Page 25 of Rules, Roses, and Rivals
Though he hesitated, Coop glanced from me to Laura, and then back again. I gave him a little shrug, if he wanted to go talk to her I wasn't going to stop him. With a sigh, he lifted his chin and said, "I'll catch up." Then he diverted towards Laura.
"Do you want to wait?" Mathieu asked his gaze tracking after Coop briefly before glancing at me again.
"Nope," I said. "He'll catch up."
With a nod Mathieu gestured towards the room, and I nodded towards the doors that headed outside. "Planning to eat outside today. We’ve got some great picnic benches. I brought my lunch. Did you bring yours?"
"No,” he said slowly with a slight grimace. "I'll go get mine and meet you out there?"
"Of course," I said. "I could go with you, if you want." Not that I wanted to go because if we didn't get out there soon, we were not gonna get one of the picnic tables. Mathieu only smiled, then dropped the kiss on the tip of my nose.
"Go get the table," he said. "I will find you soon."
With that, he headed towards the line and I let out a little sigh. I really did like him so very much. Still smiling, I turned and headed for the doors. I made it to the only open picnic table just three steps ahead of some freshmen. When they hesitated, I just stared at them.
Seniorsgot perks.
So, disappointed or not, the freshman just shrugged and turned away. And I took my seat with a happy little grin. Despite the suffocating heat of August, the trees and the building created shade back here.
The breeze, as warm as it was, helped to stir the air. It was just kind of nice to be outside where the noise level was definitely at a lower decibel.
I just started unpacking my lunch when Bubba slid a heavily laden tray onto the table across from me. He sat, a familiar smile warming his face.
“Hey, Frankie.”
“Hey, Bubba.” As irritating as they could all be, Bubba had the temperament of a golden retriever. Like the day before, he looked tired, despite his smile. He dropped his backpack on the ground and reached for the container of chocolate milk on histray of—a hamburger, a slice of pizza, and a small stack of fries and what…?
“What is that?” I pointed to the plastic packed item that was upside down.
“Pop tarts,” Bubba said with an unabashed grin. “Brought them with me this morning but forgot to eat them, so I figured I’d have them for dessert.”
God, that was a lot of food. I bit into my sandwich and shook my head.
“It’s frosted strawberry,” he said, holding it up like he was trying to tempt me. “I’ll share.”
“I’m good.” I motioned to my carrots. “Got my dessert right there.”
“Rabbit food with a—” He canted his head to the side to eye my food. “A PB and J, you’re just rocking the top-of-the-line menu choices.”
“If it works…”
“…don’t change it,” Archie finished as he dropped onto the seat next to me. “Why are we eating at school?” Though Bubba was right there, Archie focused his attention on me.
“I don’t know, Arch. I’m eating here because I brought my lunch. Bubba appears to have staged a raid on the lunch line.”
Bubba laughed.
“Ugh,” Archie said, making a face. “I’d rather leave campus.”
“No one is keeping you here,” I reminded him and took another bite of my sandwich. When he reached for one of my carrots, I pulled them away.
“I don’t want to stand in the line,” Archie said by way of explanation. “And I don’t want to eat by myself.”
“You’re not by yourself,” Jake set his tray on the table on my free side. His was piled higher than Bubba’s had been—in that he had two of everything.
“Do they not feed you at home?” It was a rude question, but damn.
“Eh, couldn’t make up my mind and didn’t know if you had actual food or—” He motioned to the carrots. “Rabbit food.” He set a burger and a container of fries in front of me.
