Brazen and Breathless (Untouchable #6) - Heather Long Page 0,94
the coffee Ian had in the tray and plucked a croissant out of the bag, then he was stuffing his face and kind of angled away from us. Even though it was another gray, brr-fucking-cold kind of day, he had on sunglasses. At Ian’s quirked brow, I just shook my head.
What Coop confessed to me and Jake would stay between the three of us until…
“Arch, remind me we need to order shirts,” Coop said after downing half of the coffee in his cup. We hadn’t even left the parking lot. “As the founding member of the My Dad Fucked My Girlfriend’s Mom Club, I feel bad I wasn’t there for you when you found out.”
Archie slanted a look at me, and I gave him a small shrug. Yes, I knew. And no, there wasn’t much I could do about it. Everything in me ached for Coop. Humor was one of his natural defense modes. If he needed to make a joke out of it, I wasn’t going to stop him.
“We’re cool,” Archie told him, even as he slid an arm around my waist. Against my ear, he murmured, “How bad is this for him?”
“Pretty bad,” I admitted. “Shock and a lot of hurt.”
“He liked his dad.” That wasn’t a question, and I gave a little shrug.
“He loved him. He was always cool, you know…” I mean, Coop’s parents had broken up before Archie came into our lives, so maybe he didn’t know. “But he didn’t know it was Maddy.”
A kiss behind my ear didn’t hide his quiet sigh. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” I stressed. “I promise.” Then I met his gaze. “On everything.”
“Come on, it’s freezing out here,” Coop said. “Sorry, Frankie. I don’t mean to be such a drag.”
“You’re just being a drama queen, Brennen,” Rachel drawled as she joined us, and Ian offered her one of the coffees. “This is hardly new.”
“Ah, if it isn’t Queen Bitch of the Universe. Please take this with all the emotion intended,” Coop told her, a faint smile curving his lips. “Fuck off.”
“That’s Your Majesty, to you, Coop.” Rachel grinned. “And I’ll definitely take it under advisement.” She threaded her arm through mine as we started walking. Archie just shot her a look but otherwise didn’t comment. “Did I miss something?” Rachel asked.
I glanced at her and blinked.
Was that a hickey on her neck?
Flicking my gaze to hers, I said, “Just…same shit, different day. High school.”
“Ahh,” she said.
“Don’t have to cover for me, Frankie. Rachel’s one of us. The bitchier side of us, sure. But one of us.” Coop glanced back at us from where he walked with Jake. Then he looked at Rachel. “My dad had an affair with her mom. Good times, right?”
“Sure.” Rachel didn’t miss a beat. But Jake wrapped an arm around Coop’s neck and dragged him forward a few feet, and Ian lifted his chin to me before he hurried to follow them. Archie slowed a half-pace and so did I, so Rachel had to, or she would have walked in front of us.
“Cut him some slack, Manning,” Archie ordered. “This is not good news.”
“No shit.” She practically leaned around me to glare at Archie, and I got a good look at a second and third hickey. “Credit me with some humanity.”
“You love Frankie,” Archie said blithely. “I credit you with a lot of humanity. It doesn’t make you less of a bitch when you want to be.”
She paused to consider it. “I can accept that.” With a grin, she squeezed my arm. “Just let me know if you need help with the bodies.”
“Know any good pig farms?” Wasn’t that what they used in the Hannaford books?
Rachel cracked up. “Speaking of pig farms, I have a new series for you to read. You are going to love it. But you’ll probably call me a liar and a fake, because you’ll hate it first.” Then she laughed harder, and I had to bite back a smile.
“Sign me up,” I told her. “I could use a new series with someone else’s drama.”
“Girl, let me tell you, they have drama.”
In the cafeteria, Coop seemed to be slightly better, and Rachel joined us instead of wandering off. The guys didn’t complain. Archie even pulled out a chair for her when I took a seat next to Coop, and then he claimed the chair on my other side. He hadn’t let go of my hand.
Jake gave her all of a minute before he asked, “So, who’s the new girl?”