Page 138 of Something Rad
“Yeah, I gotta say, you really warmed my cold, dead heart with that one, Madam President,” Brad muses, patting his chest.
The sound of a handful of car doors closing draws my attention across the lot, where I see Jesse and Paul getting out of one car and Denise, Ginger Matthews, and Kate Andrews getting out of another. In a matter of seconds, Jesse and Denise spot each other, each of them visibly shifting with discomfort, then, at exactly the same time, both of their gazes land on me.
“Thank you, Brad,” Cooper chuckles. “Really, I take that as the highest form of compliment–”
“Hey, Cooper, you wanna grab some snacks?” I interject, grabbing her arm.
Denise’s gaze shifts from my face to where I’m grabbing Cooper, her eyes narrowing when she sees her wearing my jacket. Then, for whatever reason, she smiles.
I don’t like the look of it. Not when it’s coming from Denise. A conflicting feeling settles in my chest, and I know I can’t deal with this right now.
One girl at a time.
“I’m not really hungry–” Cooper starts, but I cut her off.
“You’re thirsty. Got it. Let’s go.” Before she has a chance to argue, I take off, hauling her behind me.
“See you guys, later, I guess,” Brad calls after us.
I throw him a thumbs up over my shoulder as I continue towards the concession stand.
“Robbie, what’s wrong?” Cooper asks.
“Nothing. Just can’t have my girlfriend thirsty. That’s not a good look.”
“Robbie,” she pushes right as we reach the concession stand window.
“Hi there,” I tell the girl behind the counter. “One Pepsi and one Jolt Cola, please.”
“We don’t have Jolt,” the girl responds, blowing a bubble with her gum.
“Another Pepsi, then?” I question, looking at Cooper.
Her brows knit together. “Coke.”
“Okay, Coke then.” The girl starts to turn away to grab our drinks, but I stop her. “Oh, and a bag of Skittles please.” I glance at Cooper. “And a Charleston Chew.”
“Coming right up.”
“How did you know I like Charleston Chews?” Cooper questions me.
“I’ve seen the wrappers in your backpack.”
She tilts her head, studying me. The girl comes back, handing me our sodas and candy in exchange for a couple of bills. I hand Cooper her candy bar as we step away from the window, and she sighs, shoving it into the pocket of my jacket. “Robbie, we need to talk.”
I practically shove her Coke into her hands, and she gives me an exasperated look. “Robbie.”
“About what?” I ask her, keeping my voice casual.
“A couple of things,” she says. “First of all, you just freaked out because Denise looked at us.”Shit, she saw that?“And second, you just called me your girlfriend.”What?
I spin to face her. “Okay, first of all, I don’t know what you’re talking about. And second, what’s wrong with that? Youaremy girlfriend.” I give her a look that lets her know I’m tacking the wordfakeon beforegirlfriendin my mind.
“But I’m not.” She shakes her head. “I mean, not anymore…right?”
My brows pull together, and, after a few long seconds, realization hits me. “Oh,” I say.
“We hit our expiration date,” Cooper breathes, looking off to the side. “I mean, I understood you wanting to celebrate tonight, but I figured–”
