Page 26 of Rules, Roses, and Rivals
“Great,” Archie said, shoving his backpack under the table and reaching over me to snag some fries.
Rather than deal with the lean and reach, I transferred the fries to Archie’s side along with the burger.
“Hey,” Jake growled, and reached past me to put them back. “Those are for Frankie. Go get your own.”
“You’re all determined to starve me, aren’t you?” Archie looked so morose, I couldn’t help laughing.
“Poor baby, nobody loves you.” He was not remotely chastised by my comment.
“Here,” Bubba said. “I’ll share.” He slid the Pop Tart over to Archie. I had to bite my lip to keep from guffawing. ArchiehatedPop Tarts. He acted like they’d committed a crime against breakfast food.
“Thanks,” Archie said with a scowl. He turned to me. “I’ll trade you this for the other half of your sandwich, since you have a burger now.”
I didn’t want a burger, but it was kind of pathetic…
“What the hell is he doing?” Bubba murmured, scowling. Bubba didn’t glare at anyone. A frisson of worry scooted up my spine. Was he glaring at Mathieu?
I twisted along with Archie and Jake to see what, or in this casewho, had snagged his attention. Coop was strolling toward the parking lot with Laura and a couple of her friends. They were all talking in animated fashion, and he had an arm looped over her shoulders. Sunglasses hid his eyes.
“Being a dumbass,” Jake commented, returning his attention to the table.
“He likes her,” I reminded them. “And it’s not like you all haven’t had girlfriends.”
Archie snorted. “I’ve never dumped all of you for a girl.”
“You and Patty ate lunch together for two months last year,” I reminded him.
“We had a project and it was literally the only time we could work on it,” he retaliated. Then he stuffed a fry in his mouth.
“Whatever,” Jake said, nudging the burger. “Eat. I don’t care where Coop eats lunch. His loss.”
But Jake didn’t argue with me. They’d all had their girlfriends and there’d been plenty of times they’d individually or en masse disappeared down the dating rabbit hole.
“I’m not sure I’m burger hungry.” I held up the other half of my sandwich, only Archie snagged it then took a big bite.
Ass.
I punched him in the shoulder, and he winced, coughing hard a minute later. Served him right if he choked on it.
Bubba snickered. “Don’t take her sandwich next time, idiot.”
“I was trying to help,” Archie said with a wince, rubbing his shoulder. “Did you take up boxing this summer or something?”
“Or something,” I said, keeping it vague. The burger was not what I wanted, but I was still hungry.
“What did you do this summer, Frankie? We saw you at my party and at work,” Bubba nudged my foot with his. “But Coop said you were really busy and that stuff with your mom wasn’t great.”
Jake focused on the food in front of him, but Archie and Bubba looked at me expectantly. Apparently, Jake hadn’t shared his theories with them.
Before I could answer, Mathieu circled the picnic table and took a seat on Bubba’s side. A pleasant smile warmed his mouth as he glanced from Jake to Archie to Bubba, before finally meeting my gaze. “I’m sorry I took so long.”
I grinned at him. “I probably should have warned you. You have to haul ass now that they’ve given all of us the same lunch hour.”
“I’ll remember that for next time.” He flicked a look at Jake and I didn’t have to check to see if Jake was staring at him. “Did something come up…?”
“Nope, grab a seat. We have plenty of room.” I’d make Jake or Archie move if I thought it wouldn’t lead to another argument. As it was, I could live with Mathieu sitting across from me because so far Bubba had been the least antagonistic about all of it.
I’d take my wins where I could.
