Page 2 of Rules, Roses, and Rivals
Not anymore. I had my own life now and they didn’t get to control me anymore.
“Look better than you,” Coop retaliated, and I snorted.
“Impossible.” I seized onto normal with two fists and gave him a light shove away from the driver’s side door.
He mock-stumbled before straightening. At six foot, he topped me by six and a half inches.
“Let me guess, you need a ride?”
“Kind of obvious, isn’t it?” He smirked and circled around the car. I’d already unlocked the doors, so he all but fell into the passenger seat. “I’ll cover half the gas.”
“You’ll also ride in the back.” I set my backpack into the backseat before climbing into the driver’s seat. The ten-year-old Toyota wasn’t flashy or sexy, but she was reliable and got me where I needed to go. Freedom came in all shapes and sizes.
“Why would I ride in the back?” Coop asked as he pulled on his seatbelt. I snapped myself in before I started the car. It was already hot outside and I wanted to get the air conditioner running.
“Because I’m picking up my boyfriend and if you behave, I’ll let you meet him. Either way… you’re sitting in his seat.”
The shock on his face was worth the pronouncement. I spared him one look before I backed out of my spot. Then ignored him as he sputtered.
“Right, you have a boyfriend. Who are we picking up? Some kid you got stuck tutoring?”
His utter disbelief and scoffing managed to smother the faint joy I’d taken in surprising him. Maybe it was the expression on his face or the snark in his tone, but now I really wanted to stick it to him.
I’d spent years watching them with girls. All the while, they spent years keeping everyone away from me. Not anymore.
“You’ll see,” I told him and hit the indicator before I turned out of the apartments where we’d lived for the past thirteen years.
“Wait,” Coop said, all of his humor fleeing. “You’re serious?”
Yes.
I was.
But I bit my tongue and kept every vitriolic comment to myself. It was better to show than to tell.
Chapter
Two
FRANKIE
All the way to Mathieu’s place—well his host family’s home—Coop prodded at me. “Who are we picking up?”
“I told you,” I said, attempting to stay patient. Irritation raked through me at the doubt in his frown. “We’re picking up my boyfriend, so get ready to sit in the backseat.” At least the distance gave the air conditioner time to cool the vehicle down. It was already hot as hell outside and the humidity wasn’t helping.
“Since when do you have a boyfriend?” Oh, look, Coop’s smartass sobered up as he frowned at me. “I haven’t seen any guys hanging out at your place.”
“I’m not going to comment on the idea of you ‘watching’ my place for who might be coming or going.” Acid burned on my tongue. There was just so much more I wanted to say. Rachel Manning all but slapped sense into me the past spring as our junior year wound down.
The guys all had girlfriends, dates, and sex. Lots of sex. Sex I’d heard about. Sex I’d found myself imagining based on some of their comments. And… more than once I’d had to listen to their complaints about said girlfriends. Girls who were all supposedlymyfriends before they hooked up with them.
On some level, I think that hurt more than finding out the guys had chased off anyone from asking me out. They’d made me “untouchable.”
Ass. Holes.
My temper threatened to boil over once more and I swallowed it. Stuffed it down deep. I’d taken off the day school ended to visit a friend in San Antonio. Thankfully, Jennifer didn’t mind and her parents were happy to let me crash there for a couple of weeks.
It was far away from everything and everyone. During my time there… I met Mathieu. He’d been playing tourist and his French accent was a dead giveaway that he wasn’t local. Even more, he was working on his English and I wasn’t bad at French, so I ended up playing tourist with him and his host family.
