though her tension abated some, she was still strung tight as we walked inside. I held her hand and to hell with what anyone else thought. When Coop met us at the doors, I let her go so he could sling an arm around her shoulders.