“It’s a good thing I like you,” he muttered. It was. It really was. “At the same time?”
“One, two,” I said, counting it down. “Three.” We turned our phones at the same time and the name that popped up on mine and the name that popped up on his was “Bubba.”
“Huh.” Coop made a face. “Neither of us wins.”
Then our phones buzzed again and itwasArchie this time.
“Ha! Spoke to soon.”
He dipped his head as if to kiss me and as tempting as that was, I pressed two fingers to his lips.
“We need to go.” My heart did a fast little fist bump with my ribs when he pressed a kiss to my fingers. “Raincheck?”
“Definitely.”
Retreating a step, I tried to get my breathing under control then opened the messages so I could let them know we were leaving now. Coop darted out to grab his shoes and said he’d meet me at the car. Though he did steal another fast kiss before he left.
Archie messaged again before I even made it to the back door.
Archie:You okay?
That was a loaded question, but I went with the only answer I had at the moment.
Me:Working on it.
Archie:Get over here so I can help.
That made me smile.
Me:On the way.
Chapter
Thirty-Six
FRANKIE
Idon’t know what I expected when we pulled up to Archie’s, but it wasn’t for all three of them to be standing out front with the door open like they were air-conditioning the driveway.
Archie stood with his hands on his hips, and I swore I could practically feel his foot tapping impatience radiating off him in waves. Wearing a guarded expression, Jake stood near but not right next to him with his arms crossed. Bubba gave me a firm once over then a genuine, if relieved smile as I put the car in park.
“You’d think they’ve never had company before,” I muttered as I turned off the engine.
“You’renotcompany,” Coop said, pushing his door open. “And you know it. If you don’t—then you should.”
That little comment shouldn’t have made my stomach flutter. And okay—maybe it wasn’t just the comment. Maybe it was everything. The kiss. The promises. The fact that Coop kept glancing at me like he wanted to pin me against the car and make me late on purpose.
Instead, we headed out to meet them together like normal people. Normal people who were about to walk into a not-normal night.
Archie strode forward to meet us and gave me a very firm look. “You okay?”
That was going to be the question of the night, wasn’t it?
“Peachy,” I lied. “Cramping like hell but emotionally stable-ish.”
The corners of his lips twitched as he gave me a measured glance. He didn’t fully believe me, but he was going to let me get away with it. “We’ve got hot food and cold drinks. That should help.”
When he held out a hand, I clasped it and let him draw me into the house. The others fell in with us. He took us straight to the dining room where the table was loaded with takeout boxes, french fries, pizza, salads none of us were going to eat and a giant-sized cookie loaded with chocolate chips.
