Angel. Really. I used to think this was all I wanted to do, but priorities change.”
“Well, here’s to everyone having their Friday nights back,” Archie said, kicking back in the chair. “It’s still mine though with Frankie, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
They all laughed.
“Speaking of which,” Coop said. “We are seriously behind in our gaming schedule. With the new free time, we can set up a game night.”
That turned into a debate on what game to play, which inevitably led to shit-talking each other over who was better. It was…nice. Normal. Despite the sudden cessation of football, Jake and Ian were both relaxed. Ian’s leg rested against mine, and he kept shooting me these glances with a hint of a smile pulling at his mouth.
I got Coop to dig out one of my books for lit so I could read, because I was firmly neutral on what level of chaos they were going to get to in their gaming war. I was also out of it with my wrist still broken and a cast on. Archie kept one-upping Jake, who in turn issued flat challenges to Coop and Ian, both of whom retaliated in kind.
The good mood buoyed me through the day. Even if I was definitely hurting by lunchtime, I’d had fun in government with Archie making a list of bands and performances where I could see it, then studying me as he added each name. Trying to keep my face neutral became a true challenge, especially since he was cracking me up.
Ian helped with everything in math, including taking notes to share with me. When the teacher hit us with a quiz, he made a face. Fortunately, she gave me a pass on taking this one since my grades were high, but that wouldn’t work when it came time for an actual test.
The best part was when he walked me to French, he carried my bag with his arm around my shoulders and we didn’t have to thread past anyone. They all got out of our way. “I think they’re afraid of you.”
He shrugged. “As long as it means no one is hassling you, I’m fine with it.” He left me at my desk with a wink.
Rachel moved to grab the desk next to mine in French, snagging me for a group project like she knew it was coming. You know, considering Rach, she probably did. Madame included another cooking component with this project, and I had to roll my eyes. What was it with her and cooking assignments? Mathieu grinned when he passed out the pages with the recipe suggestions.
Opera cake was on the list, and I snorted at him. He winked and kept moving.
“Down girl,” Rachel snarked. “You threw that one back, remember?”
I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at her. She snickered. We spent the rest of the hour divvying up the project and setting up a time for her to come over so we could cook. Well, in all likelihood, she would cook and I would direct.
And referee, because no way would the guys miss out on a chance to tease Rachel.
Maybe I really had gone crazy, because that sounded like fun, even if they all ended up aggravating each other.
After school, we reconvened back at my place, but homework planning wasn’t the number one item on the agenda. No, apparently, the date schedule was.
“Okay, with Bubba back on the board,” Jake said, flashing a grin at me, “we need to iron out our days.”
I groaned. “How about we work on making sure we’re all caught up?”
“Actually,” Archie said. “We need to discuss the master bedroom.” He gave me a look. “We need to clean all of that out.”
That was another thing I really didn’t want to deal with. “I can’t just throw her stuff out.”
“Fine, I’ll have movers take her shit to her. But I want you to get any items in there you want out first, fair?”
It was enormously fair. Tiddles wandered back and forth under my left hand as he demanded pettings. Tabby had settled in Coop’s lap like she owned it, and Tory kept a wary eye on all of us from the hallway. I think she was really getting used to having all the guys there, but she still got jumpy when we were all being loud.
“That’s easy, we can do that tonight. We’ll help you go through while we box all that shit up, and Archie can wave his wand and get the stuff