shed his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves. I slid my sunglasses back on before stepping fully out.
He turned at my arrival and nodded. “Archie.”
“Edward.” Sliding my hands into my pockets, I strolled out. I could probably have gotten a drink before coming out here, but I didn’t intend to linger. He wanted to talk, so I’d give him a few minutes, then get back to my life.
That was about all I intended to spare, and he was lucky to get that much.
“Thanks for agreeing to this.”
“What do you want?”
“Can’t I just want to talk to you?”
I scoffed. “Seriously?”
“Fine,” Edward said after downing his drink. “I deserve that.”
And so much more.
I’d made my point, so I didn’t say another word. I just waited.
“I want to talk to you about Standish and your grandfather.”
Coop
The first half of the week had been brutal, but I only had two sets of AP exams, which meant I took point on keeping an eye on everyone else. Bubba was doing the same. Frankie had exams every single day that week, and two on some of them. The funny part about it was despite the dedicated focus she had, we could see her wilting, only to relax with relief as she finished each test.
Late on Friday, I waited for her after school. She and Rachel had their French exam. It was the last one. Jake and Bubba had gone to a team thing, the last one where they handed off stuff to the new team. Hopefully some wisdom, like ‘don’t be a dick.’
Archie had something else going on with his grandfather, but he hadn’t given us much in the way of details. Probably about where we were staying when we got to New York. We also had to discuss our summer trip, because last summer before college? Yeah, we were taking some time and doing something, even if we ended up following Bubba and Frankie to wherever they were recording.
The door opened, and kids started to trickle out. Frankie and Rachel were among the first, and boy did they look wasted. It was hot out, and I was glad I’d gone with shorts and a T-shirt. When Frankie saw me, she added a little skip to her step and said something to Rachel, who just gave her a playful shove before giving me a two-finger salute and heading away to her own car.
I caught Frankie as she flung herself at me and picked her up.
“I’m dead,” she mumbled against my neck. “Dead. My mind is tapioca. I literally can’t brain anymore. I haz the dumb.”
Cradling her, I chuckled. “Well, does that mean I get to do all the thinking?”
She paused. Long enough, I tweaked her, and she giggled as she lifted her head. Despite where we were in the parking lot, she made no move to get down. “I’m good with you doing all the thinking.”
“Excellent, ’cause I’m thinking about four pounds of barbecue wings, mozzarella sticks, some sodas, and ice cream for dessert while we do a full Fast and the Furious marathon.” Her eyes lit up.
“All of them?”
The dumbest movies ever made.
She loved them.
“All of them.”
She laughed and hugged me. “You’re the best.”
“And your favorite,” I quipped. When she kissed me, she deepened it almost immediately, and there was a whistle from across the parking lot.
Yeah yeah.
PDAs at school.
I nipped her lower lip. “Gotta save that for the apartment and food. But no more homework. No more studying. No more brain.”
“Just hot food, hot guys, and hot cars.” Her grin widened.
“So glad you think I’m hot,” I told her as I set her down and looped an arm over her shoulders to walk her to the car.
“You?” She batted innocent eyes at me.
“Remember how I’m doing all the thinking?”
“True. You’re right. You’re the hottest.”
“Yes,” I said with a fist-pump. We actually made it through four of the eight before she passed out, sprawled against my chest. I didn’t even bother to move to the bedroom. The sofa was damn comfy.
Ian
Weekly dinners with my parents had actually proven to be a lot of fun. Mom and Dad made a real effort with Frankie, and what tension I’d worried about initially evaporated after the first dinner. They just went back to treating her like they always had, favored daughter status, which worked. The guys were over for the first group dinner with all of us.
Timing hadn’t been ideal, and with the rush to finish the year and AP exams, we’d had to push it off. But