“Jake spent the night?”
There it was. Quiet. But sharp.
“We fell asleep watching videos,” I said. Flat. Careful. I stared at the road ahead because if I looked at him, the guilt would be unbearable.
“Jake said he wasn’t going to stay long. Said you were tired.”
“He probably did.” My voice cracked. “I was. It was late.”We didn’t plan it. It just happened.None of that made it okay. “It’s not the first time he’s spent the night.”
Coop turned toward me, his tone low. “We were twelve the last time he stayed over there, Frankie.”
“Okay.” It wasn’t okay. I hated that he’d figured it out. That there wasanythingto find out.
“And your mom wasn’t home—again.”
“Yeah, thanks for the reminder,” I snapped. The light turned green. I needed motion. Escape.
“You have a hickey.”
My breath caught. I had a hickey? How the hell had I not seen it? Heat flared under my skin, shame crawling up my neck.
“Are you mad I have one—or that I didn’t report back to you about every second of my night?” It came out harsher than I meant. But I couldn’t take it back.
Coop’s jaw clenched. “I don’t know,” he said after a beat. “I don’t know what I feel right now.”
That cut deeper than if he’d just yelled. I deflated. “Coop…”
He shook his head. “It’s fine, Frankie. I just—seeing Jake’s car there earlier. Knowing he was there. It just hit me.” His knuckles thudded against the door. “Sorry. I’m not mad atyou.”
I glanced at him. “You sure about that?”
He didn’t answer. Not right away. I spotted a motorcycle behind us in the mirror—Bubba. Of course. And of course,now.
We pulled into the school lot. I couldn’t breathe.
“I want to ask you out.” Coop didn’t look at me as he said that.
“Okay.” My voice was a whisper. Okay was only one small step above just “oh.” But here we were. For the first time, I had absolutely no idea what to say to Coop right now. About anything.
“Are you—are you and Jake…?” Coop trailed off, but I heard the question. Felt it, razor-sharp in the space between us.
“We haven’t gone on a date,” I said quickly. Too quickly. Coward.He asked. Sorta. Then we just fell into bed.
“And Bubba?”
“He asked.” I parked. My hands trembled on the wheel. “Just… we haven’t really had time to talk since Tuesday. Not really.” Keep dating Frenchy if I had to, but date him too. Yeah, those words were permanently etched into my brain.
“Then there’s Frenchy…”
“It’sMathieu,” I snapped, defensive, exhausted.
“Yeah, I don’t care what his name is,” Coop said. Then, gentler, he reached for my hand. “I’m not trying to be an ass. I promise.”
“I know.” I tried to smile. “You’re just drawn that way.”
He smiled back, just barely. The first real one all morning.
“I meant it, Frankie. I want to take you out.”
